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uscTrojan Summer 2013
F A M I L Y
DINOSAUR DEPICTER A talented USC Roski alumna brings the prehistoric Mesozoic Era to life.
Where
Trojan Tradition meets Latino Culture Be part of their success. Contribute to the legacy. Join us today in The Campaign for USC.
USC Latino Alumni Association Gabriela Martinez (B.S. Business Administration ’11) and Alexandra Ruelas (B.A. Neuroscience ’10, Master of Arts in Teaching ’11)
Get involved. Call us at (213) 740-4735.
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inside [ FEATURES ]
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Autism on Campus
Number Crunchers
Scientific Serendipity
Dinosaur Depicter
By Diane Krieger
By Marc Ballon
By Chris Daley
By Robin Heffler
Students, faculty and alumni on the autism spectrum show they have a place in college.
USC researchers are harnessing Big Data in innovative ways that will shape the future.
In the quest for answers to tough questions, USC’s Scott Fraser gets people talking.
USC Roski alumna draws on paleontology and imagination to create a vision of ancient life.
28 Designs on Social Change
By Alicia Di Rado
USC Marshall teaches undergrads how to combine creativity with business principles to make a better world.
32 Busy Signals National Medal of Science laureate Solomon Golomb is as curious at age 80 as he was at 18.
34 Fresh Air
By Candace Pearson
Targeted therapies and other advances create new hope for lung cancer patients.
03 President’s Page
09 Campaign for USC
A visionary gift from two music industry giants creates an academy for artistic entrepreneurs.
Gifts provide opportunities for film students and Latino alumni give back through scholarships.
04 Mailbag
39 Family Ties
Pats, pans and other observations and opinions from readers
News from the USC Alumni Association
06 Trojan Beat
Who’s doing what and where
44 Class Notes
Faculty welcomes Gen. David Petraeus, a newly approved device gives hope for the blind, and women’s lacrosse starts new era.
On the cover: Illustration by Stephanie Abramowicz ’06
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editor's note The quarterly magazine of the University of Southern California EDITOR
Alicia Di Rado SENIOR EDITOR
Diane Krieger
The Circle of College Life
MANAGING EDITOR
Mary Modina ART DIRECTOR
Sheharazad P. Fleming DESIGN AND PRODUCTION
Russell Ono, Stacey Torii Dongyi Wu CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Marc Ballon, Merrill Balassone Chris Daley, Eliza Gallo Megan Hazle, Robin Heffler Pamela J. Johnson, Sue Khodarahmi Timothy O. Knight, Ross M. Levine Eric Mankin, Annette Moore Candace Pearson, Robert Perkins Leslie Ridgeway, Christina Schweighofer Lauren Walser PHOTOGRAPHY
THE OLDER YOU GET, THE FASTER TIME speeds by. As if I hadn’t realized that already, along came my niece’s recent college graduation. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was posing on the same field for the same pictures with my family after my own commencement? Back then, the only evidence of my niece Sarah was my sister-in-law’s expanding belly. Sarah would grow up to become a lover of literature and a kind, aspiring teacher, but back then she seemed destined for kicking field goals. Things change a lot in 22 years. At USC, as we welcome members of the Class of ’13 into the family of alumni, the Class of ’17 prepares to arrive. And it’s USC’s most impressive undergraduate group ever. Next fall’s admitted USC students bring an average high school GPA of 3.8 (more than 4.0 if you weigh Advanced Placement courses). They represent every U.S. state and 79 other countries, volunteer in their communities and excel in the arts and sports. Considering the rich quality and experiences of today’s students, my friends and I are often grateful we didn’t have to compete with them for college admission. But that was another time. Now as alumni we can look proudly on the academic prowess of our current college students: The more our next generations succeed, the better the alma mater becomes. And at USC, when our students shine, USC shines—and that reflects on the whole Trojan Family. Now if they could only figure out how to slow down time. ALICIA DI RADO EDITORIAL DIRECTOR U S C U N I V E R S I T Y C O M M U N I C AT I O N S
Sahar Baghery, John Beckner Jeff Bertig, Stephen Blaha Armando Brown, Philip Channing Tony Choi, Steve Cohn Patricia Essilfie, Luke Fisher, Steven A. Heller David James, Ann Jerome, Jon Kondrath Victoria Lanier, Shelley McArdle Don Milici, Noé Montes Jon Nalick, Joe Ochoa Vanessa Preziose, Tom Queally Tom Rysavy, John Simpson Julie Stapen, Yesim Tozan Blessing Waung, Rachel Wu ADVERTISING MANAGER
Mary Modina | modina@usc.edu CIRCULATION MANAGER
Vickie Kebler USC Trojan Family Magazine 3434 South Grand Avenue CAL 140, First Floor Los Angeles, CA 90089-2818 magazines@usc.edu | (213) 740-2684 USC Trojan Family Magazine (ISSN 87507927) is published four times a year, in March, June, September and December, by USC University Communications.
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summer 2013
president's page BY C. L. MAX NIKIAS
On a sunny day in May, USC announced an extraordinarily generous—and exceptionally visionary—gift from pioneering music producer Jimmy Iovine and celebrated artist Andre Young, who is known professionally as Dr. Dre. Their $70 million gift will create the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation.
P H OTO B Y S T E V E C O H N
Director Erica Muhl, left, and music industry giants Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre (Andre Young) with USC President C. L. Max Nikias
The excitement on our campuses swelled quickly. This will be a tremendously groundbreaking program for our undergraduate students, and effectively collapse the boundaries between art and industry, artist and entrepreneur. The academy will prepare keenly creative individuals to become savvy business strategists, while nurturing the artistic sensibilities of talented entrepreneurs. Students will emerge from this program as inspired innovators, amply equipped to assume their place alongside today’s most prescient thinkers. The academy will enroll its first class of 25 students in fall 2014, and Erica Muhl, dean of the USC Roski School of Fine Arts, will serve as its inaugural director. Its curriculum will be decidedly interdisciplinary, but will primarily draw from the fields of audio and visual design, engineering, business and fine arts. In their fourth year, students will form self-directed teams and advance projects in the “Garage,” a highly experiential setting inspired by the storied HewlettPackard garage in Palo Alto, Calif., which is often referred to as the birthplace of Silicon Valley. Graduates of the academy will become passionate leaders among their peers, while drawing on an education that emphasizes creativity, artistry, cultural curation and technological invention. As skilled risktakers, they will redefine the very landscapes of these areas, diligently imagining new art forms, innovative technologies and forward-thinking business models. As they build their careers, as they advance their potential and contribute to society, they will consistently innovate, rather than imitate.
In developing its programming, the academy will regularly host luminaries from outside the university. These visiting faculty and guest speakers will offer both instruction and inspiration to our students, and serve as astute mentors for their projects. They will also help our students bridge their scholarly and creative work with the pragmatic demands of the professional world. USC is the ideal home for such a dynamic academy. Our world-class arts schools routinely collaborate with our professional schools, producing projects that blend music and engineering, business and fine arts. The culture of our community has always been rooted in collaboration, in building connections among disciplines, and in bridging fields as disparate as graphic design and marketing, business strategy and technology. This history—this vibe—will form the academy’s foundation. Meanwhile, the university’s location will certainly fuel the academy’s growth. Off campus, its students will find themselves in the media and creative capital of the world: Los Angeles. Here, music, film and the visual arts remain deeply intertwined, their communities regularly partnering to produce new works and fresh ideas. Our students will also benefit from USC’s proximity to the city’s burgeoning Silicon Beach, as well as its more established sibling, Silicon Valley. These communities will expose our students to cutting-edge technological advances, allowing them to keep a well-placed finger on innovation’s pulse. This is a landmark moment for USC. We are tremendously proud to partner with Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young to create this new academy, and together, we will prepare stellar artists to be effective entrepreneurs and singular businesspersons to be great artists. In doing so, we will cultivate an elite group of students, building generations of inspired thinkers—all unique among the graduates of top universities today. ● U S C T R O JA N FA M I LY M AG A Z I N E
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mailbag Healthy Discourse As a retired obstetrician-gynecologist, I read the article “Health Ensured” (Spring 2013, p. 18) with great interest. The authors generally imply that the Affordable Care Act, after initial spending increases, will work to save health care expenses in this country. I have grave doubts, but nonetheless hope they are correct. I do take exception, however, with their statement “... we know that (Cesarean rates are based on payment) is exactly what happens.” My own rule for any therapeutic decision was based purely on patient outcome. It’s too bad that the threat of litigation and other considerations were also factors to be considered, but I believe that patient outcome was a primary factor for most of my colleagues as well. I would be pleased if the author or Mr. Goldman can cite a study that forms the basis of this remark. Alan L. Lasnover MD ’61 ESCONDIDO, CA
A Summer That Counts Four-Week Business Program Just for Non-Business Majors
Dana Goldman, director of the USC Schaeffer Center, replies: While it is difficult to identify any particular physician who would change a recommended treatment for a particular patient, the evidence on this point is striking. More than half of the difference in rates of cesarean sections between Medicaid and private-insured patients can be explained by fee differences (Gruber and Kim, 1999). In addition, regions that experienced the most dramatic declines in fertility rates from 1970 to 1982 saw the largest increases in cesarean sections, even after controlling for other demographic factors (Gruber and Owings, 1999). The bottom line is that physicians—despite their best intentions—respond to financial incentives just like anyone else. I am surprised that none of the scholars at USC mentioned single-payer health care i.e., socialized medicine. That is the way all the countries with mature economies, e.g., European Union countries, provide and pay for their health care. They spend less per
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GARDEN GROVE, CA
Editor’s note: Several USC professors spoke at length about single-payer health care during our interviews for this story, but the article addressed the sustainability of the Affordable Care Act, which does not use a single-payer model. Efforts to create a national single-payer system have garnered insufficient political support in Congress to move forward, although Vermont’s single-payer system may become a test case. As to the larger question of whether universal health care would make us healthier, the answer is complicated: Improving health in the U.S. does not seem to be entirely an issue of access to health care but also of lifestyle, and there are places, including cancer survival, where higher U.S. spending appears to buy better health.
USC Marshall School of Business intensive 4-week Summer Business Program gives students an edge in today’s competitive job market. Open to non-business majors only: recent graduates or college juniors and seniors Taught by faculty from the internationally ranked USC Marshall School of Business Study business principles in 5 key areas: leadership & communication, strategy & organization, finance & managerial accounting, marketing, and operations
(213) 740-8990 summerprogram@marshall.usc.edu marshall.usc.edu/summer
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person and the people enjoy better health. I would like to see the USC scholars look into a comparison of “affordable health” and the systems used in other mature economies. Jack Finkelstein MS ’59
APPLY NOW! SESSION DATES: July 8 - August 2
media bytes Room for More
Beat the Rap
In the photo of Briahna Hendey’s room on page 29 (“My Room, My USC,” Spring 2013), on a shelf above her desk is a quotation from Edwin Land (of the Polaroid Land Cameras) that begins: “An essential aspect of creativity is not being ...” The ending is obscured by a blue dog. I would like to know how Land completes that thought. Although my classes at USC were off campus (Vandenberg Air Force Base 50 miles on the other side of Santa Barbara), I had previously inhabited something called a dorm. Quite different, in some ways, and the same in other ways, from the lifestyles described in your article. Howard Cornell MS ’72
The latest issue proposed that there is a “Medical Mystery” (Trojan Beat, Spring 2013, p. 6) as to why Americans die earlier than people from other high-income democracies. I disagree with the perspective. Without the benefit of knowing which 17 countries were examined in the research, two very likely reasons behind the earlier deaths are surely that Americans, on the whole, walk less and sleep less than the people living in the other countries studied. Walking is not expensive. Sleeping—generally speaking—is not expensive. Wealth and access to medical technology can’t undo the negative effects of a sedentary, sleep-deprived lifestyle. Lynn Balsamo ’88
ARLINGTON, TEXAS
S A N TA M O N I C A , C A
Editor’s note: The end of Edwin Land’s quote is “afraid to fail.” It was interesting to note in “Faculty Sound Bytes” (Media Bytes, Spring 2013, p. 5) Leslie Saxon’s statement “My vision of the future is that digital medicine will help us live easier, and hopefully it will be harder to die.” I know that she meant well, but, at my age of 90 years, I see friends that already find it very difficult to die. No wonder the English language is so hard to understand. Warren G. Brown DDS ’45
We believe [Dowell] Myers (“Wanted: California Babies”) missed a huge opportunity by avoiding the mention of what is probably the chief reason this particular slate of states is not producing. Those states are at the forefront of producing a large crop of dependent, nanny-state-indoctrinated, nonproducing, subpar-citizen drug addicts. No wonder the baby crop is subpar. Who wants to raise a family in such hopeless, government-controlled intellectual poverty? Heck, who wants to even go visit them? Art MS ’89 and Maureen Charette
CAMARILLO, CA
ALLISON, CO
Love Bytes
What a great picture of the Tirebiter bronze! I have only visited our campus twice since graduating in 1945 and had not seen it. He was truly unique and is rightly honored. Too many people who missed their pets wanted to pet him, so he became aloof. The only one who could pet him was the Good Humor man, also very popular. There may have been some treats involved in their relationship. Unlike other campus dogs, he would follow you 10 or 15 feet away as you walked across campus. At that time most of the streets were open and traffic was light. Tirebiter saw it as his job to make a run at every car that passed. Was he protecting us or just showing off? Who knows what goes through a dog’s head. He never quite bit a tire but was always close. Tirebiter is rightly remembered as part of our history. Newell Boughton ’45 TA O S , N M
FACULTY SOUND BYTES “Inevitably, our tastes change as we grow older. Most of the pop songs that once served as anthems are now exercises in nostalgia, calling up happy ghosts rather than anything new and urgent.” TIM PAGE
USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times bit.ly/popnostalgia
“We all know that diet, blood pressure and other risk factors play an important role in developing heart disease, but these factors can be modified and influenced by having caring, loving relationships.” L U A N DA G R A Z E T T E
Keck School of Medicine of USC, 89.3 KPCC-FM bit.ly/loving_relationship
“The rule of thumb really should be that if you put something up on the Web you lose some kind of control over it. You almost have to assume it will stay out there forever.”
