Public Health Workforce Development with Jane Steinberg, PhD, MPH

04/02/24 • 17 min

Jane K. Steinberg, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Sciences and Public Health in the Keck School of Medicine at USC. Trained as a behavioral scientist, her research focuses on determinants of multiple risk behaviors (alcohol/drug use, tobacco and cannabis use) among youth, and the development of effective programs and policy responses to reduce health risks and achieve health equity. Dr. Steinberg also serves as the Director of Public Health Practice for the department. She is currently a co-investigator on a HRSA workforce development grant to develop a career pipeline for MPH students into public health sector careers through scholarships, workforce training, mentorship and career placement opportunities. Dr. Steinberg received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Davis, and her MPH and PhD in Community Health Sciences from the University California, Los Angeles.
Learn more about Trojan Scholars for Advancement in Public Health
More than a typical scholarship, Trojan Scholars for Advancement in Public Health is a merit-based scholarship and mentorship program that is aimed at training Master of Public Health students to attain knowledge and competencies that will enable them to secure positions in public health organizations that address health disparities and inequities among residents of Los Angeles County.

The program will provide full scholarship to select recipients that covers up to 42 units of tuition required to complete MPH training. Scholarship recipients will participate in an academic and career building mentorship program focused on core public health functions and social determinants of health.

As part of their training, MPH students will complete an applied practice experience (practicum) in one of the partner organizations that serve areas of Los Angeles County with high proportions of health disparities and underserved residents.

Learn more about the Master of Public Health Program

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Learn more about the Master of Public Health Program

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PFAS in teas, processed meats and food packaging with Jesse Goodrich, PhD

Jesse Goodrich, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Environmental Health at the University of Southern California. His research combines data on environmental exposures with information on molecular-level biological processes to understand the effects of environmental pollutants on the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. He is particularly interested in examining these questions in children and adolescents because they may be more susceptible to the adverse health effects of environmental pollutants.

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Asthma and Environmental Justice in the Salton Sea with Shohreh Farzan, PhD and Connie Valencia, MPH, CHES, PhD

Shohreh Farzan, PhD is an environmental epidemiologist, with a background in molecular biology and toxicology. Farzan’s research focuses on the impact of environmental contaminants on maternal-child health, with a special interest in cardiometabolic health. Much of Farzan’s work focuses on the role of environmental exposures in altering preclinical indicators of cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk, particularly during vulnerable lifestages, such as childhood and pregnancy. Within the Maternal and Developmental Risks of Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) study, a NIMHD-funded Center of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research, she focuses on the role of prenatal air pollutants and psychosocial stressors on maternal postpartum cardiometabolic health. Farzan also leads multiple studies of the impacts of toxic metals and air pollutants on preclinical biomarkers of cardiovascular dysfunction in children and adolescents, both as PI of a NIEHS R01 to investigate the role of air pollutants in the development of atherosclerosis in the transition from childhood to young adulthood and as MPI of the ECHO LA DREAMERs study. She is also MPI of a NIEHS Research to Action R01 that established the Children’s AIRE cohort to investigate environmental contributors to children’s respiratory health in a rural border region of California to inform community-engaged public health actions and the recipient of a NIEHS K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.
Connie Valencia, MPH, CHES, PhD is a Sustainability Solutions Community Engagement Fellow in the Environmental Justice Research Lab in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences in the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Valencia is a first-generation college Latina, born and raised in Boyle Heights. She earned her BS in Psycho-bio with a minor in Chicano Studies from UCLA; Master’s in Public Health with an emphasis in Environmental Health and Community Health from Cal State University Fullerton (CSUF) and PhD from the University of California Irvine (UCI) Program in Public Health. Her research is focused on understanding the role that neighborhood resources have in engaging residents in discussions on environmental health disparities through qualitative research methods. She also assess the protective role of neighborhood institutions on air pollution exposure among Hispanic/Latino ethnic enclaves through quantitative research methods. She is currently collaborating on the Imperial Valley Respiratory Health & the Environment (AIRE) study.
Learn more about the USC Children's AIRE Study