About Our Research
Active Projects
The rigorous, interdisciplinary research programs at the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy — including our more than $28.7 million of active, federally funded projects as well as projects that have been completed — pursues and generates knowledge with relevant outcomes for real-world interventions that improve human health, quality of life and well-being. The division’s portfolio includes research grants, training grants and contracts. Projects currently within their active period are below.
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AI Tropes and the Human Mind: A Neuroscience Perspective ⟩
While the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), such as Google Bard and ChatGPT, will undoubtedly result in numerous benefits, it also brings growing concerns. The purpose of this proposal is to better understand some of the most commonly voiced of those concerns, and address a subset of them from…
Start: Aug 2024
Private Funding $200,000
Assessing Heterogeneity of Treatment Response with Diffusion MRI Tractography in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder ⟩
Period: Jan 2022 – Jun 2024
Federal Funding $88,671 (anticipated sub-contract award)
Beyond CoYoT1: Expansion of Patient-Centered Virtual Care ⟩
The purpose of this study is to develop and disseminate a toolkit for an evidence-based patient-centered telehealth and shared medical appointment care model for young adults with type 1 diabetes. Previously implemented among a low-SES, racially and ethnically diverse population receiving care at a…
Period: Oct 2021 – Sep 2025
Private Funding $264,000
Brain Activity and Behavioral Indicators of Sensory Processing (BABeIS) ⟩
Infant participant wearing EEG cap in the insp!re lab BABeIS is an in-person study that aims to understand the brain-behavior connection in relation to sensory processing in infants 6-16 months. Participants will come to the Insp!re lab for a two hour visit. During the visit, infants will wear the…
Characterizing gastrointestinal disorder trajectories for autistic sub-groups: Machine learning prediction of risk profiles and response to treatment ⟩
Gastrointestinal (GI) problems are among the most common concern reported by families of autistic children and youth, but efforts to understand the nuances of GI symptoms are stymied by a lack of longitudinal research using real-world clinical datasets. We will use a multimethod, participatory…
Period: Aug 2024 – Apr 2029
Federal Funding $2,951,222
Co-developing the ¡Vivir Mi Vida! lifestyle intervention for rural-living Latinos of safety-net health care systems ⟩
This project employs a community-based participatory research approach with Visión y Copmpromiso to optimize the ¡Vivir Mi Vida! lifestyle intervention for older rural-living Latinos in the Coachella Valley of California.
Period: Jul 2024 – May 2025
Private Funding $122,504
Demolishing Barriers to Democratize Future Construction Operations by Providing Multi-sensory Capabilities for Effective Remote Work ⟩
Teleoperation (i.e., operating a machine from a distance outside the operator’s line of sight) is an emerging technology in construction that has many potential benefits, such as increasing workplace safety and engaging a more diverse workforce. Teleoperation will require new skills for…
Period: Oct 2022 – Sep 2026
Federal Funding $1,799,999 (anticipated)
Designing belonging: Advancing science on environmental modifications to foster activity engagement and social connection among individuals with serious mental illness ⟩
Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) experience unconscionable disparities in health and longevity, which are exacerbated by social isolation and loneliness. The objective of this career development award is to build the foundation for a unique program of research focused on how behavioral…
Period: Sep 2024 – Aug 2025
Federal Funding $184,540
Designing Precision Rehabilitation for Post-acute Care (PRe-PAC) ⟩
The aims of this training award are to (1) create patient profiles of functional recovery in the domains of self-care, mobility, and cognition for adults with stroke to evaluate the association of how rehabilitation service time as distributed among occupational, physical, and speech-language…
Period: Apr 2024 – Mar 2027
Intramural Funding $75,000 + 75% FTE
Detecting and mapping stress patterns across space and time: Multimodal modeling of individuals in real-world physical and social work environments ⟩
Stress has been identified as the health epidemic of the 21st century, and office-related work is a significant driver of stress among Americans due to long hours, rapid deadlines, heavy workloads, and job insecurity. Yet, office workers are often entirely unaware of the impact of stress until they…
Period: Sep 2022 – Aug 2026
Federal Funding $1,199,985 (anticipated)
Developing a lifestyle-focused self-management intervention for diabetic foot ulcers offloading ⟩
The aims of this study are to co-develop a lifestyle-based occupational therapy intervention to address self-management for people who have been prescribed diabetic foot ulcer offloading.
