From study abroad programs to multi-national research projects, Arnold School faculty, staff, and students are engaged in global health initiatives throughout the world. We address public health issues on a global scale and contribute to USC's growing international presence.
The purpose of our Global Health Newsletter is to disseminate the global health research, education, and outreach of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni. See our previous newsletters below.
As we continue to build our semester newsletters, it would be helpful to get your suggestions on individuals (faculty, staff, students, or alumni) that we should highlight. If you know of anyone at or affiliated with USC who is currently doing global health work that you recommend we reach out to, please email emkenney@email.sc.edu.
Mahbub Alam began studying environmental sciences more than 15 years ago, when the young student was passionate about understanding the environmental and public health challenges that arise in a rapidly developing country like this native Bangladesh.
After finding USC's environment to be a welcoming one, Bhola decided to stay at the Arnold School to pursue an MS in Epidemiology. She's made lifelong friends, learned valuable skills, and broadened her community.
Victoria Adebiyi graduates with a PhD in HPEB this month after completing her global health dissertation project. She's currently working on manuscripts that describe what she learned during a mixed-methods study she conducted in Nigeria.
Keren Herran graduates this month and she's ready to change the world. The global health researcher gained a breadth and depth of international research experience during her PhD program.
Health promotion, education, and behavior assistant professor Leila Larson conducts her nutrition-focused maternal and child health research all over the world, and South Carolinians will soon benefit from her expertise.
USC researchers recently reviewed the existing literature on diet-induced inflammation, climate change, and food systems - finding numerous scientific papers focusing on each of these areas but very few that looked at their overlap.
Leila Larson has been awarded nearly three million dollars from the National Institutes of Health to lead a five-year study aimed at improving childhood health and development.
Manufactured chemicals and medications can impact maternal and child health well beyond pregnancy, and Pengfei Guo is using environmental and perinatal epidemiology to better understand and mitigate these impacts.
Muskaan Makkar, a May public health graduate, has received funding from the Fullbright France to study food policy in Paris before returning ti the U.S. to earn graduate degrees in public health and dietetics.
Winning an AAUW International Fellowship has been a dream of Grace Owojori's since her father first told her about the program, which supports international women pursuing degrees in the U.S.
Epidemiology assistant professor Mufaro Kanyangarara is one of 43 scholars to be awarded a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship from the Institute of International Education this year
After graduating with the Arnold School's 2024 Doctoral Achievement Award, Rajat das Gupta will begin a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to continue his research in molecular and genetic epidemiology in cancer
Fahmida Akter graduates in May with a PhD in HPEB and her priorities are clear: a lifelong connection to USC and an unwavering commitment to improving health, particularly for women and children in low-resource settings
Health promotion, education, and behavior professor Jim Thrasher is the inaugural recipient of the Excellence in Scientific Leadership and Collaboration Award for his efforts to reduce tobacco use over the past 25 years.
Researchers from HPEB have published a new study that challenges the use of Growth Monitoring and Promotion to detect faltering in children.
A recent study led by Emily Hackworth has found that youth (ages 16-19) with internalizing mental health symptoms are more likely to turn to nicotine products (particularly electronic cigerettes) than their peers.
A student in the Ph.D. in HPEB program, Gitanjali Lall uses principles of developmental psychology to improve community health and fundamentals of public health intervention research to improve early childhood development.
Health promotion, education and behavior professor Jim Thrasher will investigate how social influences - particularly those through social media - impact teens' decisions to smoke and use e-cigarettes.
Victoria Adebiyi has big goals. The Ph.D. in Health Promotion Education and Behavior candidate plans to improve maternal and child nutrition and health in low- and middle-income countries after her 2025 graduation - continuing the path she began a decade ago in Nigeria.
Research led by HPEB associate professor Hala Ghattas and published in Public Health Nutrition has revealed what may be a major factor in the rise of childhood obesity in the Middle East and North Africa.
A recent study led by HPEB assistant professor Leila Larson and published in Public Health Nutrition has shed more light on the interplay of factors that cause anemia in mothers and children in low- and middle-income countries.
MCH Certificate/MPH student Tanya Ambrose is already a public health professional. The outreach specialist for Prisma Health Midlands Healthy Start founded Scrub Life Cares in 2020 to provides menstrual products to support health hygiene.