Super Doctor Dr. [Inderbir] Gill (“New Ways to Fight Prostate Cancer,” Winter 2012, p. 32) performed surgery on my husband in 2006, and it was quite successful. At that time, he was at the Cleveland Clinic. He is a warm, caring, highly talented professional whom we greatly admire. He even wheeled my husband into the operating room, although he proved more adept at surgery than steering. We are so thankful for his surgical skill and so happy that he has moved to USC! Carol (Hagg) Kemp ’65 B E L L I N G H A M , WA
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USC Gould School, NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV bit.ly/rule_of_thumb
“…scientists, whether they like it or not, need to learn how to brand their work in a way that those with less scientific knowledge understand the great returns that can be generated from their investments.” IR A K ALB
USC Marshall School, Business Insider bit.ly/brand_work
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trojan beat
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Frank J. Fertitta III ’84, chairman and CEO of Station Casinos and Fertitta Entertainment, a resort and casino development and management company, joined the USC Board of Trustees.
LACROSSE FEVER
ENGINEERS, START YOUR ENGINES!
Varsity women’s lacrosse became the 21st NCAA sport at USC in 2012–13, and the team surprised fans by finishing fourth in its conference in its first year. Trojan head coach Lindsey Munday—winner of two NCAA championships as a player and three as a coach, all at lacrosse powerhouse Northwestern University—captains the current U.S. women’s national team. She handpicked USC’s 26 players, including Amanda Johansen, who won conference Rookie of the Year honors.
USC Viterbi School has teamed with the venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and the entertainment management firm United Talent Agency to help Viterbi students and alumni turn their ideas into successful companies. The partnership—called Viterbi Startup Garage—is an earlystage technology accelerator that provides funding, space, mentoring and strategic resources through a 12-week program based at USC’s Information Sciences Institute in Marina del Rey, Calif.
Professor Petraeus Retired four-star Gen. David Petraeus, architect of the counterinsurgency doctrine that stabilized Iraq and former director of the CIA, joined USC’s faculty July 1 as Judge Widney Professor. Petraeus will teach, attend seminars and panels, participate in working sessions with students and faculty, and mentor student veterans and ROTC members. His presence at USC “will add transformative energy to our teaching and research in international relations, government, economics, management, defense studies and military science,” says University Professor Kevin Starr. Petraeus’ interests include American leadership in revolutionizing energy, information technology, life sciences and manufacturing. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Military Academy and an MPA and a PhD from Princeton University in international relations—a subject he has taught at West Point. Petraeus toured USC in March, visiting with veterans, ROTC members and students from the USC School of Social Work and USC Price School of Public Policy.
L A C R O S S E P H O T O B Y J O N K O N D R AT H ; Z A M P E R I N I P H O T O B Y J E F F B E R T I N G ; P E T R A E U S P H O T O B Y VA N E S S A P R E Z I O S E
-year-old Louis Zamperini ’40, World War II hero and 1936 Trojan Olympian, received a thunderous standing ovation at his Bovard appearance in March.
Barbara Hedges, who pioneered the Trojan women’s athletics program, returned to USC as co-chair of the Heritage Initiative, the $300 million fundraising campaign for USC Athletics.
Bionic Eyes The blind will see. That’s not just part of a biblical passage—it’s medically possible today, thanks to the Argus II retinal prosthesis system, recently approved by the FDA for use in the United States. USC researcher Mark Humayun was a key member of the team that developed the device, which is now available to qualified patients at the Keck Medical Center of USC. The Argus II restores partial vision to people with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited degenerative retinal disease that affects about 100,000 Americans. Thirty patients received the device in a clinical trial that began in 2007; these patients can now locate the position of objects, and some can recognize large letters. The results have been “beyond our wildest dreams,” says Humayun, who holds the Cornelius J. Pings Chair in Biomedical Sciences and is professor of ophthalmology, biomedical engineering and cell neurobiology at USC.
H U M AY U N P H O T O B Y J O N N A L I C K ; I L L U S T R AT I O N © PA S I E K A / S C I E N C E P H O T O L I B R A R Y / C O R B I S
BRAIN REBUILDERS Imagine if doctors could regenerate brain cells killed by stroke, traumatic brain injury or diseases such as Parkinson’s. That advance may be on the horizon. Researchers led by Berislav Zlokovic, director of USC’s Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, have shown that human neural progenitor cells, which build neurons, can be prompted into action by a genetically engineered variant of a protein found in the body. Mice that received the variant two weeks after a stroke showed remarkable cognitive improvements.
80 new “SNPs”—single nucleotide polymorphisms—were discovered by Keck School researchers. Having one or more of these genetic variations may increase a person’s risk for breast, prostate and ovarian cancer.
The USC Board of Trustees welcomed Leonard D. Schaeffer, founding chairman and CEO of WellPoint and namesake of the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics.
Renowned choreographer and former Joffrey Ballet principal dancer Jodie Gates is the new vice dean and director of USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. She was a dance professor at UC Irvine.
15th Luce Scholar in USC history is filmmaker Tamara Shogaolu, a cinematic arts MFA who will study social change media in Asia.
PRIVATE EYE Relatively few of the millions of photos shared online are encrypted, leaving them potentially vulnerable to misuse by strangers. But now there’s P3 (short for “privacy-preserving photo sharing”). P3 removes and encrypts small but crucial bits of image data, permitting cloud file-sharing services like Facebook and Flickr to access just the unencrypted—and unrecognizable—portions. Only the image’s owner can share the encrypted portions. P3 is the brainchild of USC Viterbi School’s Antonio Ortega and Ramesh Govindan, with PhD student Moo-Ryong Ra.
Legal scholar Lee Epstein was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. She is USC Provost Professor of Law and Political Science and holds the Rader Family Trustee Chair in Law.
Erica Muhl, a composition professor in the USC Thornton School of Music, is the new dean of the USC Roski School of Fine Arts. She had served as interim dean since 2012.
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Trojan Pride = Doing Your Part There are a lot of things to be proud of at USC. Let’s make alumni participation one of them! More than 190,000 donors have supported the $6 billion Campaign for USC. You can join them today. It takes only a few minutes to make a gift and a difference. There is strength in numbers, so let’s show the world that USC’s alumni are proud to be Trojans! https://giveto.usc.edu
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Please call or make a gift online: USC Office of Annual Giving (213) 740-7500 Toll Free: 877 GIVE USC https://giveto.usc.edu
[ CAMPAIGN FOR USC ]
Students’ First Steps in Film Sumner Redstone’s $10 million gift supports a creative space for budding filmmakers.
R E D S TO N E P H OTO B Y S T E V E C O H N ; S I N G E R P H OTO B Y D AV I D J A M E S
EXPECT TO SEE “Filmed on Redstone 1” or “Filmed on Redstone 2” at the end of student film credits at film festivals in years to come. Already, young gaffers are setting up lights and aspiring directors are supervising crews on the two soundstages in the Sumner M. Redstone Production Building, which was recently named for the longtime entertainment industry executive. Redstone’s $10 million naming gift to the USC School for Cinematic Arts supports production space and facilities used by about 1,000 USC students readying for their life’s work in film, television and news media. “I’ve always said that content is king. It’s the lord of the realm. It’s the highest value in this industry,” Redstone told a crowd that gathered on Redstone Stage 2 for a dedica-
tion ceremony in February. “USC has been instrumental in celebrating the type of talent that exemplifies this, and it’s my sincere honor to be associated with this great school and to help to shape the future of this industry.” The Redstone Production Building, which is already open, features 2,600 square feet of production space where students collaborate while learning key skills, such as staging, lighting, directing, producing, and forming and leading a crew. Redstone is majority owner and chairman of the board of the National Amusements theater chain. Through National Amusements, Redstone and his family are majority owners of CBS Corp., Viacom, MTV Networks, BET and Paramount Pictures. R YA N G I L M O U R
From X-Men to an Expansive Cinematic Gift Bryan Singer embraces the division where he made his start in film. HE’S BEST KNOWN AS THE DIRECTOR behind the blockbuster X-Men franchise, but at USC, Bryan Singer ’89 has become a familiar name for more than his successful film career. In January, Singer became the namesake of the USC School of Cinematic Arts division from which he received his bachelor’s degree. Now called the Bryan Singer Division of Critical Studies, the division became the school’s first to be named for one of its alumni. Singer’s $5 million naming gift will provide a lasting source of funding to enable the division to grow, as well as provide support for students, faculty and staff. The division provides a range of courses on the study of media, from big-budget blockbusters to immersive experiences, and it’s spawned many influential scholars, authors and cinematic leaders such as Singer. “In a way, I began my career in the Division of Critical Studies at USC,” Singer said. “Watching great films and learning how to think about film from the faculty transformed me as an artist and as a person. I am honored to give back to the division and the school that gave me so much.” VALERIE TURPIN
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Unlocking True Potential ALTHOUGH JOHN M. SANDOVAL ’12 spoke no English when he arrived in California at age 5, he thrived in his new environment and quickly became a star student. Now he’s graduated magna cum laude from USC—but the path to success wasn’t always an easy one. His parents, Jose and Sonia Sandoval, were both architects in El Salvador before they emigrated to the U.S. to protect their family from widespread gang violence and kidnappings in their native country. The jobs they found here were nothing like those they’d had—Sonia Sandoval is a babysitter, and her husband works at a gas station—but they sacrificed to provide their son the best education. When the couple enrolled him in a private high school, his mother proudly told a counselor there that John had been a straight-A student throughout elementary and middle school. The counselor replied that it would be a while before he’d earn A’s in this school. Despite those low expectations, John never
earned less than an A in high school. And he went on to attend USC—where he did both his parents and his university proud. He completed a double major in political science and philosophy in three and a half years. During that time, he also served as president of the USC chapter of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, led a yearlong weekly workshop series to guide high school students through the college application process, and worked as a residential adviser for three years, helping incoming freshmen transition to college life. Now a paralegal in the law offices of Curiel and Parker, he plans to apply to law school. John received the top student honor at the 39th annual USC Latino Alumni Association Scholarship Gala on March 1. In his acceptance speech, he thanked USC for believing in him, and dedicated the honor to his parents. “This would not have been possible without the grant USC offered me when my father
was unemployed, or without the scholarship and professional training the USC LAA has provided,” he said. The LAA is a legacy of the USC Mexican American Alumni Association, founded in 1973. The name was changed in 2011 to affirm the growing diversity of USC’s Latino community and the association’s commitment to serving all Latino students at the university. With support from an active and loyal cadre of alumni, students and friends, the LAA has awarded $15 million in scholarships over the past 40 years. Each year, more than 175 students receive LAA scholarships. Tuition assistance goes to USC undergraduates and graduate students who demonstrate financial need or merit as well as a commitment to the Latino community. Every scholarship recipient, in return, is required to provide volunteer service for the LAA. Most scholars join the association after graduation. This strategy of linking financial support with a culture of giving back has transformed the lives of scholarship recipients while advancing the university overall. “USC has been recognized by the Education Trust, a research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, for the outstanding job we do in graduating Latino students at rates that are at the university average,” said Katharine Harrington, USC vice president of admissions and planning. “We attribute that in part to the very positive influence the Latino Alumni Association has on our current students.” Nationwide, according to a report by Excelencia in Education, Latino students’ university graduation rates trail 14 percentage points behind those of white students. If he could ask just one thing of those attending the gala, John said, it would be to support LAA scholarships as a way of making a real impact on the world—and discovering “what true potential looks like when it’s unlocked.” ANNETTE MOORE
John Sandoval ’12 is flanked by his parents, Jose and Sonia Sandoval.
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Learn more about the LAA and scholarships at latinoalumni.usc.edu
P H OTO B Y VA N E S S A P R E Z I O S E
Support from Latino alumni boosts future generations of Trojans.
