2026 USC Global Health Symposium

The USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (IIGH), with support from the USC Office of the Provost, is pleased to announce the second annual USC Global Health Symposium. On Tuesday, March 31, 2026 join us at the University Park Campus, for this dynamic event bringing together faculty, students, and staff from across USC, and showcasing a wide range of global health expertise and talent.

Doors will open at 12:45 pm. See below for the USC Global Health Symposium agenda and register now for this incredible in-person event!

This program is open to all eligible individuals. IIGH operates all of its programs and activities consistent with the University’s Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.

Welcome and Framing

Moderator: Sofia Gruskin directs the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. She is USC Distinguished Professor of Population, Public Health Sciences & Law, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Chief of the Disease Prevention, Policy and Global Health Division at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Professor of Law and Preventive Medicine at the Gould School of Law. She has published extensively, including several books, training manuals and edited journal volumes, and more than 200 articles and chapters.

Constraints and Opportunities in Responding to the Current State of Global Health and Justice

Moderator: Carolyn Meltzer, MD, began her appointment as Dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC and holder of the John H. and May S. Hooval Dean’s Chair in Medicine, on March 1, 2022. Dean Meltzer oversees the school’s operations and academic affairs, leading 26 basic and clinical academic departments and 16 major research institutes. As the academic leader of the Keck School faculty and staff, Dr. Meltzer guides biomedical research and clinical care initiatives while supporting the education and training of medical students, graduate students, postdoctoral trainees and undergraduates. Dr. Meltzer is an expert in neuroradiology and nuclear medicine. Her research has focused on imaging technology innovation and on understanding the brain’s structure and function during normal aging and in Alzheimer’s disease and psychiatric disorders in later life. She joined USC from Emory University, where she served for 15 years as the William P. Timmie Professor and Chair, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences.

Fajar Rachman Adji recently graduated from the University of Southern California MPH program and is a global health practitioner with more than five years of experience working at the intersection of maternal health, community nutrition, and health systems. He has collaborated with government agencies, NGOs, and the private sector on research, advocacy, and community health initiatives in Indonesia and beyond. As a USC 2025 Breman Global Health Immersion Fellow, Adji studied reproductive health and primary health care systems in Kenya. Across all this work, he remains deeply committed to advancing inclusive and sustainable health outcomes in low- and middle-income settings.

Geoff Boeing is an Associate Professor in USC’s Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis, the Director of USC’s Urban Data Lab, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. His research explores the spatial outcomes of urban planning through network analysis, geospatial data science, and machine learning. This work has won the Nobel Sustainability Award and the Stough-Johansson Springer Award, and is regularly featured in the media including The Economist, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post. He developed and maintains the OSMnx street network modeling software and has served as a consultant for several planning, policymaking, and public health organizations. He has never played a round of golf or drunk a cup of coffee in his life.

Mia Malan is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Bhekisisa Center for Health Journalism in South Africa. She has worked in newsrooms in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington, DC, winning more than 30 awards for her radio, print and television work. A former Knight International Journalism Fellow and an Oxford Reuters Institute Journalism Fellow, Malan speaks internationally about health issues in Africa and media sustainability in the Global South. She has published widely in books and academic journals, including the Brown Journal of World Affairs, British Medical Journal, and the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. She was a TEDx speaker on how Covid changed news reporting and regularly moderates panels for high-level events.

Niels Frenzen is director of the USC Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic and specializes in immigration and refugee law. Frenzen’s Immigration Clinic students represent a wide range of clients and projects, including the LGBT Asylum Project and the Immigrant Detention Rights Project. Clinic students provide legal representation, pursuant to student practice rules, to transgender, gay and bisexual immigrants seeking asylum or protection under the Convention Against Torture. Students also work on advocacy and research projects designed to document and improve the conditions of confinement for detained immigrants. Prior to joining the University of Southern California, Frenzen practiced with a range of non-profit law offices. He has represented many asylum seekers and other immigrants, has litigated federal court cases challenging the mistreatment of noncitizens, and has litigated immigration court national security cases involving classified evidence.

Global Health and Innovation: Putting Equity at the Center

Moderator: Christopher G. Boone is the Dean and the C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair for the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. At the USC Price School, he holds an academic appointment as a Professor of Public Policy.  He earned a BA in Geography from Queen’s University and a master’s and PhD in Geography from the University of Toronto, focusing his research on Brazilian urbanization. His research contributes to scholarship and practice in sustainable urbanization, environmental justice, urban ecology, global environmental change, and higher education innovation. For nearly two decades, he was a co-PI and senior scientist for two Long Term Ecological Research programs, the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and the Central Arizona Phoenix LTER. He is a co-founder and past president of the National Sustainability Society. Before joining USC, Boone was Dean of the School of Sustainability and Founding Dean of the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University.