Period: Apr 2024 – Mar 2025
Intramural Funding $124,999
Effects of Global Brain Health on Sensorimotor Recovery After Stroke ⟩
The neurobiology of post-stroke sensorimotor recovery is not fully understood. Current research on stroke recovery focuses on two spatial levels of brain injury: the focal level (i.e., the lesion and brain structures directly affected by the stroke, such as the corticospinal tract) and the network…
Period: Apr 2020 – Mar 2025
Federal Funding $3,094,939
Evaluation of a Complex Behavioral Intervention for Young Adults with Diabetes: The Resilient, Empowered, Active Living-Telehealth (REAL-T) Study ⟩
Young adulthood is a challenging life stage for many with T1D; only 17% of 18-25 year olds and 30% of 26-30 year olds attain recommended HbA1c targets, and only 2% consistently perform diabetes self-care in accordance with national guidelines. To address these issues, our research team developed the…
Period: Feb 2019 – Dec 2024
Federal Funding $3,550,408 (anticipated)
Facilitating post-COVID return-to-work: Triangulating patient, provider, and employer perspectives ⟩
This study aims to support post-COVID return-to-work (RTW) processes and outcomes by identifying facilitators and barriers for RTW utilizing three stakeholder perspectives — people recovering from COVID-19, healthcare providers at COVID clinics, and human resources professionals. The project will…
Period: Feb 2023 – Jan 2024
Internal Funding $49,605
Function and Emotion in Everyday Life with Type 1 Diabetes (FEEL-T1D) ⟩
It is generally understood that fluctuations in blood glucose are both distressing and intrusive for people with type 1 diabetes, yet diabetes research to date has primarily relied on global, retrospective measures that cannot capture the relationships between acute blood glucose fluctuations,…
Period: Apr 2019 – Mar 2025
Federal Funding $3,157,103 (anticipated)
Implementation of the Baby Bridge program via telehealth to enhance access to early intervention services in Los Angeles ⟩
The long-term goal of this project is to improve health and well-being of infants and families impacted by neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization through early occupational therapy (OT). High-risk infants discharged from the NICU experience developmental challenges. Early OT: 1)…
Period: Sep 2021 – Jan 2025
Private Funding $100,000
Keck COVID Recovery Clinic, Optimal Outcomes for Patients in a Comprehensive Assessment and Management Program (Keck CO-OP CAMP) ⟩
The COVID Recovery Clinic at Keck Medicine (Keck CRC) of the University of Southern California has treated patients with Long COVID since 2020. In this project, Keck CRC will improve its current care delivery and symptom model, establish new models of service to expand services to more patients,…
Period: Jul 2024 – Jun 2029
Federal Funding $999,331
Learning Health Systems Rehabilitation Research (LeaRRn) Learning Health Systems Scholar — Data visualization for adults with disorders of consciousness ⟩
As a LeaRRn LHS Scholar, Dr. Cogan will partner with Dr. Joe Giacino at Spaulding Rehabilitation, with mentorship from Drs. Mary Slavin and Lewis Kazis. Her project will focus on creation of tools to visualize assessment data from electronic health records to support clinical decision making and…
Period: Aug 2023 – Jun 2025
Federal Funding $15,000
Mechanism to Promote Safe and Efficient Oral Feeding in Preterm Infants ⟩
Oral intake is an important indicator of weight gain and development for premature infants, especially as they approach discharge from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). However, the underlying skills for oral feeding such as coordinating suck-swallow-breathe, state regulation, and maintenance…
Period: May 2021 – May 2025
Federal Funding $1,730,866 (anticipated)
Mitigating Risk and Promoting Occupational Safety and Health When Developing and Integrating AI in the Workplace ⟩
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most significant emerging technologies with high potential to impact occupational safety and health, which has been highlighted as a national priority in the founding of the National AI Initiative and as a key component of the NIOSH Future of Work…
Period: Sep 2022 – Aug 2025
Federal Funding $104,226 (anticipated)
Multisensory Interventions to Improve Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Preterm Infants Hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit ⟩
During hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), premature infants repeatedly experience negative sensory experiences. Evidence suggests that combined with prematurity, experiences in the NICU environment are disruptive to neurodevelopment. The Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory…
Period: Mar 2022 – Mar 2027
Federal Funding $3,911,770 (anticipated)
Reconceptualizing third places: Countering social isolation in lives without workplaces ⟩
The purpose of this study is to re-conceptualize “third places” by exploring how they are situated in the lives of people without distinct work places.