I, Robot
P H OTO B Y L U K E F I S H E R P H OTO G R A P H Y
Children with autism relate to Maja Matarić’s ’bots. MAJA MATARIĆ couldn’t help but smile. A boy with autism stood in front of one of her Interaction Lab’s robots, looked at its mechanical face, and ordered, “Robot, say, ‘Choo-choo!’” The robot stayed quiet. “Oh, now I know how my teacher feels,” the boy said, displaying empathy both humorous and unexpected. This is the kind of breakthrough that excites Matarić, USC professor and Chan Soon-Shiong Chair in Computer Science, Neuroscience and Pediatrics. She studies how socially assistive robots can help people, especially those with special needs. Among those who seem to benefit: children on the autism spectrum. “No one knows why robots work so well with some children with autism. But we and others have observed repeatedly that when many children with autism interact with socially assistive robots, they show behaviors they ordinarily wouldn’t express, especially not with other people,” says Matarić, director of the USC Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems and co-director of the USC Robotics Research Lab. Matarić’s lab conducts research with therapists and clinical researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where she has placed robots to study how children on the
autism spectrum relate to them as peers and playmates. Matarić and her students are documenting everything from the essential challenges of autism to the kinds of interactions that children on the autism spectrum enjoy. Because many of these children respond well to repetition and predictability, and respond poorly to human faces and behaviors, robots may make ideal therapeutic play partners, she explains. A small but growing group of researchers internationally are studying the use of robots in autism therapy, but Matarić’s work is unique in focusing on peer-like playmates similar in size and form to other children. The goal is to teach children with autism how to more easily interact with other people. Matarić was among those who created the Roadmap for U.S. Robotics, which resulted in the National Robotics Initiative, a presidential initiative that provides funding for robotics research. The National Science Foundation funds her long-term autism research. “We are interested in how we can use robots to begin to change children’s behavior. What would happen if a child with autism had a robot buddy at school and at the playground—would that make other kids more interested in playing, and would
the robot make the child more ready to play with other children?” Matarić says. The work is gratifying to Patrick SoonShiong, who, with his wife, Michele B. Chan, endowed the chair Matarić holds at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. “We’re honored to be able to support work that could make a difference. With so many children diagnosed with autism today, we need tools to help them relate to others and embrace them into society,” Soon-Shiong says. Certainly, Matarić takes a scientific approach to her research on the robots’ benefits to children with autism. Robots should never replace human therapists, she says. But, as a parent, she’s also enthusiastic and hopeful. If robotics technology improves and clinical trials proceed, she expects robots will be used to help certain children with autism within five years. “For a spectrum disorder like autism, one magic pill isn’t going to happen,” she says. “If use of a robot is affordable and not damaging, why don’t we try it?” ALICIA DI RADO
Learn more about Matarić’s research at robotics.usc.edu/interaction. Find out how you can advance this and other innovative research at campaign.usc.edu
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“Universities need to be a safe place where people with autism know that they will be full members of the academic community.�
neurodiversity and the university Students, alumni and faculty on the autism spectrum show they have a place in the university. By Diane Krieger
Universities are hotbeds for the study of autism. They are also increasingly hotbeds for study among autistic people. With wider access to diagnosis and support, having an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) need no longer be a roadblock to attending college.
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ASD is characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors. One out of 88 children is on the autism spectrum, according to the Centers for Disease Control, though one new study suggests the rate may be as high as one out of 50—an increase likely attributable to greater awareness. ►
ROUGHLY 50,000 AUTISTIC YOUTH TURN 18 EVERY YEAR. Only a third of them currently go on to college, but experts believe many more could, given appropriate support. There are college handbooks for them, and plenty of online resources. For university admissions offices, the socalled “epidemic” of autism may offer an opportunity. Recruiters see a promising pool of applicants who bring unexpected ideas and single-minded focus. Then there’s the matter of federal law: Under the Americans With Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, people with autism are guaranteed reasonable accommodations at college. But just how welcoming is academe to “neurodiversity,” and are universities prepared to help teenagers with autism enter adulthood? Nationally, some universities do better than others. Many fall short by failing to recognize a common thread among students with ASD: While diverse in their strengths and weaknesses, most are susceptible to sensory overload, says USC education and disabilities expert Gisele Ragusa. Students with autism could benefit from services and technologies that are already routinely offered to students with other types of sensory challenges such as hearing loss, including listening devices, FM systems and real-time captioning for lectures. In-class note-takers and private exam rooms could also prove beneficial. The crucial thing, says Ragusa, of the USC Rossier School of Education and USC Viterbi School of Engineering, is to extend these services to students with ASD. “And USC does a fabulous job of this,” she says. However, it’s partly up to students to seek assistance. While elaborate services exist to smooth their way, only five students with ASD are currently registered with USC’s Office of Disability Services. The real number is likely far greater; autism often coincides with
attention deficit disorder, and some autistic students may prefer to register under that disability. Or they might choose not to register at all. “We have students with all categories of disabilities who do not register with the office,” says Eddie Roth, disability program director. High-functioning autistic people often keep their diagnosis quiet. “None of my classmates or friends knows about it,” says Jack Fletcher, a sophomore communications major who asked that his real name not be used in this article. “I’m anxious that people might look at me differently.” Fletcher, who was diagnosed at age 5 with a form of ASD called Asperger’s syndrome, signed up with USC’s disability office to qualify for accommodations such as extra time on exams. Defying autism behavioral stereotypes, he is gregarious and active in campus activities, from the USC Program Board to the ’SC Homeless Initiative. He shoots hoops for fun and dreams of a career in event planning. Ragusa believes universities need to do more than quietly provide services. They need to wave welcome banners. “Students with mild autism, who function reasonably well academically and socially, are not going to show their stuff when they get to a university unless they feel it’s welcoming and that they will not be singled out or isolated because of their challenge,” Ragusa says. “Universities need to be a safe place where people with autism know that they will be full members of the academic community.” While Fletcher isn’t terribly interested in disability issues, Steven Kapp ’09 certainly is. An autism activist who majored in public policy with a communications minor, Kapp started an autism student group while he was at USC and began advocating for quality-of-life considerations affecting people with ASD. He also successfully launched an annual Disability Awareness Week that continues today. “USC was more than will-
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ing to help me when I had bigger advocacy plans,” he says. Kapp continues to focus on autism as a doctoral student in educational psychology at UCLA. Active or not, students on the spectrum can look to two openly autistic USC faculty members as mentors and adult role models. USC Marshall School of Business marketing expert Lars Perner PhD ’98 has Asperger’s and sees some academic advantages in his neurological “quirks.” For example, he likes to begin his consumer psychology class by asking the students a seemingly silly question: Why does Tony the Tiger wear a scarf? It certainly isn’t a fluke, he tells them. Kellogg Co. spent big money developing the iconic Frosted Flakes mascot. “That’s the kind of question a lot of people would not ask,” Perner says. “But once you ask it, there’s a lot of depth there.” The other openly autistic USC faculty member is Tim Page, a professor of journalism and music history. For many years he was the Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic of The Washington Post. In 2007, he went public with his Asperger’s diagnosis in an essay for The New Yorker. That eventually led to Parallel Play, which he calls the best of the dozen books he’s written. Though Page claims no authority on autism, people looking for answers regularly seek him out. “I’ve met with a lot of students who were suddenly diagnosed and want to talk,” says Page, of the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journal-
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ism. “I’m always willing to discuss it. I consider it my duty.” In line with that duty, Page and Perner both appear in an innovative transmedia project, “Interacting with Autism,” produced by the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Set to launch in September, interactingwithautism. com uses video to help people better understand the autism experience. (A sample clip is already online at bit.ly/autismclip.) One of the film editors on the project is Dan Gross MFA ’13, a recent graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He was diagnosed at age 2 with full-on classic autism, complete with screaming meltdowns and limited speech. “I used to be terrified of everything from fire drills at school to overhead fans going off,” he says. Finding himself often isolated and friendless, those were hard years. But with a caring family and supportive therapists, Gross blossomed, discovering a talent for filmmaking in high school. The response of classmates to his documentary about a field trip to Washington, D.C., caught him by surprise. “They were really emotionally moved and touched by what I did,” he recalls. “I was fascinated that I was able to provoke that reaction.” Gross learned his craft at the University of Connecticut in his hometown of Storrs, and continued to burnish it at USC. This summer, he is moving to New York to begin a career in film editing. Expect to hear more such success stories in the future.
“For many generations, autism was an incredibly misunderstood and hidden disability,” says Ragusa. Now that educators have a better understanding of ASD, many children with autism get the support they need at an early age, so they’re faring better in school. “They tend to be quite bright, so there is no reason they shouldn’t attend college,” she continues. “But college is different from high school. The expectation of independence is greater; the expectation of interacting socially and in groups is greater.” The challenge for universities will be to help students with autism negotiate the twists and turns of higher education, on the road to achieving independent, productive and fulfilling lives. The goal, Ragusa insists, must be nothing short of full inclusion: “We want to prepare people with ASD to be full members of society and full participants in the nation’s workforce.” ● Read more about Page’s and Perner’s experiences, learn about USC disability services, pick up useful tips and more at tfm.usc.edu/2013-autism
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About 1 in 88 American children is on the autism spectrum, a 10-fold increase in prevalence in 40 years, according to Autism Speaks. Autism is nearly five times more common among boys than girls. Within the next decade, about 500,000 children with autism will become adults with autism.
NUMBER CRUNCHERS Ninety percent of the world’s data was created in the last two years. What we do with it will change the future. By Marc Ballon Illustrations by Dongyi Wu
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WE’RE LIVING IN THE AGE OF BIG DATA. From smartphones to social media sites, online shopping to electronic medical records, modern technology is creating mountains of valuable information. When filtered through powerful computer algorithms, these digital bits shape our world. Thanks to Big Data, online dating sites can better match prospective mates. Companies can understand their customers’ wants and needs as never before. Government agencies can more easily catch tax cheats. “We are on the cusp of an amazing wave of innovation, productivity and growth … all driven by Big Data,” a 2011 McKinsey & Company study concludes. USC computer scientists, electrical engineers and other researchers are at the vanguard of this technological revolution. Read on to learn about four ways that USC researchers are harnessing Big Data to change the future.
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CALCULATED MOVES What makes basketball teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder so successful? Take great players like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, smart coaching and passionate fans—and add a dash of computer science. Yes, computer science. “Moneyball”—the use of statistics to guide decisions in sports—has its believers in today’s NBA. Researchers call it quantitative analytics, and it’s increasingly influencing decisions in the front office and on the court. Two USC Viterbi School of Engineering computer scientists are major players in the movement. Rajiv Maheswaran and Yu-Han Chang have spent the past two years analyzing data captured by video cameras mounted high in the rafters of several NBA arenas to unlock the mysteries of what constitutes good offense and defense. Their aptitude at making sense of the rivers of data generated by SportVU, an optical tracking technology originally created for incoming missiles, earned them the top research award at the 2012 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference—a sort of Super Bowl for the sports-data obsessed. Currently, 15 NBA teams in search of a competitive advantage use the SportVU datagathering system. Among them is one of the teams that made the 2013 NBA Finals: the San Antonio Spurs. Maheswaran and Chang can do a lot with the data. Both big sports fans, they looked at more than 70,000 shots, including the position of the shooters and defenders before, during and after field goal attempts.
Among their findings: A typical three-point shot is nearly as good as a close-range twopointer. That’s because a typical three-pointer is less contested and worth more. Look at it this way: Data show that a three-point shooter facing a defender 5 feet away hits his shot 54 percent of the time. That’s about the same percentage for a player shooting a two-point shot only 3 feet from the basket. Maheswaran and Chang also create individual player profiles that show offensive and defensive tendencies, rebounding stats, and shooting analytics such as shot selection and accuracy under increased pressure. That’s invaluable information for an NBA team. “What they can do with the data is far beyond what we or any NBA team can do with the data,” says Brian Kopp, vice president of strategy and development of Chicago-based STATS, which owns the SportVU technology. The computer scientists just launched a new company to create tools to help NBA teams understand and use optical tracking data. “We can also do this for soccer, football, hockey,” Maheswaran says, “basically any sport that has movement.”
3-point shot taken 5 feet from defender
2-point shot taken 2 feet from defender
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Quantitative analytics is increasingly influencing decisions in the front office and on the court.
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10% Other What do Lady Gaga, Barack Obama and Justin Bieber have in common? They not only make news, but they shape it as never before. Amid an explosion in social media, journalists at some of the nation’s most prestigious publications are increasingly turning to influential Twitter accounts for story leads. A prominent actress’s tweeted naked pictures of herself to a married co-star can easily become tomorrow’s front-page entertainment news. As Twitter grows in popularity, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times have taken notice. The service, which now has about 200 million monthly visitors, has also attracted the attention of Big Data scholars, including USC Viterbi computer scientist Yan Liu. By using statistical modeling and algorithms, Liu and her USC research team are
Society’s most prominent public figures can now take their unfiltered messages directly to the people through Twitter, leaving the mainstream media to play catch-up.
TAMING OF THE NEWS studying social media’s growing impact on traditional news coverage. Simply put, some of society’s most prominent public figures can now take their unfiltered messages directly to the people through Twitter, leaving the mainstream media to play catch-up. “More athletes, movie stars and other highprofile people are using Twitter, and the numbers will continue to grow,” Liu says. While Twitter democratizes news by enabling people to report their own news on equal footing—in 140 characters or fewer—some celebrity newsmakers-turned-reporters are more equal than others. Over 10 weeks in early 2012, Liu and her team reviewed more than 87,000 tweets from the 2,000 most influential Twitter accounts. The researchers combed through Google News and other aggregators that house millions of
articles to track down which tweets later appeared in mainstream media. Of the tweets picked up, Liu said, 50 percent came from the entertainment world, 30 percent from sports, 10 percent from politics and 10 percent from other sources. Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, as measured by the number of followers and media hits, were the most influential tweeters. Liu hopes to extend her Twitter research to model “buzz trends” to make predictions about future hot news topics. She sees a bright future for Big Data in making sense of it all. “Big Data is what’s happening this century,” says Liu, whose research also includes studying climate change and gene regulatory networks. “From business to health care to energy, Big Data is going to have a huge impact.”