Jepchirchir Kiplagat is a Lecturer at Moi University and a public health expert specializing in health systems research and epidemiology. She is a researcher at the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH). Her research focuses on implementation science to enhance care delivery for older people living with HIV and is supported by early career development awards from the US National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center (K43) and the Gilead Sciences Global Public Health Awards Program. She is a core member of the Lancet Commission on HIV and Aging. Kiplagat holds a PhD in Public Health from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and a Master’s and a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health from Moi University, Kenya. She has been a postdoctoral and PhD fellow with the Consortium of Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) and completed her NIH-Fogarty Fellowship with the Northern Pacific Global Health Program.

Kaitlin Schwan is the Director of the California Street Medicine Collaborative and an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Southern California, where she leads Policy and Advocacy for USC Street Medicine. She also serves on the Board of the Street Medicine Institute. Schwan holds an appointment as an Assistant Professor (Status-Only) at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and is a Senior Researcher at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. A co-founder and research advisor for the Women’s National Housing & Homelessness Network, Schwan previously served as Senior Researcher for the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. Her work focuses on bridging research, advocacy, policy, and lived expertise to advance housing justice.

Maureen Lewis is a second-year medical student at the Keck School of Medicine of USC with an interest in advancing health equity through systems-level innovation and global health financing. She recently completed a policy fellowship with Friends of the Global Fight, where she analyzed the feasibility and equity implications of introducing long-acting injectable lenacapavir for HIV prevention in low- and middle- income countries, generating recommendations to inform Global Fund and U.S. HIV policy. Her work examines how financing, legal environments, and health system design shape whether innovation expands access or reinforces disparities. 

Ricky N. Bluthenthal is a Distinguished Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences and Chair of the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences in the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He is also the Flora L. Thornton Chair in Preventive Medicine. He received a BA in History and Sociology from the University of California Santa Cruz and a MA and PhD in sociology from the University of California Berkeley. His research is focused on structural impediments to wellness, harm reduction approaches to overcoming structural barriers, and centering the needs of the disadvantaged in epidemiological and intervention research. Bluthenthal has authored or co-authored over 225 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Strategic Communication to Advance Health Equity

Moderator: Adam Clayton Powell III is Director of Washington Programs for the USC Annenberg School’s Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, presenting monthly public forums on subjects including artificial intelligence, election cybersecurity and public diplomacy. He also is co-host of the weekly half-hour “White House Chronicle” on PBS stations and on SiriusXM radio. Before his move to Washington in 2010, he served as USC’s Vice Provost for Globalization, opening new USC facilities in Shanghai and Seoul, and promoting the university throughout the world. Powell previously served as Director of the USC Integrated Media Systems Center, a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center located in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Earlier roles include Vice President/Technology and Programs of the Freedom Forum and the Newseum, creating a global Internet education program; Working Group member, Internet Policy Institute, helping develop briefing papers for the President of the U.S. and other policymakers; Executive Producer at Quincy Jones Entertainment; Vice President for News and Information programming at National Public Radio; and Manager of News Operations and then Manager of Special Events and Political Coverage for CBS News.

Hon. Dr. Ben Phiri, MP is a distinguished leader in Malawi, currently serving as Minister of Local Government and Rural Development and Director of Political Affairs in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, demonstrating strong political acumen and influence within the party and government. Former (2019-2020) Minister of Local Government, Hon. Phiri played a pivotal role in improving local governance, enhancing infrastructure, and driving rural development, focusing on empowering local authorities and fostering community engagement. He served as Personal Assistant to the Fifth President of the Republic of Malawi, where he gained valuable insights into executive leadership, contributing to policy decisions and strategic development at the highest levels of government. Winner of the Iconic Honours Awards 2026 for his commitment to public service, his dedication to advancing the well-being of Africa, Malawi, and his constituents makes him a respected figure in Malawi and the region. He is a founding Member of the Alliance for Parliamentary Network on internet Governance in Africa.

Kamy Akhavan, former CEO of ProCon.org, the nation’s leading source of nonpartisan research on controversial issues, is the Managing Director of the USC Center for the Political Future (CPF). Akhavan writes, speaks, and teaches courses on numerous topics including the origins of and solutions to political polarization, nonprofit leadership, and productive dialogue on controversial issues. With more than 20 years of experience in bridging divides nationally, his work has served more than 300 million people, including students at more than 13,000 schools in all 50 states and 100 countries. He has been published and interviewed in textbooks, magazines, television, radio, newspapers, and websites including Reuters, Associated Press, Fox News, ABC, Washington Post, NPR, CNN, and CBS.

