Read about our funded pilot projects below.
Project Title: Identifying Sociocultural Barriers and Best Practices to Address Mental Health Care Disparities in Marginalized Communities: A Mixed Methods and Multi- Perspective Study
Principal Investigator: Iony D. Ezawa, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology, USC
Project Title: Air pollution, neighborhood opportunities, and allostatic load
Principal Investigator: Fangqi Guo, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, USC
Project Title: miRNA indicators of liver health and effects of PFAS exposures
Principal Investigator: Helen Foley, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, USC
Project Title: Maternal exposure to heavy metals, diet quality, and epigenetic age acceleration during pregnancy
Principal Investigator: Luis Enrique Maldonado, PhD, MPH, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, USC
Project Title: Assessing Health Disparities Arising from Air Pollutant Emissions Linked to Port- Related Activities: A Case Study of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
Principal Investigator: Jiachen Zhang, PhD, Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, USC
Project Title: Disparities in extreme heat-related mortality through building and neighborhood social environment
Principal Investigator: Futu Chen, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, USC
Project Title: Air pollution, community-level social and neighborhood factors, and depression and anxiety in children of US born and immigrant parents
Multiple Principal Investigators: Max Aung, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences, USC
Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez, PhD, MA, Postdoctoral Scholar – Research Associate, Population and Public Health Sciences, USC
Project Title: Inland Empire Warehouse Development and Children’s Respiratory Health Study
Principal Investigator: Nemmi N. Cole, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar – Research Associate, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, USC
Project Title: Neighborhood Socioeconomic Conditions and Disparities in Birth Weight: Investigating Mediation by Prenatal Exposure to Multiple Air Pollutants
Principal Investigator: Nan Ji, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar – Research Associate, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, USC
Project Title: Examining the impacts of social context on Latina mothers’ and their infants’ mental health: An ecological momentary assessment study
Principal Investigator: Santiago Morales, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Pediatrics, USC Dornsife
Project Title: Thriving While Black: Black Birth Equity Workers Glowing Through COVID-19
Principal Investigator: Kacie C.A. Blackman, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at California State University, Northridge
Project Title: Racial discrimination, mental health, and the attenuating role of Black youths’ egocentric racial socialization networks
Principal Investigator: Chardée Galan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology, USC Dornsife
Project Title: Understanding Social Environment Impacts on Latinx Women’s Use of Cannabis during Pregnancy
Principal Investigator: Rachel Ceasar, PhD, Assistant Professor, USC Department of Population Public Health Sciences
Project Title: Effects of prenatal psychosocial stressors on sex steroid hormones and preeclampsia among health disparity population
Principal Investigator: Intira Sriprasert, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Research Obstetrics and Gynecology; Director of Research and Scholarship, KSOM Obstetrics and Gynecology
Project Title: Differences in the prenatal built environment and the effect on epigenetic aging among minority populations residing in California
Principal Investigator: Charlie Zhong, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, USC Department of Population Public Health Sciences
Project Title: The Impact of COVID-19 Containment Measures on the Socioeconomic Incorporation and Psychological Well-being of Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees in Argentina, Chile, and Colombia
Principal Investigator: Deisy Del Real, PhD, Assistant Professor, USC Department of Sociology
Project Title: Prenatal, Psychosocial and Lifestyle Factors in Mental Health Disparities among Youth
Principal Investigator: Jasmin Alves, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher, USC Department of Internal Medicine
Project Title: Understanding Social Environment Impacts on Latinx Women’s Use of Cannabis during Pregnancy
Principal Investigator: Rachel Ceasar, PhD, Assistant Professor, USC Department of Population Public Health Sciences
Project Title: Identifying Healthcare Disparities during Wildfire Disasters among Children
Principal Investigator: Natasha Gill, MD, MPH, FAAP, Assistant Professor, USC Department of Clinical Pediatrics & CHLA Division of Emergency & Transport Medicine
Project Title: Cumulative and Interactive Effects of Environmental Disparities on Health and Unmet Health Care Needs in Older Chinese and Korean Asian Americans: A Multilevel Analysis
Principal Investigator: Min-Kyoung Rhee, PhD, MSW, Instructional Assistant Professor, USC School of Gerontology
Project Title: Medium-Term Effects of COVID-19 Crisis on Gender Disparities in Mental Health Among American Parents
Principal Investigator: Maria Prados, PhD, Economist/Research Scientist, USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research