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HELP FOR TRAFFIC-HATERS ClearPath Google Maps
Nationally, traffic represents an annual $121 billion drain on the American economy. Cyrus Shahabi knew there had to be a better way. Day after day, the director of USC’s Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC) and professor of computer science and electrical engineering braved bumper-to-bumper traffic from his Irvine, Calif., home to USC’s University Park Campus and back again. Online traffic alert services, which often use delayed data, weren’t much help. Tired of wasting hours a week breathing car fumes and fighting freeway fatigue, Shahabi decided to do something about it. And so he has. Shahabi and IMSC Associate Director Ugur Demiryurek created a new smartphone app that they say offers Los Angeles commuters the fastest possible routes to their destinations. Known as ClearPath, the application uses sophisticated algorithms to crunch massive amounts of data, including historical traffic patterns and real-time traffic information generated from nearly 10,000 sensors installed
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throughout Los Angeles County. The time is right for ClearPath. Traffic data provider INRIX last year named Los Angeles as the nation’s second-worst city for gridlock, with drivers wasting about 56 hours per year in traffic. Nationally, traffic represents an annual $121 billion drain on the American economy, according to the Texas Transportation Institute’s 2011 Annual Urban Mobility Report. ClearPath is so smart it can tune its traffic reports according to time, date and weather conditions. It could potentially help drivers make split-second decisions that would cut their drives home or shorten their long-haul freight times. To the average driver, this could mean fewer headaches and less road rage. On a national level, shorter commute times might increase productivity and conserve valuable energy resources. Eager to test the system, Demiryurek and other ClearPath team members drive routes suggested by their app and compare them to those recommended by services such as Google
Maps. They find the app beats the competition even though it often suggests surface streets to avoid gridlock. Competitors typically try to push drivers onto freeways, even when the freeways are jammed. The ClearPath team is trying to raise money from investors to develop apps for such hightraffic cities as San Francisco, New York and Chicago. Seed money came from the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation. Shahabi is using ClearPath himself, and he’s seen his commute time drop precipitously. Much to Shahabi’s surprise, ClearPath often suggests he take the 5 Freeway north at about 9:30 a.m. and come home on the 5 Freeway south between 7:10 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., depending on the day. Shahabi had previously avoided that freeway at all costs. “I’m saving 10 minutes each way, 20 minutes a day,” he says. “That’s huge, and it’s thanks to ClearPath.”
MEDICAL MONITOR Parkinson’s disease often starts gently, its tremors and stiff muscles the only sign of illness. This incurable movement disorder worsens over time, though, and can rob the physical independence of those living with it. In the future, technology from video games could keep an eye on people with Parkinson’s in their own homes, noticing important physical changes and alerting caregivers about them. That could protect patients’ health—and selfsufficiency. The new system, under development by USC computer scientists, neurologists, kinesiologists and public health experts, is called iHealth Mobility Monitoring. Here’s how it works. Video game consoles with 3-D sensors, such as Microsoft Kinect, would track a patient’s movements around the house. Smartphone apps and body sensors could capture additional information.
Increased surveillance could decrease the number of injuries and reduce pain, suffering and medical costs among the up to 1 million Americans with Parkinson’s disease.
Algorithms developed by the iHealth team would analyze the massive amounts of data to uncover significant changes in movement as they happen. “Our system will allow patients and their caregivers to monitor disease progression and the effectiveness of treatments in real time,” says Cesar Blanco, project leader and head of research and development for the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering. If a patient just loses a little flexibility or range in movement, iHealth might simply alert the patient and his or her caregivers about exercises that could better manage symptoms. With major mobility changes, the system would immediately contact physicians, who could change drug dosages, prescribe new medications or take other action. Currently, doctors have no way to effectively monitor patients between office visits other than asking them to check in if symptoms worsen. The system might help prevent accidents, as well. Parkinson’s patients are at greater risk for hip fractures because of the disease’s impact on balance, and iHealth’s increased surveillance could decrease the number of such injuries. In the process, it could reduce pain, suffering and medical costs among the up to 1 million Americans with Parkinson’s—which is more than the combined number of people diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, Lou Gehrig’s disease and multiple sclerosis, according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. Possible applications extend beyond Parkinson’s to encompass strokes and other mobility disorders. iHealth could even monitor the posture of weight lifters and factory workers to prevent repetitive motion injuries, including carpal tunnel syndrome. “These mobility monitoring technologies could be used by the general public to minimize the potential for physical injuries from various activities of daily life, including walking, lifting objects and carrying groceries,” Blanco says. “Our goal is to develop monitoring technologies that empower people.” O
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MEETING OF THE
RIGHT BRAIN, THIS IS LEFT BRAIN. SCOTT FRASER’S HAPPY TO MAKE THE INTRODUCTION.
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EHOLD THE ALL-POWERFUL CAPPUCCINO MACHINE. Drawn from labs and laptops, the scientists on Scott Fraser’s team follow the aroma of brewing beans. They gather around the coffeemaker for a jolt of caffeine, but they often find inspiration and unexpected solutions as well. USC recruited Fraser from Caltech to make creative sparks fly among USC academics. He aims to bring together physicists and engineers, computational biologists and visual artists, chemists and mathematicians. “You could almost hyphenate anything to anything here at USC and come up with some new opportunities,” says Fraser, USC’s new director of science initiatives within the USC Office of the Provost. He also holds a joint faculty appointment in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’ biology department, USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Keck School of Medicine of USC and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Fraser has melded great minds before. His cappuccino strategy comes from his two decades at Caltech, where he directed the Biological Imaging Center and conducted influential research into embryonic development. He set up an industrial coffeemaker in a central location and let the unplanned interactions work their magic. “People would sit down and bellyache about the experiment that just failed or share the triumph they just had in the lab,” he says. “More times than not, the next person at the table would say, ‘Well, why is that a triumph?’ or ‘Wait, I know how to solve that problem.’ We generated companies, research projects and dozens of patents from people sitting down and finding out where the solutions could be brought in from another field.” In his new post, Fraser will be integral to pushing USC’s progress as a scientific leader, says Michael Quick, USC executive vice provost. “We need to engage all of our science faculty in strategic planning for the large, interdisciplinary science initiatives that will be the hallmark of 21st-century science,” Quick says. Fraser will work closely with faculty
“I WALK AROUND CAMPUS AND I SEE FOUR OR FIVE WAYS WE COULD INTERFACE BETWEEN COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND THE SCHOOL OF CINEMA, LET ALONE SOCIAL SCIENCES, LET ALONE THE BUSINESS SCHOOL,” FRASER SAYS. “WE’RE REALLY TRYING TO ORCHESTRATE A WHOLE COMMUNITY OF SCHOLARS AROUND A SET OF BIG PROBLEMS.”
and deans across USC, as well as others in the Office of the Provost, to spur innovation. As Fraser settles in to the fourth floor of Irani Hall—unpacking boxes, furnishing offices and outfitting his lab—his schedule is still far from routine. Most days, he says, involve “some part of the day designing or interpreting experiments, and some part of the day networking with this amazing variety of talents on campus.” He especially enjoys the sense of community that unites the four floors of Irani. A fellow biologist once bumped into him in the hallway and yelled, “I love this building!” Community and collaboration have contributed a great deal to Fraser’s own research. To develop the microscope technology he needed to study rapidly developing cells, Fraser was able to “steal”—his term for interdisciplinary appropriation—from the findings of engineers working on satellites. He sees similar potential for crossover research at USC. “I walk around campus and I see four or five ways we could interface between computational biology and the school of cinema, let alone social sciences, let alone the busi-
ness school,” Fraser says. “We’re really trying to orchestrate a whole community of scholars around a set of big problems.” When Fraser describes moments of genius that result from random interactions, you can see why his coffee-klatch plan is key: “The whole idea is to create an environment where accidents happen, where lightning strikes. Lightning isn’t always going to strike in the same place or between the same people, so we need to make sure we’re making a lot of opportunities.” Fraser relishes his new challenge and believes that USC is a perfect move for him—there’s something empowering, he says, about being at a school that is large enough to think about changing the way things happen and small enough to actually imagine changing them. “USC has been extremely venturesome in how it’s invented and reinvented itself and continues to make its programs more expansive and more powerful,” Fraser says. It’s also fertile ground for collaboration. USC already has numerous cross-disciplinary faculty members, including Andrew McMahon, a new stem cell scientist who is forging relationships with engineers and others at the University Park Campus, and Mark Humayun, a physician who’s also a biomedical engineer. The new position is no surprise to those around Fraser. Rusty Lansford, a senior research scientist, describes Fraser as “a scientific polymath. He is wickedly smart, highly imaginative and able to connect dots from many scientific arenas—all of which makes him a very creative person, someone ideal for developing new initiatives.” Fraser’s pleasure with his new role at USC is palpable. “There aren’t too many jobs where you wake up in the morning and think about all the cool things that could happen that day,” he says. He’s planning to place the new cappuccino maker in his Irani Hall office, which has a view of the Hollywood sign, to get the conversation going. “Oh, you could probably do it with margaritas as well,” he offers, “but it would be a much shorter day.”
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TINKERING TOWARD DISCOVERY
A LOOK INSIDE SCOTT FRASER’S GROUNDBREAKING BIOMEDICAL IMAGING TECHNIQUES
TINY BROWN-FLECKED EGGS REST ATOP nests while fuzzy quail chicks chirp and waddle inside a glass incubator. At a nearby microscope, USC biologist Scott Fraser concentrates on the moving image of a red, veiny quail heart beating inside an egg: thump thump-thump thump. In this case, it’s a quail embryo, but it could be a frog or a zebra fish. Fraser studies organisms’ development and other complex biological events in real time to better understand key interactions. He also looks at the cellular changes involved in disease. Fraser founded the Biological Imaging Center at Caltech in 1991 and brought his lab to USC in 2012. Not only does he study complicated processes like hearts taking shape, but he and his colleagues also developed advanced imaging technologies to watch them happen. With wavy, sandy brown hair, a youthful smile and laid-back personality, Fraser seems more like a surfer than a scientist— until he speaks. He was born in Pasadena, Calif., and reared in nearby Arcadia. His father was a Pasadena police officer; his mother, a secretary and homemaker. His interest in scientific tinkering might have come from his grandfather, a carpenter, and his great-grandfather, who owned a machine shop. “I was pretty certain I wanted to be a scientist from a young age,” Fraser says. “I’ve always either taken things apart or built things. And there are too many stories about me being better at taking things apart than putting them back together. Even today in the lab, I think the postdocs would come up with interesting versions of that story.”
Fraser earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif., and his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Steve Kay, dean of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, lauds Fraser and his accomplishments. “Professor Fraser’s research epitomizes USC’s advance into quantitative biology, which focuses on more than organisms’ genes or cells alone,” says Kay, who has known Fraser for two decades. “Quantitative biology is about interactions and networks, and his world-leading work in measuring and imaging living cells and organisms makes him a vital contributor to this emerging field.” USC’s Faculty Hiring Initiative in the Sciences and Engineering challenges faculty to recruit exceptional scholars such as Fraser. “Professor Fraser is the world’s preeminent developer of new biomedical imaging techniques, and is an experienced leader in facilitating the translation of this work from the lab to practical application,” says Elizabeth Garrett, USC provost and senior vice president of academic affairs. “His arrival at USC underscores our success in advancing a vibrant culture of research.” Fraser was drawn to USC because of the many technologies and disciplines represented within a short walk—and the endless opportunities offered by his new position, he says. “USC has a fantastic combination of schools and programs and talents here that make it possible for us to attack problems that no other place could as powerfully.” —Pamela J. Johnson
A B OV E : E M B RYO C OU RTESY O F TH E C AR NEGIE CO L L ECTIO N F RO M TH E NATIO NAL MUS EUM OF HE ALT H AN D ME DIC IN E , IMAGIN G BY RUS S E LL JAC OB S ; MOUS E IMAGIN G BY RUS S E LL JAC OB S ; RE T IN A IMAGI NG BY JEF F R EY F I NG L ER OP P OS I T E PAG E : 3- D ATL AS O F MO USE D EV ELO P MENT, TE AM L E AD ER SETH RUF F IN S ; VIS UALIZ AT ION OF ALL IMAGE S BY S E T H RUFFIN S
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“PROFESSOR FRASER IS THE WORLD’S PREEMINENT DEVELOPER OF NEW BIOMEDICAL IMAGING TECHNIQUES AND IS AN EXPERIENCED LEADER IN FACILITATING THE TRANSLATION OF THIS WORK FROM THE LAB TO PRACTICAL APPLICATION,” USC PROVOST ELIZABETH GARRETT SAYS. “HIS ARRIVAL AT USC UNDERSCORES OUR SUCCESS IN ADVANCING A VIBRANT CULTURE OF RESEARCH.”
Fraser studies complex processes in organisms in real time. Left: MicroMRI of a human embryo in its fifth week after fertilization; an MRI section of a healthy mouse brain; and optical coherence tomography of a human retina. Above: A 3-D rendering shows the anatomy of a mouse embryo at 15 days.
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Dinosaur Depicter A talented USC Roski alumna brings the prehistoric Mesozoic Era to life. BY ROBIN HEFFLER
WHEN STEPHANIE ABRAMOWICZ WAS growing up in Pomona, Calif., she used cotton, cardboard and Play-Doh to create tiny toy bears and bunnies that lived in a makebelieve village in her bedroom. For a time, she even kept a miniature dinosaur museum. As it turns out, her youthful imagination hinted at her future. â–ş
“Field work enriches what I do as an illustrator,” Abramowicz says. “You feel your place in history and appreciate what came before.”
