Research

The USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health collaborates with faculty from nearly every USC school as well as dozens of partners around the world to conduct innovative global health research that transcends borders and disciplines. Learn more about some of our current research projects and activities at the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health below.

Addressing HIV-related Stigma, Discrimination, and Abuse in Zambia In partnership with Zambart, a highly respected Zambian research organization, IIGH received a 2024 NIH grant, with funding from the Fogarty International Center and the National Institute of Mental Health, to address HIV-related stigma, discrimination, and abuse in Zambian boarding schools. The study assessed stigma and abuse in school contexts and reviewed safeguarding policies against national and international guidelines. These findings have been used to inform tailored interventions at the study schools to increase learners’ safety and decrease HIV-related stigma and discrimination. The impact of these interventions will be assessed with a view to informing future policies and interventions.

Using AI to Forecast Child Malnutrition in Kenya IIGH, in partnership with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society, Amref Health Africa, Microsoft, and the Government of Kenya, has developed a model that can forecast where in Kenya acute malnutrition is likely to occur six months in advance, in order to pre-position supplies and mitigate potential impacts. We are currently working to embed a dashboard including the model’s findings into a Kenyan government website where it can be regularly updated and used for decision-making. Even as work to improve the model is ongoing, there is significant potential to strengthen local capacity to lead these efforts and to expand this type of model to other countries and health issues. This work has received significant media coverage from a wide range of publications, including SciDev, iAfrica, EurekAlert!, and The Conversation.

Strengthening the Legal and Policy Environment to Support Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights With support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), IIGH is designing a methodology for national legal and policy dialogues designed to assist countries to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Building on earlier work mapping legal environments to support SRHR and identifying what drives effective implementation of good laws and policies, this initiative is developing practical methods to translate data into strong public policy. By helping governments and partners pinpoint barriers, design targeted solutions, and accelerate progress toward an improved SRHR environment, the project aims to advance gender equality and improve health outcomes worldwide.

Growing Inclusive Population Register Systems IIGH has a longstanding partnership with the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) to advance gender equity, human rights, and ethical standards in population data systems. Together with IUSSP, the University of the Witwatersrand, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), IIGH is working to identify ways to ensure that as population registers are modernized and digitalized they can become more inclusive, trusted, and responsibly used. The consortium—including fellows in Brazil, Cameroon and Uganda—is driving research and action to identify and address who gets left behind in digital transitions: from “fatherless” children to refugees and internally displaced people excluded from population registries.

One Health in Uganda Since 2022, IIGH has partnered with the Uganda Virus Research Institute, Conservation Through Public Health, and others to embed rights and gender considerations into work at the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health. The team brings together diverse expertise—from anthropology to entomology, primatology, and zoology—and includes government, civil society, and academic partners. Following the conclusion of funding from the International Development Research Center (Canada), recent activities have focused on informing epidemic preparedness and response, strengthening community-based surveillance efforts, and disseminating findings through tools such as an interactive story-map and videos developed by the COHRIE Uganda Group. Findings were also shared through the article, “One health laws, policies and governance in Uganda: What’s on paper and what’s really happening,” with other articles also in press. The collaboration continues to seek funding opportunities to build on the strong foundation of this work.

Photo from Salvador, Brazil, courtesy of Project PrEP1519

HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for Adolescents IIGH continues to strengthen collaborative research and educational initiatives in Brazil through longstanding institutional partnerships. IIGH is partnering with colleagues at Universidade Católica de Santos, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Université Lumière Lyon 2 on research to create a community-based, participatory, and intersectional model for evaluating linkage to and retention in services offering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV for LGBTQIA+ adolescents and young people. Findings from the groundwork on which this study builds were also shared through the article, “Are Rights-Based Services Important? An Adolescent PrEP Demonstration Project in Brazil.”