Just one semester into her first faculty appointment, Nandita Perumal is already stepping up as a thought leader in gestational weight gain - particularly in a global context. The epidemiology assistant professor has published a key paper and joined a new taskforce.
Her research aims to improve maternal, newborn, and child nutrition, health and development in vulnerable populations by understanding the causes of adverse maternal and child health outcomes as well as the long-term consequences of adverse exposures in early life.
A USC-funded institute led by epidemiology associate professor Melissa Nolan will use global reach to solve local problems. The Institute of Infectious Disease Translational Research will allow her to operate complementary studies at labs based in SC, El Salvador and Brazil.
USC features the Global Health Costa Rica summer program, which is led by HPEB clinical associate professor Edena Guimaraes and taken by public health major as well as other students across the university.
Jan Ostermann is leading a new project to increase vaccination uptake among children in rural and underserved areas. He will use a $3 million NIH grant to implement a community-based digital intervention in Tanzania.
Alexander McLain and Edward Frongillo were acknowledged for their role in developing the analytic methods used for estimating overweight and stunting trends among children around the world.
Global studies student Samantha Johnson combined her interests in international systems/policies with health by joining the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Leadership, Education, and Advancement in Undergraduate Pathways (LEAP) Program.
Lídia Gual Gonzalez, a doctoral candidate in the Ph.D. in Epidemiology program, has been selected to receive the John Henry Comstock Award from the Entomological Society of America’s International Branch.
Arnold School researchers Edward Frongillo and Alexander McLain have partnered with scientists from UNICEF and the World Health Organization, including WHO collaborator Elaine Borghi, to develop a method for estimating childhood stunting and oversight trends in the European region.
Two years after the American Society for Nutrition Foundation selected Edward Frongillo to receive the 2020 E.V. McCollum International Lectureships in Nutrition Award, the health promotion, education, and behavior (HPEB) professor has been honored with another senior investigator award from the organization.
Ph.D. in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior student Keren Herrán is bringing a wealth of experiences to her doctoral program as she prepares for a global health career focused on health disparities, nutrition, and maternal and child health.
Jim Thrasher, professor of health promotion, education, and behavior (HPEB), and Rachel Davis, associate professor of HPEB, have won a four-year, $2.4 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Researchers at the South Carolina SmartState Center for Healthcare Quality will use a $3 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to determine whether a resilience-based approach can mitigate the negative effects of HIV-related stigma.
Jared "JD" Dawson will complete an MPH at the University of Cape Town, studying disease prevention and treatment. Emily Saathoff will complete an MPH with a focus on child and maternal health at the University of Ghana.
She is using her expertise in child development and malnutrition in studies in Malawi and Bangladesh to examine the effects of nutritional supplementation in early life on cognitive functioning and health of children and their mothers.
Audrey Gleaton chose UofSC’s Family Medicine-Global Health Fellowship Program, which includes an MPH in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, due to its balance of academic and clinical/field experience as well as its international connections and highly recommended staff.
Anna Book, a May graduate of the Bachelor of Science in Public Health program, will soon begin a Master of Public Health program at Columbia University where she’ll study health policy and global health.
In October 2019, Kanyangarara joined the Arnold School of Public Health to continue advancing her research in the areas of global health and infectious diseases, particularly those affecting mothers, newborns and children in low- and middle-income countries.
Yu-Hsiu Lin, a 2015 graduate of the Arnold School’s Ph.D. in Health Services Policy and Management program, has received the Young Scholar Fellowship from the Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology’s Einstein Program.
Not only do CENR members study how to minimize the risks and maximize the benefits of nanoparticles’ effects on environmental and human health, they exchange ideas with others from kindergarteners to leading scientists in the field.
Grace Cooney will use the grant to pursue a Master of in Migration, Culture, and Global Health at Queen Mary University of London. The Rotary program aims to increase international understanding and positive relationships among people from different countries and geographic areas.
Originally from Japan, Takeo Ichiyanagi moved to the U.S. after high school. He ended up staying for 15 years, amassing the knowledge and skills that would eventually land him the position of head athletic trainer for Japan’s Men’s National Basketball team.