I L L U S T R AT I O N S C O U R T E S Y O F S T E P H A N I E A B R A M O W I C Z A N D T H E N AT U R A L H I S TO R Y M U S E U M O F L O S A N G E L E S C O U N T Y
Today the 2006 USC Roski School of Fine Arts graduate artfully brings prehistoric creatures to life as scientific illustrator and photographer for the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. She re-creates the world of the Mesozoic Era, which ended about 65 million ago and was marked by the appearance of the first dinosaurs, mammals and birds. Abramowicz produces illustrations and paintings of creatures for museum exhibitions and scientific research. Using an electronic tablet, she begins with a simple black-andwhite drawing, examines similar animals, and discusses possible characteristics with the museum’s paleontologists to develop the skeleton, musculature, scales, feathers, eyes and teeth in a colored rendering.
See more of Abramowicz’s work at natural scienceart.com. If you have questions or comments on this article, go to tfm.usc.edu/mailbag
“I enjoy being able to look at a group of fossil bones, put them back together in an illustration and flesh it out with details,” she says. “I think it’s fantastic that there can be multiple illustrations of the same animal that look completely different, and are all theoretically accurate—until a new discovery may come along to change that.” Abramowicz also relishes field work. She helps to prospect for and excavate fossils, photographs them and draws quarry maps of dig sites. Most memorable was her first such experience in 2005 at the Montana dig of “Thomas the T. rex,” a titanic Tyrannosaurus rex thought to have been more than 30 feet long. “Field work enriches what I do as an illustrator,” Abramowicz says. “With Thomas, it was awe-inspiring to be there when the fossils saw daylight for the first time in 66 million years. You feel your place in history and appreciate what came before.” Her talents and thoughtfulness draw raves from collaborators.
“She is remarkable in how skillful she is, and it speaks very highly of the kind of young professionals that the university can produce,” says paleontologist Luis Chiappe, director of the Dinosaur Institute and adjunct professor of earth sciences at USC. “She pays attention to details and is able to modify her style to whatever you want to emphasize.” While Abramowicz was studying at USC Roski, Doyle Trankina ’04, a friend and USC Roski alumnus, introduced her to Chiappe. Abramowicz volunteered with the Dinosaur Institute for two years, became an intern and was hired after graduation. Abramowicz credits the honing of her foundational artistic skills to two USC Roski instructors: Margaret R. Lazzari, professor of studio art, and Bob Alderette, associate professor of painting and drawing. She advanced her skills in drawing nature at the Australian National University in Canberra during a semester abroad. At the Dinosaur Institute, the latest big project is “Gnatalie,” the fossil of a newly recognized species of dinosaur discovered in Utah in 2007. Nicknamed for the biting gnats that pestered excavators, the sauropod is estimated to have been more than 70 feet long and to have lived about 150 million years ago. One day, it too is expected to be a museum exhibit that Abramowicz will bring to life with her art. ●
By Alicia Di Rado
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Creativity can combine with business principles to solve societal challenges— and turn a profit. CHOP. CHOP. CHOP. The woman dices onions and peppers and tosses them in a bowl. They’ll soon become part of her ceviche, a seafood mélange that will feed her family of seven. Her strong hands have prepared their share of meals in her tidy home in Lamont, a heavily immigrant farm town in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The passing of time here is marked not in sunrises and sunsets but in how many stockpots of beans she’s cooked. But today is different. She pauses, puts down her knife, wipes her hands and sits down. Someone has come to listen to her story. The two USC students at her kitchen table, Angeli Agrawal and Natalie Tecimer, traveled more than 100 miles to learn about a rhythm of life different from their own. In Spanish, they talk about picking grapes, emigrating from Mexico, the value of education and the family’s recent health struggles. I wish we could stay longer, Agrawal thinks. But they have to get back to Los Angeles. After two nights, the pair and their 18 classmates return to USC on a mission. They’ll use what they’ve learned to try to improve health among the rural poor. The students won’t bring change through social programs. Instead, they’ll use their creativity and the tools of business. DESIGN THINKING The students are part of the Social Innovation Design Lab, a hands-on course in the USC Marshall School of Business that teaches undergraduates to combine “design thinking” (see graphic on page 30) and business principles to make a better world. Students envision and create prototypes of affordable products, from breathing masks to nutrition-themed toys, that could boost health while sustainably turning a profit. Kicking off in January, the course grew out of the Society and Business Lab, USC Marshall’s program that uses business to alleviate poverty. In the late 2000s, Society and Business Lab founder Professor Adlai Wertman and Abby Fifer Mandell, the lab’s executive director, tossed around the idea of a program that could teach students to create a beneficial product and take it to market. Their recent partnership with Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif.,
and its “Design Matters” program made it possible. Now USC and Art Center exchange graduate-student instructors for their courses. Wertman and Mandell also enlisted creative minds from the international design firm Continuum to run a student workshop on design thinking. And in the San Joaquin Valley, the Dolores Huerta Foundation, a communityorganizing group, placed USC students with families so they could learn firsthand about health issues common among farm workers, such as chronic asthma and limited access to doctors and dentists. Even the course’s funding is creative. It’s supported by a grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance and an innovative-teaching award from the USC Office of the Provost. Students competitively apply for the class. With the understanding that the most difficult social problems need interdisciplinary approaches, they represent different majors. The first course includes artists, engineers, and students studying business, cinema and social sciences. “This is the only class I’ve ever taken that’s so interdisciplinary,” Agrawal says. LEARNING FIRSTHAND USC students Scott Fairbanks and Petey Routzahn stare out the windows of a hatchback as they trundle west on a dusty farm road in Weedpatch, Calif. The 1940 classic The Grapes of Wrath was filmed here. An 18-wheeler passes. “Another Coke truck,” Routzahn says. They’ll see a lot of soda over the weekend. The USC students notice other things, too— the child who eats bacon-wrapped hot dogs for breakfast and the families that avoid drinking from the tap due to arsenic in the water supply. The students jot down notes. As the weekend ends, the young men and women come together and share observations, writing them on yellow sticky notes and slapping them up on a wall. Insights into the residents’ health start to take shape among the yellow squares. They combine that with what they know: The U.S. Census indicates that 30 percent to 40 percent of residents here live below the poverty
line. The area has among the nation’s worst air quality, according to the American Lung Association. Domestic violence, teen pregnancy, diabetes and obesity rates are troubling. The list goes on. Students strive to empathize with families without judgment. “Your role,” course assistant Mariana Prieto tells them, “is to understand people and their needs.” Through big groups and small, class members identify challenges to residents’ health and decide which ones they’ll tackle through product design. Energized, they map out their ideas on pages of butcher paper, but some quietly wonder, Can I do this? TURNING IDEAS INTO REALITY It’s midterms week in March, and young men and women are lugging cardboard boxes, plastic gizmos and drawings into Davidson Conference Center at USC. They’re presenting their prototypes to instructors and designers for feedback. There are lots of opportunities to make a difference. Fairbanks’ and Routzahn’s team, for one, tackles exercise. They present ideas for inexpensive toys that can bring communities together, a machine that dispenses sports equipment and a chair that makes TV viewers work their ab muscles while seated. Agrawal’s team, meanwhile, believes in boosting health literacy. She and her partners propose solutions to help Spanish-speaking patients better communicate with doctors and pharmacists. “Fantastic presentation, you’ve got a very clear mission,” says Art Center faculty member Penny Herscovitch. Wertman, professor of clinical management and organization, looks on with pride. The students already have delivered more than he ever expected. Soon, they’ll learn about manufacturing methods and refine their ideas. “Most of our students are in business school to learn the tools,” Wertman says. “It was thought that if you wanted to save the world, you would have to solely learn about policy, social work or maybe international relations. “We believe you can use business skills to do it.”
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DESIGN THINKING Students in USC’s Social Innovation Design Lab are learning to use design thinking to solve challenges and find new opportunities. Here’s how it works.
FOCUS
PEOPLE
5 3 INTERVIEW
1 CHALLENGE 1 Student designers accept the challenge: Create a product to improve the health of low-income consumers.
2 - 3 To understand their market and eventually find a solution, designers identify key people who can share valuable information with them. Students travel to central California farm towns, and stay with families to observe their daily lives and learn about their victories and struggles.
4 Designers share their observations with each other, building an understanding of the difficulties faced by lowincome men, women and children.
5 As Adlai Wertman puts it, “Where’s the pain?” Designers identify one healthrelated problem needing a solution. It’s where a product could make a difference.
The young men and women come together and share observations, writing them on sticky notes and slapping them on the wall.
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OPPORTUNITIES BEST SOLUTION 10 7 IDEATION
PROTOTYPE 8 REFINE 9
6 - 7 Designers start identifying opportunities for new products by studying existing products and looking for gaps in the market. Often students go back and rethink their understanding of what low-income consumers need, leading to more sharing, lots of new ideas, discarded ideas, more new ideas and finally selection of a promising strategy.
8 - 10 For midterms, student designers present their product prototypes to a panel that provides feedback. They also learn from experts about manufacturing and how to take a product to market. Their final presentation: a product that could both prove profitable and improve health in rural America.
Making a world of difference Freshly arrived in Hlalakahle, South Africa, USC Marshall School of Business student Anna Birrer headed to her home away from home: the house of a respected traditional healer and his three wives. It was a long way from her hometown of Huntington Beach, Calif., but Birrer was up for the adventure. Like many of her classmates in the Social Innovation Design Lab and Society and Business Lab, Birrer believes that design and business can improve lives around the world. She’s traveled to developing nations like Ghana to learn from local residents and work on microfinance projects. During her summer 2012 trip to South Africa with the organization ThinkImpact, Birrer and a Dartmouth College
student teamed with five Hlalakahle villagers to reduce the amount of trash scattered around town. They devised a system to collect and sort garbage and sell it at low cost to recyclers and artisans, who turned it into items they could sell to tourists at the nearby game reserve. When the students left, locals continued the business. Recently graduated, Birrer ’13 hopes to enter a program to work in a company abroad. “Most of these programs have been financed for us through scholarships from USC,” Birrer says. “I’m really grateful for that.” —AD Learn more about the Social Innovation Design Lab and see photos at tfm.usc.edu/2013-designlab
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“My research has always been directed by working on problems that I found interesting and challenging, and that I believed I had a chance to solve.”
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BUSY SIGNALS THE TEENAGE SOLOMON GOLOMB, A mathematics prodigy at Johns Hopkins University, probably never considered that the nation’s commander in chief would someday honor him for his intellectual prowess. Yet there stood Golomb next to President Barack Obama at the White House in February, more than six decades after getting his first college diploma, his mind as curious at age 80 as it was at 18. In recognition of Golomb’s profound contributions to technology, Obama placed a red, white and blue ribbon with a golden medallion around his neck: the National Medal of Science. The award is America’s highest honor for invention and discovery. Golomb was one of only a dozen researchers to receive it for 2011, the latest year awarded. But Golomb’s motivation originates from a different prize: the successful, thrilling hunt for answers to difficult questions. “My research has always been directed by working on problems that I found interesting and challenging, and that I believed I had a chance to solve,” he says. “I have never thought about receiving awards for my work, but it is always a pleasant surprise when they occur.” Golomb has often been pleasantly surprised in his career. As Erna and Andrew Viterbi Professor of Communications and University and Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Mathematics, Golomb holds appointments at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. But his ascent began thousands of miles from USC. Born in Baltimore, he pursued his doctorate in mathematics at Harvard University and worked summers at Baltimore aerospace firm Glenn L. Martin Co. (now part of Lockheed Martin). Out of this combination of rigorous academia and the working world grew Golomb’s ideas. Among them: illuminating the mathematics behind “shift register sequences,” seemingly
haphazard series of 0s and 1s that conceal order behind their randomness. The feat would prove important. While his Harvard professors took pride in promoting the purity of mathematics, Golomb sought its purpose—mathematics’ practical side ultimately drew him in. So in 1956, he moved to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., where he was swept up in the scientific fervor of the age. He and his fellow youthful, brilliant minds drove the race into space. JPL friends included Andrew Viterbi, whose naming gift later endowed USC’s engineering school. Golomb’s work with shift register sequences bore fruit at JPL. Experts had said the mathematics behind them had no application, but he defied the purists. His insights enabled JPL engineers to build a communication system that bounced signals off Venus and accurately detected their echoes. The evolving technology eventually influenced everything from Mars exploration to cellular phones. Then Golomb eased into his career’s next phase: mentorship and performing research. After teaching part time at several Los Angelesarea universities, he made USC his academic home in 1963. He has since amassed honors too numerous to list, including information technology’s highest honor—the Shannon Award—and election to the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences. Even after 50 years, Golomb continues to teach first-year students. He also is an expert on an array of topics including the classics, European history, puzzles, viniculture and several languages. Citing Golomb’s many contributions, USC President C. L. Max Nikias summed up the sentiments of the Trojan Family: “USC is so proud to have been Professor Golomb’s academic home all these years.” Pamela J. Johnson, Eric Mankin, Robert Perkins and Alicia Di Rado contributed to this story.
The National Medal of Science recognizes Solomon Golomb’s many contributions to communications technology.