Period: Mar 2022 – Mar 2026
Federal Funding $245,440
Risk-stratified self-management care for colorectal cancer survivors: A new approach to increasing adherence to health behavior recommendations ⟩
Colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality is linked to modifiable health behaviors such as physical activity, alcohol intake, and diet; however,
Federal Funding $650,000
Screening for Autism Risk in Preterm Infants (SARP) ⟩
Young participant in the insp!re lab SARP is a longitudinal study examining early signs of autism in preterm infants, 6 -18 months adjusted age. Families are recruited through the high-risk infant follow-up clinic at LA General Medical Center and are seen during their well-child check appointments.…
Start: Jan 2019
Sensory Adapted Dental Environments to Enhance Oral Care for Children with and without Dental Fear and Anxiety ⟩
Dental fear and anxiety (DFA) characterizes up to 42% of the pediatric population and predicts negative behaviors in the dental clinic, irregular appointment attendance, need for general anesthesia, and poor oral health. Sensory over-responsivity (SOR), which occurs in up to 33% of the pediatric…
Period: Apr 2022 – Mar 2029
Federal Funding $5,538,460 (anticipated)
Sensory and Social Development in Infants and Toddlers (SASI) ⟩
Young participant plays with a ball in the insp!re lab SASI is a longitudinal study which aims to understand individual differences in social and sensory development in typically developing and high-risk infants and toddlers. This study examines these domains through behavioral and physiological…
Southern California Child Development Survey (SoCal CDS) ⟩
SoCal CDS is a survey study examining children’s development from 6 to 16 months of age in domains such as social communication and sensory regulation. We are recruiting families from communities within the greater Los Angeles area to collect normative data on a diverse population. Participants…
Supporting Improved Clinical Decision Making in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Through Greater Accuracy and Precision of Neurobehavioral Common Data Elements ⟩
Advances in science have resulted in many survivors of traumatic brain injury living in disordered states of consciousness for up to two decades. However, we have not advanced the state of the science to foster traumatic brain injury survivor’s functional recovery. A critical challenge in…
Period: Sep 2022 – Mar 2025
Federal Funding $299,639
The Relationship Between Brain Functioning, Behavior, and Microbiota in Autism Spectrum Disorder ⟩
Gastrointestinal (GI) issues are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and can lead to a lower quality of life. Several studies have linked these GI issues to altered gut microbial makeup in ASD. But research has not yet clarified how this may be related to the core features of ASD…
Period: Sep 2018 – Dec 2024
Federal Funding $506,659
Toward Development of a Comprehensive, In-Home, Active Seating System to Lessen Sedentariness and Improve Health and Wellness in Older Adults ⟩
National Institutes of Health – National Institute on Aging (NIA), Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) FitSitt is an innovative device tailored to older adults that increases the convenience of breaking up sedentary activity and incorporating physical activity into in-home daily…
Period: Aug 2021 – Jul 2024
Federal Funding $98,827 (subcontract)
Transforming Research: Understanding Sensory Experiences in ASD, Stakeholders Working Together — TRUST ⟩
SIEFL Core ⟩ Boundary Crossings Lab ⟩
Background Many in the research community do not understand the problems facing individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the lifespan, particularly related to sensory processing. Academics may not know what questions to ask or problems to solve without input from the community. Most…
Period: Jan 2020 – Jan 2022
Private Funding $243,581
Understanding Social Determinants of Health and Health Disparities in Emerging Work Contexts ⟩
The project aims to learn how the effects of emergent work intersect with workers’ ability to flourish and live meaningful lives as productive individuals in their communities. He will complete an integrative investigation of objective and subjective facets of emerging work modes and worker health…
Period: Oct 2024 – Oct 2027
Federal Funding $224,868
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