Lila Aspin is an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California majoring in Public Policy with a minor in Legal Studies and is passionate about the intersection of social justice, sustainability, and health equity. She is committed to advancing sexual and reproductive rights through inclusive policy and grassroots organizing, with advocacy focused on reproductive justice and LGBTQIA+ rights. Aspin serves as an IIGH Youth Ambassador, engaging in a wide range of initiatives aimed at advancing global dialogue on sexual health and rights.

Yewande Alimi serves as the One Health Unit Lead at Africa Center for Disease Control (Africa CDC) and co-leads the Africa Union Task Force on Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR). A distinguished public health leader, she has been pivotal in developing and executing comprehensive strategies that seamlessly integrate human, animal, and environmental health concerns. Under Alimi’s leadership, Africa CDC has established programs addressing AMR, zoonotic diseases, food safety, and climate change. Alimi also played a pivotal role in shaping policy and funding priorities for AMR control across African Union Member States, including the establishment of the African Union Task Force on AMR and the first African Union Framework for Antimicrobial Resistance. She serves on multiple advisory boards and groups advocating for global health equity and gender equality. She holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and a Master of Public Health from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Wrap Up, Reflections from the Day, and Ways Forward

Moderator: Sofia Gruskin directs the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. She is USC Distinguished Professor of Population, Public Health Sciences & Law, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Chief of the Disease Prevention, Policy and Global Health Division at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Professor of Law and Preventive Medicine at the Gould School of Law. She has published extensively, including several books, training manuals and edited journal volumes, and more than 200 articles and chapters.

Jonathan Cohen is Professor of Clinical Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Director of Policy Engagement at the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. He represents KSOM and IIGH on USC’s Capital Campus. Cohen was previously the Public Health Program Director at the Open Society Foundations. His work has contributed to the development of fields as diverse as access to essential medicines, harm reduction, HIV/AIDS, mental health, palliative care, and reproductive and sexual health. He is an emerging leader in the field of population aging, with current work seeking to equip low and middle-income countries to equitably confront the challenge and opportunity of population aging and demographic change. He holds degrees from Yale College, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.

Laura Ferguson is an Associate Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, Director of the Program on Global Health & Human Rights, and Director of Research at the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. Her research focuses on understanding and addressing health systems and societal factors affecting health and the uptake of health services as well as developing the evidence base of how attention to human rights can improve health outcomes. Her work focuses primarily on HIV, sexual and reproductive health, child health and One Health. She is an associate editor for Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters and the American Journal of Public Health, and has an honorary appointment as Associate Professor of Research at Amref International University, Kenya.

Megan Goulding serves as Director of Strategic Operations at the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, where she leads all strategic planning and implementation, finance and human resources, and external relations. Prior to joining IIGH, Goulding led fundraising and external relations for the USC Price Center for Social Innovation, helping to conceptualize and launch major initiatives such as the Homelessness Policy Research Institute and the Neighborhood Data for Social Change project. Goulding holds a Doctor of Policy Planning, and Development degree from the USC Price School of Public Policy. Her doctoral research examined the decision-making processes that philanthropic foundations use to determine investment in emergent models of impact investing. Goulding also holds a Masters of Public Administration degree from the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Taylor Burkholder is an Associate Professor of clinical emergency medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the Director of Academic Programs at the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. He received a bachelor’s in business administration from Georgetown University and his MD and MPH from Tulane University. He then trained in emergency medicine in Denver before completing a fellowship in global emergency medicine at the University of Colorado. He is a volunteer consultant for the World Health Organization’s Emergency, Trauma and Acute Care programme, and he currently researches implementation of health service delivery interventions and the governance of emergency care systems in low- and middle-income countries. Burkholder teaches courses on pre-departure training to enable ethical, equitable, and sustainable global health educational experiences.

Closing Remarks

Provost Andrew T. Guzman is USC’s Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. He oversees the overall academic enterprise of the university, including 18 of the university’s professional schools and academic units, USC Museums, and the divisions of student life, libraries, student religious and spiritual life, and enrollment services. He is the first Latinx Provost to serve at USC. Provost Guzman joined USC in 2015 to serve as dean of USC’s Gould School of Law. During the 2022-2023 academic year, he also served as interim dean of USC Libraries. He began his role as Provost on July 1, 2023, and holds the Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Provost’s Chair and is an esteemed Law and Political Science Professor. A noted expert in international law and economics, Provost Guzman has written extensively on international trade, international regulatory matters, foreign direct investment, and public international law.

 A networking reception will immediately follow.