Vision for the Future USC chemistry alumnus Rangaswamy Srinivasan PhD ’56, whose work formed the basis for LASIK, received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in February. Srinivasan was honored as a member of an IBM Corporation team at the same White House ceremony as USC’s Solomon Golomb and other decorated scientists and engineers. Called ablative photodecomposition, Srinivasan’s technology uses pulses of ultraviolet light to erode layers of organic matter such as living tissue. His 1980 invention was inspired by work he performed 25 years earlier in pursuit of his chemistry doctorate at USC. Researchers eventually applied the technology to laser eye surgery. About 700,000 LASIK surgeries are performed in the U.S. each year, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
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By Candace Pearson
Fresh Air
Š G U R I TA- H I TA M / I S TO C K
Targeted therapies and other advances create new hope for lung cancer patients.
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[ KECK MEDICAL CENTER OF USC ]
Baylin of Johns Hopkins University and USC’s Peter A. Jones, Distinguished ProfesIt’s often discovered in its late stages sor of Urology and Biochemistry and Molecbecause tumors can grow for years with- ular Biology. out showing symptoms. And its five-year When cancer develops, Jones explains, survival rate has barely budged since the it causes normal cells to turn off genes that 1970s, unlike that of many other cancers. should be on or—equally worrisome—actiBut that discouraging picture may not be vates others. “Some genes get locked off or the reality for much longer. silenced when they shouldn’t be,” he says. At long last, there are glimmers of hope— “With epigenetic therapies, we’re targeting thanks to discoveries about the body’s and unlocking these cancer-fighting genes.” genetic map, a growing slate of targeted Jones and his colleagues are tackling drugs, robotic surgery and what’s called the epigimproved screening. “We’re “We’re working enome. If the human in some exciting new terriwere the body’s hard to come up genome tory in the treatment of lung computer hardware, then with biomarkers the epigenome would be cancer,” says medical oncologist Barbara J. Gitlitz, assothe software that instructs that will help ciate professor of medicine computer when, where us predict who the at Keck School of Medicine and how to work. Unlike will benefit from our DNA, which can’t be of USC. She’s a member of the Lung Cancer Program at these therapies.” changed, the epigenome is USC Norris Cancer Hospimalleable, giving scientists tal, part of the Keck Medical —Peter A. Jones, Distinguished the chance to manipulate its Professor of Urology and Center of USC. response with drugs. Behind the promising Biochemistry and Molecular Biology One of these drugs traces developments is a growing its roots to Jones’ earliest awareness that each person’s lung cancer years at USC. In 1980, Jones made a key scimay be unique. Lung cancer isn’t one dis- entific discovery about the compound, called ease, experts say. It’s a spectrum of diseases. 5-Azacitidine, which opened the way for the Each tumor has its own characteristics. If field of epigenetics. researchers can decode the factors that allow Three decades later, the drug was one tumors to survive and grow, they can design of two medications in a promising SU2C treatments to work against these factors. clinical trial for patients with advanced nonThat’s already starting to happen. Work small cell lung cancer. Results showed lastunder way at USC Norris to identify tar- ing responses in patients and indicated that geted therapies is among the first funded by the drug might make tumors more vulnerthe nonprofit Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) able to chemotherapy. to show tangible results. Jones works with medical oncologists like Heading up the Epigenetics Dream Gitlitz, a member of the USC Norris DevelTeam—one of five prestigious teams of opmental Therapeutics Program, to ensure researchers funded by SU2C—are Stephen that such innovative ideas reach patients.
BY NOW, MOST PEOPLE KNOW THE UNFORTUNATE FACTS ABOUT LUNG CANCER.
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“My hope is that we’ll be able to make lung cancer a chronic disease.”
Clinical trials are under way for all stages of lung cancer. At USC Norris, doctors routinely test for genetic mutations in all advanced lung cancer cases. Take the case of Winnie Cheung. A nonsmoker, Cheung was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2011 when the spreading cancer broke a bone in her neck. She had surgery at USC to stabilize her neck and remove the cancer, followed by radiation. Fortunately, her tumor carried an EGFR mutation, the target for a therapy called erlotinib. “That kind of good news goes all day long,” says her son, Billy Szeto ’95, who has helped coordinate her care. Cheung takes one pill daily. “I feel very good,” she says. “I have a lot of energy.” David and Arlene Ray can relate. They’ve ardently supported innovative research for more than 25 years as founding presidents of the group STOP CANCER. “Now we’re the poster child for targeted therapies,” says Arlene.
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David was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2011. He had surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Twice his cancer went into remission. In January, it returned again, this time in his liver. Gitlitz ran genomic tests. David came up positive for what doctors call RET translocation. “I felt like I’d won the lottery,” he says. RET translocations—the mistaken flipflopping of genetic material—have long been identified with thyroid cancer but also were linked to lung cancer in 2012. Gitlitz found a targeted therapy that had exclusively been used to treat thyroid cancer. “I’ll do anything to bring the most cutting-edge treatment to my patients,” says Gitlitz, a 2004 STOP CANCER grant recipient. The Rays decided to give it a try. In January, David started taking vandetanib. Working with Gitlitz, the Rays have their eyes on another promising drug in clinical trials. “We’re going forward,” says Arlene. “You have to keep fighting.”
Jones and his Epigenetics Dream Team are moving forward, too. Next up are expanded trials for lung cancer and the search for a molecular fingerprint. “We’re working hard to come up with biomarkers that will help us predict who will benefit from these therapies,” he says. Even targeted therapies aren’t cures. Eventually, cancer finds a way to grow again. So Gitlitz and fellow oncologists are testing drugs that might break down the mechanisms of drug resistance. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. But over the next five years, Gitlitz expects to see the discovery of more gene mutations and the development of more targeted therapies in response. “My hope,” she says, “is that we’ll be able to make lung cancer a chronic disease.” ●
If you have questions or comments on this article, go to tfm.usc.edu/mailbag
P H OTO B Y S T E V E N A . H E L L E R
— Barbara J. Gitlitz, associate professor of medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC
J O N E S P H OTO B Y D O N M I L I C I ; O H A N D H A G E N P H OTO S B Y P H I L I P C H A N N I N G
Eight decades’ worth of thankfulness
From top: Peter A. Jones, Daniel Oh and Jeffrey A. Hagen
ELIO PAGANO WAS 79 when he had robotic surgery for lung cancer at USC Norris Cancer Hospital—past the age when many other centers offer a surgical option. Today, Pagano is cancer-free. He’ll turn 80 this year and says he feels great. “Things are perfect now,” says Pagano, who gifted his surgeon, Daniel Oh, with his homemade marinara sauce in thanks for the successful operation. USC Norris was one of the nation’s first medical centers to embrace robotic surgery for lung cancer and is the only universitybased center in Southern California to routinely offer it as an option. Because older patients often have other complicating health conditions, many are regularly turned away from surgery. At USC Norris, though, doctors perform individual risk assessments for each patient. The consequence: About a third of cancer patients who have a robotic lobectomy (removal of part of the lung) there are over 80. And while lung surgeons previously advocated robots only for early-stage cancer, now even advanced-stage cancers may be treated surgically with the robot. “A confluence of technological development—and an interest by surgeons and patients to rethink how we do things—has resulted in our ability to do such procedures with smaller incisions, with greater precision,” says Jeffrey A. Hagen, associate professor of surgery at Keck School of Medicine of USC. Traditional open lobectomies require a 6-inch incision and spreading of the ribs. With the robotic da Vinci Surgical System, incisions are about an inch or less in length, with no rib spreading. The result is less stress on the patient and quicker recovery. Pagano’s suspected nodule was deep within his left lung. He spent three days in the hospital, less than half the typical recovery time for open surgery. Hagen and Oh join forces during robotic lung procedures. “We believe a team approach produces better, more reliable results,” says Oh, assistant professor of surgery at the Keck School of Medicine.
Surgeons note that new technologies are moving beyond surgery—they’re also improving cancer detection and evaluation. In 2011, the National Lung Screening Trial showed for the first time that screening people at high risk for lung cancer could save lives. Keck Medical Center is among the original centers approved to offer lowdose chest CT scans to current and former heavy smokers. In another diagnostic advance, USC surgeons use electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy—a sort of GPS for the body—to reach deeper into the lung than ever before. This helps them diagnose lesions that once were inaccessible. They also use new endobronchial ultrasound to see enlarged lymph nodes or masses through airway walls and take tissue samples. “Such tools allow us to make sure patients get the most appropriate care,” says Oh, “for the best outcomes.” —CP
m USC Norris
was one of the nation’s first medical centers to embrace robotic surgery for lung cancer and is the only universitybased center in Southern California to routinely offer it as an option.
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The USC Alumni Association proudly welcomes
Three New Partners with Valuable Member Benefits for the Trojan Family
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For the latest on all the benefits, special offers and programs of the USC Alumni Association:
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lifelong and worldwide
family ties Celebrating the Women of Troy Two alumnae share their perspectives on the 2013 USC Women’s Conference.
P H OTO B Y S T E P H E N B L A H A
JAIME LEE ’06, JD ’09 IS ALL ABOUT USC. Her mother is a Trojan. Her grandfather is a Trojan. Her three younger brothers? All Trojans. Together with “countless” other relatives, they make up a big Trojan Family on their own. So when it came time to serve on the host committee for the 2013 USC Women’s Conference, Lee embraced the job. “USC is a huge part of my identity,” she said. “My passions, beliefs and moral compass were all solidified here, and it has given me experiences and opportunities that I could not have gotten anywhere else. I cannot help but be passionate about giving back.” Lee, her fellow host committee members and her conference co-chairs, Alice Cardenas ’81 and Dale Harbour-Day ’83, welcomed nearly 1,000 USC alumnae, parents, students, faculty, staff and friends to campus on March 7 for the popular daylong forum hosted by the USC Alumni Association. The women attended workshops and panel discussions, but most of all, they met new friends and potential colleagues. “Everyone I know who has attended the conference has gained something valuable that has impacted their life, whether it is knowledge, a new life goal or a new connection,” Lee said. THELMA MELÉNDEZ DE SANTA ANA PHD ’95 is just as enthusiastic. Meléndez was one of the speakers at the event, and she talked to attendees about her passion for education. The superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District and a 2012 USC Alumni Merit Award honoree has long heeded the advice of her beloved abuelita (grandma) Gela: “Never be afraid to follow your heart.” Making a difference in the lives of others, specifically children in urban school settings, is both Meléndez’s legacy and her “ocupassion,” as described by her friend, author Louis Barajas. “I enrolled at USC to work on my PhD
Guest speaker Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana PhD ’95, left, with conference co-chair Jaime Lee ’06, JD ’09
with an emphasis in language, literacy and learning, to focus specifically on the urban student population,” Meléndez said. “It’s deeply important for me to serve these children because I was one of them.” Meléndez was energized by the event. “I knew the conference would be inspirational,” she said, “and a wonderful oppor-
tunity to celebrate the achievements and tremendous contributions of women.” TIMOTHY O. KNIGHT
To learn about some of the Trojan women at the USC Women’s Conference in their own words, visit alumnigroups.usc.edu/womens conference and click on “Stories.”
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Trojan Family turns out in force for
Paying It Forward
by Giving Back
Trojan Family turns out in force for 2nd annual USC Alumni Day of SCervice
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1 Sacred Heart Community Service
People Serving People
San Jose, Calif. USC Alumni Club of Silicon Valley sorted and boxed groceries for more than 2,000 daily customers at Sacred Heart Community Service, a nonprofit organization addressing poverty in Silicon Valley.
Minneapolis USC Alumni Club of the Twin Cities hosted a children’s activity day at People Serving People, a shelter for homeless children and their families.
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Los Angeles USC Half Century Trojans rearranged books and science rooms, as well as picked up trash around the campus. The USC Thornton Alumni Association partnered with Education Through Music—Los Angeles to host a music education event at the school.
Center for Families, Children’s Hospital Boston Brookline, Mass. USC Alumni Club of Boston served lunch and provided craft activities to kids and their families at the Yawkey Family Inn, a patient family home at Children’s Hospital Boston.
3 Ronald McDonald House Charities Austin, Texas USC Alumni Club of Austin helped set up the annual Bandana Ball hosted by the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin, which is committed to improving the health and well being of children.
11 North Hollywood Community Gateway North Hollywood, Calif. USC Alumni Club of the San Fernando Valley beautified the North Hollywood Gateway Park with help from Patrick E. Auerbach EdD ’08, interim associate vice president of Alumni Relations (left), Mitchell Lew ’83, MD ’87, USCAA Board of Governors president; and Deena Lew ’85 and Scott Sternberg ’07, USC Alumni Day of SCervice co-chairs.
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P H OTO S B Y J O E O C H O A ; V I C TO R I A L A N I E R ; A N N J E R O M E ; S H E L L E Y M C A R D L E ; TO M R Y S AV Y ; A R M A N D O B R O W N
Norwood Street School
TROJANS AROUND THE WORLD CAME TOGETHER March 23 to make a difference in their communities through the USC Alumni Association’s annual Alumni Day of SCervice. Sponsored by Global Brigades, a student-led global health and sustainable development organization, the event united nearly 1,800 alumni and friends from 18 states and eight countries.
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Centre Thérapeutique Pédiatrique (Croix Rouge Française)
FaHua Elderly Center
Margency, France USC Alumni Club of Paris volunteered at the traveling movie theater Les Toiles Enchantées and visited the Paris-area children’s hospital to host activities and a movie.
