The Institute for Global Health engages and supports the USC community in a wide range of global health activities through educational programs, collaborative projects, global health grants, and volunteer experiences. With support from the Institute, students and faculty from schools across the University create partnerships for research and training to promote healthier communities worldwide.

The Institute for Global Health has harnessed partnerships and collaborations at USC and beyond to create innovative and integrative approaches to solving global health issues. This year, for example, the Institute for Global Health and the USC School for Cinematic Arts partnered with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition to create a global health Facebook game featuring the importance of maternal and child nutrition through ABC’s “Be the Change, Save a Life” campaign. Additionally, the Institute will be working with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop an online Global Health Response Engine that will provide a platform for global health organizations to communicate their messages to the broader public and build greater support for their activities.

This year’s Global Health Lecture Series: “Piecing Together Solutions” featured six thought-provoking global health leaders from around the world. The series explored a wide range of issues in global health that touch on the diverse disciplines here at USC. From topics like global health priorities, financing and governance, to addressing how technology can play a role in women’s health needs, the speakers engaged in discussions to increase awareness and generate research ideas among the USC community.

We were pleased to welcome two new initiatives at the Institute this year. Neal Baer, physician and award-winning T.V. producer, joined the Institute as the director of the Center for Storytelling, Activism and Health, focusing on promoting health through innovative participatory media projects. Sofia Gruskin, former director of the Program on International Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health, has joined the Trojan family to head the Program on Global Health and Human Rights. These two new Institute initiatives offer additional opportunities for students and faculty to get involved through the Institute for Global Health and will strengthen our research portfolio.

The USC Institute for Global Health looks forward to the coming year and the future collaborative efforts that will continue to engage the University and its partners to work together for a healthier future.

Fight on for health!

Jonathan Samet
Heather Wipfli