Latest Chan Division News
Why AI needs a “body” to truly understand the world ⟩
April 1, 2026
Artificial Intelligence Research
In Neuron, a USC-led team of neuroscientists explains why, for better reasoning and greater safety, the next generation of AI needs a sense of “embodiment.”
By Mike McNulty (Image generated by Google Gemini) AI systems have made remarkable progress in recent years. Multimodal large language models like ChatGPT and Gemini can analyze images, videos and text to describe scenes, answer complex questions and generate realistic content. Yet despite these…
⋯
Arameh Anvarizadeh announced as 2026 Commencement speaker ⟩
March 27, 2026
AOTA President, USC faculty member, and three-time alumna will keynote the division’s 84th Commencement ceremony.
2026 Commencement keynote speaker Dr. Arameh Anvarizadeh Arameh Anvarizadeh ’05, MA ’06, OTD ’07, will be the keynote speaker at the USC Chan Division’s 2026 Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 15, 2026, at the University Park Campus. Anvarizadeh became president of the American…
⋯
Eight Trojans win races in 2026 AOTA elections ⟩
February 26, 2026
Alumni Associations and Bodies Students
Election results are latest example of longstanding Trojan service to the national professional association.
Results of the 2026 American Occupation Therapy Association elections are in, and eight USC-affiliated candidates have won their respective races for volunteer leadership positions, the latest in a long line of Trojans serving the national professional association that advances the interests of…
⋯
12 Trojans vying for AOTA elected leadership positions ⟩
February 4, 2026
Alumni Associations and Bodies Faculty Students
One faculty member, three students and eight alums are on this year's ballot, which closes Feb. 25.
Editor's note: Results of the elections were announced on Feb. 26, with eight candidates winning their respective elections — congratulations! Voting in the annual elections of the American Occupational Therapy Association is now open! This year's ballot includes 12 USC Trojan Family members —…
⋯
More than 115 Trojans to present at WFOT Congress ⟩
January 29, 2026
Associations and Bodies Conferences Global Initiatives International
The 19th International Congress of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists is in Bangkok, Thailand, from Feb. 9–12, 2026.
More than 115 USC faculty members, students and alumni are scheduled to present their work at the 19th International Congress of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists hosted in Bangkok, Thailand, from Feb. 9–12, 2026. See the full list of USC-affiliated presenters. The International…
⋯
AI tools to help unveil patterns between social determinants of health, mental health risks, among autistic youth ⟩
November 10, 2025
Artificial Intelligence Autism Research
Amber Angell to lead five-year, $3.6 million study analyzing electronic health records, with collaborators from academia and the autistic community.
By Mike McNulty (Adobe Stock) A new USC-led study will apply artificial intelligence tools to electronic health records (EHRs) in order to better understand how social determinants of health — non-medical factors impacting health, such as education, income, housing and neighborhood resources like…
⋯
Aziz-Zadeh receives Nimoy Knight Foundation’s Live Long and Prosper Award ⟩
October 24, 2025
Honor celebrates values of iconic “Star Trek” character Spock, such as rationality, peace, compassion and belonging.
Professor Lisa Aziz-Zadeh offers the iconic Vulcan hand salute :spock-hand: popularized by Nimoy (Photo courtesy of Lisa Aziz-Zadeh) Professor Lisa Aziz-Zadeh has been named a 2025 recipient of the Live Long and Prosper Tribute Award from the Nimoy Knight Foundation. The honor celebrates those…
⋯
Liew tapped to lead NIH-funded P50 national specialized research center ⟩
October 15, 2025
Artificial Intelligence Community and Partners Research Technology
Five-year, $6.5 million project will leverage data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning to build large rehabilitation research datasets for precision rehabilitation.
By Mike McNulty (Image generated by Adobe Firefly) Sook-Lei Liew is the principal investigator of the newly funded Data Science and Analytics for Precision Rehabilitation (DAPR) Center, a five-year project supported by a $6.5 million P50 grant from the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation…
⋯
In memoriam: Jane Goodall, 91 ⟩
October 1, 2025
Faculty International Lectures and Talks
World-renowned primatologist held adjunct faculty appointment for 13 years.
Jane Goodall, shown in 2015 (Wikimedia Commons/Simon Fraser University - Communications & Marketing) Dr. Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist whose pioneering research with chimpanzees and their occupational behavior was so influential that she had been called the “Einstein of behavioral…
⋯
AI-augmented MRIs may improve post-stroke prognosis ⟩
September 30, 2025
Artificial Intelligence Research Technology
New NIH-funded project uses AI to enhance MRI image resolution to better understand how global brain health impacts long-term stroke recovery.
By Mike McNulty (Adobe Stock) Artificial intelligence is seemingly, suddenly, everywhere. Soon, thanks to a new USC-led study funded by the National Institutes of Health, it will be used to generate synthetic stroke MRI images that are just as accurate and detailed as those produced by the world’s…
⋯