P H OTO S B Y S A H A R B A G H E R Y ; J O H N B E C K N E R ; R A C H E L W U ; TO N Y C H O I ; B L E S S I N G W A U N G ; D R . PAT R I C I A E S S I L F I E
The projects benefitted people (including children, the elderly, the poor and the sick), animals (both pets and zoo creatures), and places (a beach and a freeway underpass, to name a few). Alumni shared photos, insights and memories from the day through social media. You can browse through them at R O S S M. L E V I N E alumni.usc.edu/service
Shanghai, China USC Alumni Club of Shanghai and HandsOn Shanghai assembled care packages and engaged elderly residents in fun activities, such as singing and dancing.
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Children for a Better World Munich, Germany USC Regional Representative of Munich partnered with Children for a Better World, a nonprofit children’s aid organization, to provide activities and a tour of the airport.
Baan Kru Noi Children’s Home Bangkok USC Regional Representative of Thailand organized volunteers to play games with disadvantaged and disabled children ages 3 to 13.
9 Nam Cheong District Community Centre Hong Kong USC Alumni Club of Hong Kong entertained underprivileged children at the center with games and singing.
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USC-Ghana Global Education & Health Outreach Gomoa Dago via Apam, Ghana USC School of Pharmacy students joined the K. Sam Essilfie Medical Foundation to work on education and health projects in selected community schools and clinics.
Alumni SCene Trojans making an impact
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1. Women of Influence Four “Women Making an Impact” came together on Jan. 23 for a lively discussion about the influence of pioneering women on their communities and the world. Moderated by USC’s Al Checcio (right), the panel included Dana Dornsife (second from right), founder and president of the Lazarex Cancer Foundation; Vicki Booth (second from left), president of the Ueberroth Family Foundation; and Patricia Riba ’93 (left), founder and medical director of Dr. Riba’s Health Club, a children’s health nonprofit. Also on the panel was Janice Bryant Howroyd, founder and CEO of the Act*1 Group. Sponsored by the USC Alumni Association (USCAA), the USC alumni clubs of Orange County, and Town and Gown of USC, the event drew 150 attendees.
2. A Visionary in New York “USC in Your Neighborhood” was in down-
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town Manhattan Jan. 31 at the New York Academy of Sciences. Presented by the USCAA and the USC Alumni Club of New York, the event featured Elizabeth Garrett, USC provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, and pioneering vision researcher Mark Humayun (center). See related story on page 7.
3. Meal with a Mission The USC Latino Alumni Association (LAA) welcomed more than 750 guests to its 39th Annual Scholarship Dinner on March 1. The event raised about $750,000 for scholarships and student leadership development programs. The evening honored the David C. Lizárraga family and TELACU Education Foundation, recipients of the LAA Legacy Award, and featured keynote speaker Mayor Julián Castro of San Antonio. From left, USC Trustee and LAA Corporate Advisory Councilmember
Frank H. Cruz ’66, MS ’69; LAA Executive Director Domenika Lynch ’97; Mayor Castro; USC President C. L. Max Nikias; and USC Trustee Edward P. Roski Jr. ’62.
4. Short Films That Go a Long Way The USC Lambda LGBT Alumni Association’s 6th annual Don Thompson LGBT Film Festival on Feb. 9 drew nearly 165 attendees. The festival, named after the late head of reference services at the USC School of Cinematic Arts Library, screened short films by USC student and alumni filmmakers committed to exploring LGBT life and culture. Festival proceeds benefit the Don Thompson Scholarship in Cinematic Arts, which is awarded to filmmakers making a difference in the LGBT community. This year’s winners were Dominic Haxton ’07 for Teens Like Phil and current MFA students Conor Fetting-Smith for Bingo Night and Leopold Dewolf for Niagara.
P H OTO S B Y A R M A N D O B R O W N ; J U L I E S TA P E N ; J O H N S I M P S O N ; S T E P H E N B L A H A
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Going the Distance
TALK ABOUT THE POWER OF ADVERTISING. While thumbing through the Autumn 2012 issue of USC Trojan Family Magazine, Jim Coulter ’61, MBA ’67 saw an ad for the Half Century Trojans Going Back to College Day. Although he and his wife (and fellow alum) Sharron live in Sacramento, they made the 362-mile trek south to attend the event on Feb. 27 for the first time. The Coulters were among the 340-plus members of the university’s senior alumni community who returned to campus for a program of faculty presentations, musical performances, campus tours and a luncheon featuring a panel of current student leaders. As golf carts ferried Half Century Trojans to and from Bovard Auditorium and Town & Gown for the morning convocation and lunch program, respectively, the Coulters took some time getting reoriented to their transformed alma mater—the new buildings, fountains and landscaping—which he described as “mind blowing.” “We’re very impressed by what has happened to the university and the surrounding area, and thoroughly enjoyed Going Back to College Day,” said Coulter. “I would attend it again and recommend it to my fellow Trojans.”
Northern California alums attend 5th annual Half Century Trojans Going Back to College Day.
TIMOTHY O. KNIGHT
Half Century Trojans get a lift from a USC student during Going Back to College Day.
THE USC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESENTS
November 15-16 ...together with Homecoming Class of
1963
50th Reunion
Class of
1973
40th Reunion
Class of
1983
30th Reunion
Class of
1988
25th Reunion
Class of
2003
10th Reunion
P H OTO B Y TO M Q U E A L LY
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class notes alumni profile ’84
1930s
Ask Sheryl Gordon McCloud JD ’84 about herself, and she’ll talk to you about others. A member of the Washington State Supreme Court since January, she’ll point to professors, friends, her husband and the two sons who inspired and supported her. Or she’ll talk about the people whose rights she’s determined to protect. As for her own merits? “I just wanted to do good, work hard and do the right thing, and I ended up falling in love with appellate work and constitutional law,” she says. The daughter of a school secretary, Gordon McCloud first became politically active as a teenager when she and some friends founded the Women’s Liberation Club at their high school in New York. After graduating from the State University of New York in Buffalo in 1976, she stayed on the East Coast until a deadly blizzard the next year made California’s calmer weather irresistible. She was working as a legal secretary in Los Angeles when she had an epiphany: Becoming a lawyer would allow her to pursue her interest in individual, constitutional, women’s and minority rights. She entered the USC Gould School of Law, and graduated in the top 2 percent of her class. Before starting her own practice as an appellate lawyer, she clerked for a judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and worked in the public defender’s office. Early in her career she and Yale University’s Judith Resnik, a USC professor at the time, submitted an amicus brief on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that dealt with the pregnancy-leave rights of working women. What inspired Gordon McCloud most about the experience was the courage of the appellant, a bank receptionist. “This woman, who was pregnant and got fired, decided that she could stand up for her rights. I kind of felt if she can, then I certainly can, too.” Today she credits much of her success to USC Gould: professors who demanded the most out of her even when she thought she couldn’t give it; the “Law, Language and Ethics” class that showed her different ways of looking at legal problems; and the Prison Law Project that taught her to combine academic analysis and hands-on work. She also says that the support of former classmates proved priceless during her bid for a seat on Washington’s Supreme Court. “And I don’t just mean financial support,” she says. “I mean moral support and words of wisdom and reaching out and reconnecting after many years.” The campaign was Gordon McCloud’s second major battle within five years. In 2007, she beat uterine cancer. Remembering the fear that came with treatment, she finds it unbelievable that many—unlike her—have to face the disease without family, friends, insurance or income. She has turned the conversation around again, showing that, for her, any experience can become a lesson in gratitude. CHRISTINA SCHWEIGHOFER
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Sakaye Shigekawa ’36 celebrated her 100th birthday in January. She lives in Los Angeles.
1950s John Goddard ’55 of La Cañada, Calif., is an explorer and motivational speaker, having explored the entire length of the Nile River and climbed the Matterhorn, among other expeditions. He is the author of The Survivor: 21 Spine-Chilling Adventures on the Edge of Death, a book chronicling his travels. Carl R. Terzian ’57, a public relations consultant, was re-elected to a three-year term on the board of trustees at Woodbury University in Burbank, Calif. He received the Community Champion Award from the Los Angeles Opportunities Industrialization Center in December 2012. Janet Chapple ’59 of Oakland, Calif., translated and edited the book Yellowstone, Land of Wonders: Promenade in North America’s National Park, written by Belgian travel writer Jules Leclercq after visiting the park in 1883. She is also the author of Yellowstone Treasures: The Traveler’s Companion to the National Park. George Demos PhD ’59 is co-author of Philosophical Psychology: A New Frontier in Education and Therapy: Psychological Humanism—Maslow Revisited. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor emeritus of counseling psychology at California State University, Long Beach.
1960s Jeanne (Bramble) Pieper ’60 of Marina del Rey, Calif., is the author of In Our Lifetime: The Ordination of the First Catholic Woman Priest. She is a founding board member of the Action Committee for Women in Prison, where she is director of a program that matches women in U.S. prisons with other women from around the world as pen pals.
P H OTO C O U R T E S Y O F T H E W A S H I N G TO N S TAT E L E G I S L AT U R E
The Lives of Others
alumni profile ’65 William F. O’Neill PhD ’62, professor emeritus at USC, is co-author of Philosophical Psychology: A New Frontier in Education and Therapy: Psychological Humanism—Maslow Revisited. He specializes in educational philosophy and international education. Bill Altaffer ’67, MS ’69 of Carmel Valley, Calif., has been named the Most Traveled Man by various travel organizations. He has traveled to every country in the world and has visited more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than anyone else on record. Forrest Sherrill MS ’67 has a new composition titled “Divertimento for Strings” included on Moto Perpetuo, a CD released in March by Navona Records. He lives in Greenville, S.C. Sonnee Stallman Weedn ’68, ME ’69, ’73 published her book Many Blessings: A Tapestry of Accomplished African American Women, a compilation of interviews with 30 contemporary African-American women. She is a clinical psychologist in Novato, Calif.
1970s Sydney (Sullivan) Knott ’78 is the founder, president and executive director of Horses4Heroes Inc., a nonprofit equine services organization that serves all active-duty military personnel, veterans, first responders, nurses and their families. She lives in Las Vegas and has three daughters. Cindy McCain ’78 of Phoenix recently joined the board of directors of the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles. She is involved in a number of international charity organizations and is chairman of Hensley Beverage Co.
P H OTO B Y D R . Y E S I M TO Z A N
1980s Gene Del Vecchio MBA ’80 is an adjunct professor at the USC Marshall School of Business. He has spent more than 30 years in private industry, specializing in entertainment and youth marketing, and he is
Generous Germ Fighter During his training at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, Joel Breman MD ’65 saw many patients with measles, meningitis, diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus, along with unusual infections. “The great needs of the indigent patients touched my heart and soul,” Breman says. Wanting to help and learn beyond the confines of Los Angeles, he asked his Keck School mentor, Paul Wehrle, about opportunities to confront infectious diseases in countries with greater needs. Wehrle, then chair of pediatrics and chief of the communicable diseases service at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, pointed him to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) program. Focused on smallpox eradication and measles control in 20 African countries, the program was a major part of a global smallpox initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO). Wehrle’s suggestion led Breman to a life devoted to researching, controlling and wiping out infectious diseases worldwide. In 1967, Breman and his wife, Vicki, a nurse he’d met during his internship at LAC+USC Medical Center, went to Guinea with the CDC. At the time, the country had the world’s second-highest incidence of smallpox. “Through vaccination, containment, Guinea’s commitment and a lot of resources, in two years we eliminated a disease that had ravaged western Africa for 500 years,” Breman says. “That was pretty heady for a young person.” Five years later, based in Burkina Faso, he developed surveillance efforts for yellow fever, cholera, monkeypox and other diseases prevalent in eight West African countries. He also began work on malaria, and later investigated the first outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). Next, Breman went to the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, where he directed research on viruses related to smallpox and managed the global certification of smallpox eradication until the job was completed in 1980. Breman also shared his knowledge with others. He returned to the CDC and for more than a decade trained young American and African scientists. He moved on to direct international training and research programs in emerging infectious diseases at the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Now senior scientist emeritus at the NIH, Breman studies the malaria parasite’s resistance to new drugs, as well as the prevalence of poor-quality and fake drugs to treat the disease. Breman and his wife also help USC students who are passionate about studying and providing health care in developing countries. The couple established the Keck School’s Breman Student International Research Travel Grant, which provides awards of $2,000 to $5,000 to support eight weeks of clinical, field or laboratory research for one or two medical students each year. One recent recipient studied the link between childhood diseases and sanitation in Haiti. Another examined how depression inhibits people in Africa from taking anti-HIV drugs. “When I was in medical school, there were no opportunities for students to do research or clinical work overseas,” Breman says. “I wanted to give back for all the opportunities that my degree has made possible.” ROBIN HEFFLER
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EVERY DAY WE HELP PEOPLE GET BACK TO THEIR EVERYDAY. Every day you spend living with joint pain, you miss out on doing the things you love. At the USC Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement, a national leader in orthopaedic surgery, our mission is to help you move past your joint pain. Our surgeons use the latest technologies, minimally invasive techniques, innovative pain management, and intensive physical therapy to help minimize pain and shorten recovery time. So you can get on your feet as quickly as possible. Call us today, and get back to your everyday. 800-USC-CARE or ortho.usc.edu
USC Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement
the author of several books, including the recently published Creating Blockbusters. Paul D. Corona ’84 of Laguna Niguel, Calif., is the author of Healing the Mind and Body. A physician for 20 years, he specializes in psychiatry, mood disorders and chronic recurring physical problems. Katherine Turman ’86 published her first book, Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. Marion E. “Priss” Benbow ’87 co-wrote “European Startups: Now Is Your Time to Shine,” an article that was published on technology blog VentureBeat. She lives in San Francisco. Kerri Elizabeth McCoy ’87 recently won the Master of Design Award at the International Expo of Swimming Pools. She is the owner of Moorpark, Calif.-based Derian Quality
Pools as well as Pineapple Pools, a company that services pools and repairs equipment.
