Latest Chan Division News
Faculty
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…
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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…
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Lawlor recognized with 2025 Ruth Zemke Lectureship in Occupational Science ⟩
July 10, 2025
Conferences Faculty Lectures and Talks
She becomes eighth USC-affiliated recipient of honorary lecture.
Professor Mary Lawlor Associate Chair of Research and Professor Mary Lawlor has been named the 2025 recipient of the Ruth Zemke Lectureship in Occupational Science awarded by the Society for the Study of Occupation:USA. She will deliver the honorary lecture at the society’s annual research…
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Anvarizadeh begins term as president of the American Occupational Therapy Association ⟩
July 1, 2025
Alumni Associations and Bodies Faculty
Faculty member and alumna becomes fifth Trojan to lead the national professional association.
AOTA President Arameh Anvarizadeh (photo by Andre Niesing) Today, Arameh Anvarizadeh officially begins her term as president of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), following her election to the volunteer leadership position in early 2024. The three-year presidential term runs…
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USC scientists find a gut-brain link that may affect behavior in children with autism ⟩
April 14, 2025
An imbalance in the microbiome disrupts neurotransmitter production and may manifest as social difficulties and repetitive behaviors.
By Leigh Hopper A new USC study suggests that gut imbalances in children with autism may create an imbalance of metabolites in the digestive system — ultimately disrupting neurotransmitter production and influencing behavioral symptoms. The research, published Monday in Nature Communications, adds…
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Can “social architecture” reverse the loneliness epidemic? ⟩
April 11, 2025
Community and Partners Faculty Students
In the heart of Hollywood, USC Chan’s Joy Agner is studying how the built and social environment can better connect people to each other through occupation.
By Mike McNulty Originally appeared in The Explorer: Journal of USC Student Research published by the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC Photo courtesy of Joy Agner Feeling lonely? You’re not alone. Recent surveys show that approximately half of adults in the United States experience loneliness,…
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Nine faculty and alumni to receive AOTA, AOTF awards ⟩
March 20, 2025
Alumni Associations and Bodies Awards Conferences Faculty
Nine USC faculty members and alumni will receive annual awards presented by the American Occupational Therapy Association and American Occupational Therapy Foundation during the association's annual conference, which runs from April 3–5 in Philadelphia. Leah Stein Duker Assistant Professor Leah…
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In memoriam: Elizabeth June Yerxa, 94 ⟩
January 21, 2025
Alumni Faculty
Former chair of the USC Department of Occupational Therapy and founder of the research discipline of occupational science.
By Professor Emeritus Florence Clark Dr. Elizabeth June Yerxa ’52, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California (USC) Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, died on Dec. 18, 2024. She was 94. Dr. Yerxa was a remarkable woman: an…
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Wildfire Resources and Relief ⟩
January 15, 2025
Alumni Community and Partners Faculty
Help support Trojans in need in the aftermath of the southern California wildfires.
The damage and devastation caused by the southern California wildfires is tragic, and they have immediately impacted members of our USC Chan family. But in the face of this heartbreak, the USC Chan Trojan Family is working together in a number of ways to connect people to resources and support to…
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New $5.5 million NIH-funded study to test whether sensory adaptations can ease children’s dental fears and anxieties ⟩
November 25, 2024
Community and Partners Faculty Research
Study led by Leah Stein Duker in partnership with Children's Hospital Los Angeles extends Sensory Adapted Dental Environment research line begun in 2011.
By Mike McNulty (Adobe Stock) A new study funded by more than $5.5 million in NIH grants will test whether a Sensory Adapted Dental Environment (SADE) — a novel intervention that provides soothing visual, auditory and tactile input within the dental clinic environment — can reduce anxiety and…
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