1990s Jeff Bernhardt MSW ’94 of Van Nuys, Calif., is the author of On Sacred Ground: Jewish and Christian Clergy Reflect on Transformative Passages from the Five Books of Moses, a collection of more than 100 essays by clergy. His play Therapy premiered in Los Angeles in March. Howard Hsu ’94 of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., recently accepted a position as financial controller at Pryde Group Americas, a Hong Kong-based manufacturing, distribution and brand management company focused on high-performance sporting products. Natalie Pace ’94 of Santa Monica, Calif.,
is the author of The ABCs of Money, which teaches basic financial literacy. She is CEO and founder of Women’s Investment Network LLC. Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab MA ’96 won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for her and her co-winner’s series in The New York Times about Wal-Mart using widespread bribery to dominate the retail industry in Mexico. Sebastien DeClerck ’98 was named a 2013 California Teacher of the Year. He teaches Italian and French at Ventura High School. Justin Sohl ’98 is founder and chief financial officer of Hollywood Access Services, a Burbank, Calif.-based company that produces audio narration for television, movies, home entertainment, Web content and theme parks. The company has developed Solo-Dx, a proprietary line of audio description MP3
Leadership, Legacy & Scholarship The USC Black Alumni Association proudly continues its mission to support successful outcomes for USC black students through scholarship, mentoring and leadership opportunities by engaging our Trojan Family network. Learn more online at usc.edu/baa
Black Alumni Association A division of USC Student Affairs Pictured, bottom right: Rev. Dr. Thomas Kilgore, Jr., founder, USC Black Alumni Association
NETWORKING
MENTORING
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COMMITTEE SERVICE
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Use the USC Alumni Business and Service Directory to: 𰁹 Locate Trojan-owned/affiliated businesses searchable by profession, keyword, city or country 𰁹 Take advantage of Trojan Family discounts and sign up for alerts about weekly special offers 𰁹 Download our iPhone app to explore Trojan businesses near you!
to the Trojan Family by joining the nearly 1,000 TrojanOwn a business? Market owned/affiliated businesses already part of this new directory.
Sign up before July 15 and get 50% OFF a Cardinal or Gold listing!
Visit TrojanBusinessDirectory.com or call (888) 872-9295
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 29 AT HAWAII
2013 FOOTBALL
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 AT NOTRE DAME
WEEKENDERS!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9 AT CAL
FIGHT ON! For complete information on all our Weekender events, please visit us online or call (213) 740-2300.
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lifelong and worldwide
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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23 AT COLORADO
files that can be played along with movies or television programs to aid the visually impaired.
2000s Paul Nankivell ’02 is a videographer for Time Warner Cable Sportsnet. He lives in Los Angeles. Jared Yeager ’02 was the executive producer for Beeline Interactive’s recently released mobile game “Ghostbusters” for the iPhone and iPad. He lives in Culver City, Calif. Sam Thong ’03, ’04 was recently named manager at Lucas, Horsfall, Murphy & Pindroh, an accounting and business consulting firm based in Pasadena, Calif. He has been with the firm for seven years.
Jackie Covas ’04 of Torrance, Calif., is the creator of Dance Dot, a small, portable board that allows tap dancers to practice outside a dance studio. Marcus Phillips ’04, Tony Phillips ’05 and Shawn Drost ’06 created Hack Reactor, a 12-week programming class in San Francisco focused on front-end Web development.
Merrill Irving Jr. PhD ’07 was appointed to a one-year term on the American Association of Community Colleges’ Advisory Committee on Leadership Initiatives. His appointment begins July 1. He is associate vice president of continuing education, training and workforce development at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Ill.
Shaun Sanghani MFA ’05 of Los Angeles is the creator and executive producer of The Governor’s Wife, which premieres on A&E this summer. He is the founder and owner of the production company SSS Entertainment.
Celeste (McGovern) Kidd ’07 was featured on Discover magazine’s list of top science stories of 2012 for her research on children’s decision making. She completed her PhD in brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester in May.
Todd Scherwin JD ’05 is managing partner at the Los Angeles office of Fisher & Phillips LLC, a labor, employment and civil rights law firm.
Tom Prieto MBT ’07 published his fourth article for the journal Practical Tax Strategies, “Inflation Protection and Taxes.” He lives in Valencia, Calif.
A New Home at USC The USC Catholic Community welcomes the Trojan Family to the magnificent new Our Savior Church and USC Caruso Catholic Center. All are welcome to attend our events and activities as we celebrate our grand opening year. We hope to see you often at your University Parish. And, when you’re on campus, please stop by for a visit and tour.
Our Savior Parish & USC Caruso Catholic Center Invite You Save the Dates! September 4, 2013 September 21, 2013 October 27, 2013 December 8, 2013
Welcome Fiesta to kick off the School Year Trojan Family Tailgate Barbecue on Campus Parents Weekend Mass, Blessing and Continental Breakfast First Anniversary Mass and Reception.
A Place of Service, Spirit and Intellect. 844 west thirty second street los angeles, ca 90007 213-516-3959
www.catholictrojan.org
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in memoriam
BIRTHS
2010s John Sandoval ’13 received the 2013 Dr. John R. Hubbard Award at the 39th annual USC Latino Alumni Association scholarship dinner in March.
MARRIAGES
Angela An ’94 and Don Wolery, a daughter, Emmie Mario Fernandez ’95 and Corinne Fernandez, a son, Coen Richard. He joins brother Mario Giordano Daniel Eugene Owens ’97 and Delia Jimenez Owens, a son, Jaymes Alexander. He joins brother Dylan Alexander. He is the nephew of Michelle Lynnette Owens ’95
Justin M. Evans ’03, MS ’05 and Jennifer M. Leong ’05, JD ’08 Peggy J. Vadillo ’05, MPP ’10 and Dave Orenstein.
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ALUMNI
SEND US YOUR NEWS AT
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Jeffrey A. Cadmus ’99, EMBA ’10 and Sierra Cadmus, a son, Resse. He joins brother Chase Derek Kealii Polischuk ’01, MM ’04, DMA ’06 and Karin (Diltz) Polischuk ’01, a son, Miles Jozef Akeamakai. He joins sister Veronica.
Walter W. Faner ’40, LLB ’50, Hidden Hills, Calif.; Dec. 18, 2012, at the age of 94 Arthur A. Bardos ’43, Chevy Chase, Md.; March 7, at the age of 91 Raymond Wilde ’49, of Elk Grove, Calif.; March 30, at the age of 88 James Edward Stewart MS ’50, Glendale, Calif.; March 15, at the age of 89 Floyd Alvin Paul ’51, Glendale, Calif.; Aug. 31, 2012, at the age of 89
Let us help make this chapter one of your best. It begins with the right setting. Comfortable surroundings that please the eye and senses. A responsive staff for resident support needs, with a licensed nurse on-site 24/7. Professionally guided fitness and therapy for an active lifestyle. Delicious, chef-prepared cuisine. Enriching activities for mind, body and spirit. Concierge and transportation services. What happens next is up to you. After all, it’s your story. Distinctive Residential Settings Comprehensive Health and Wellness Programs Award-Winning Memory Care Burbank (818) 972-2405 Encino (818) 788-8870 Hollywood Hills (323) 874-7711 Rancho Palos Verdes (310) 377-9977 Westwood (310) 475-7501 Thousand Oaks (805) 496-9301
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Fred Ray Klumb ’56, MS ’57, Duarte, Calif.; Oct. 30, 2010, at the age of 77 Bruce A. Macfarlane ’57, Arcadia, Calif.; March 5, 2012 at the age of 81 Morgan L. Morgan MD ’58, Corona del Mar, Calif.; Aug. 20, 2012, at the age of 79 Richard Gordon McEwen ’66, Green Valley, Ariz.; Aug. 14, 2012, at the age of 74 Donald L. Johnston ’77, North Palm Springs; Jan. 19, at the age of 64
B R I L L P H OTO B Y R YA N K . M O R R I S / N AT I O N A L S C I E N C E & T E C H N O L O G Y M E D A L S F O U N D AT I O N ; B U S S P H OTO B Y H O L LY S T E I N / G E T T Y I M A G E S
Richard H. Stewart DMA ’77, Escondido, Calif.; May 22, 2012, at the age of 82 Aram Peter Kezirian Jr. JD ’89, Los Angeles; Nov. 19, 2012, at the age of 48.
FA C U LT Y, S TA F F & F R I E N D S Salvador “Sal” Salas Mena Holtville, Calif.; Dec. 27, 2012, at the age of 95 Douglas R. Taylor Santa Monica, Calif.; Jan. 11, at the age of 74 William Van Cleave Idyllwild, Calif.; March 15, at the age of 77 Jeff Winans Turlock, Calif.; Dec. 21, 2012, at the age of 61.
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READ THE OBITUARIES OF THESE MEMBERS OF THE TROJAN FAMILY AT
tfm.usc.edu/memoriam
Jerry Buss Known worldwide as the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball franchise, Jerry Buss PhD ’57 masterminded the chemistry behind the famous “Showtime” teams of the 1980s. It only made sense: Buss studied and taught that science at USC. Buss died Feb. 18 in Los Angeles. He was 80. Born in Salt Lake City, Buss graduated from the University of Wyoming with dreams of becoming a chemistry professor. The analytical young Buss earned his doctorate in physical chemistry from USC and worked in the aerospace industry, as well as serving on the chemistry faculty at USC. To supplement his teaching income, he started investing in Southern California real estate. One big deal led to another, and soon he embraced the real estate business full time.
His first foray into sports team ownership—a professional tennis franchise—was short-lived, but his breakthrough came with the purchase of the Lakers and the Los Angeles Kings hockey team in 1979. The Lakers won 10 championships under his tenure, and he transformed professional basketball into an entertainment event. Buss also left his mark on USC. He served on the first USC College Board of Councilors and gave $7.5 million to what’s now called the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences to endow two chairs in chemistry and a scholarship fund for graduate students. He supported athletics and marching band scholarships and was a fervent USC track and football fan. He is survived by his sons John, Jim, Jesse and Joey ’06 and daughters Jane Drexel and Jeanie ’85. ●
Yvonne Brill Yvonne Brill MS ’51, a pioneering rocket scientist and expert in the chemistry of space propulsion, died March 27 in Princeton, N.J. She was 88. Born near Winnipeg, Manitoba, she was barred from majoring in engineering at the University of Manitoba because there were no accommodations for women at a mandatory engineering camp. Instead, she studied mathematics and chemistry, graduating at the top of her class, and went on to work with Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica, Calif. She is believed to have been the only woman in the United States doing rocket science in the mid-1940s, when she worked on the first designs for an American satellite. After marrying, she took several years off from her career to raise her family; she returned in the 1960s, working at RCA Astro Electronics. In the early 1970s, she invented a propulsion system to help keep communications satellites from slipping
out of their orbits. It later became the industry standard. From 1981 to 1983, she worked for NASA developing the rocket motor for the space shuttle. Throughout her career, she contributed to the propulsion systems of Tiros, the first weather satellite; Nova, a series of rocket designs that were used in American moon missions; the Atmosphere Explorer, the first upper-atmosphere satellite; and the Mars Observer. Brill spent her career encouraging women to pursue engineering and science. She received numerous awards, including NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal. In 1987, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In 2011, she received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. She was preceded in death by her husband, William Franklin Brill. She is survived by sons Matthew and Joseph, daughter Naomi and four grandchildren. ●
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last look A History of Service Countless future military officers have been educated at USC through the years. During World War II, programs such as the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (started in 1940) and the V-12 Navy College Training Program supported young men who pursued college degrees and were bound for the military. Those in the V-12 program were in uniform, on active duty and subject to military discipline. “It was hard, not only for us, but also for the staff and professors,” says Newell Boughton ’45. But college life had perks. “We worked hard but played hard between noon Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday,” Boughton remembers. On the weekends, students went to the beach, danced to big band sounds at the Cocoanut Grove ballroom and skied at local mountains. Classmates held sendoffs for USC students who were about to leave for active duty (right). In this image, ca. 1944, the crowd stretches all the way from the Old College entrance to the grounds. The U.S. Navy’s V-12 program ended after the war, but new USC ROTC programs were created in the years since: Air Force ROTC Detachment 060 in 1949 and Trojan Battalion Army ROTC in 1980. ●
PHOTO COURTESY OF USC UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
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World-class medical care.
Local address. At the Keck Medical Center of USC, you will find some of the finest physicians in the world. From the most complex diagnoses and treatments to primary care for the entire family, more than 600 USC physicians are in your community providing world-class care. Our physicians practice in locations throughout Southern California including downtown Los Angeles, La Ca単ada Flintridge, Beverly Hills and now, Pasadena.
Visit our medical office in Pasadena Keck Medical Center of USC Pasadena 625 S. Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 400 KeckMedicalCenterofUSC.org/Pasadena (626) 568-1622
Visit KeckMedicalCenterofUSC.org for a complete list of locations or call (800) USC-CARE.
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Their doctors. Your doctors. USC Sports Medicine. At Keck Medical Center of USC, you have access to the same orthopaedic surgeons and sports medicine specialists who care for the USC Trojans and Olympic champions. If you have a sports injury or pain of the shoulder, knee, hip, or elbow, we provide world-class care to defeat it.