USC researchers continue to uncover new insights from a five-year project launched by health services policy and management associate professor Peiyin Hung and health promotion, education, and behavior professor Xiaoming Li to investigate maternal care and outcomes, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, their team received a $200,000 supplement to the initial $3 million National Institutes of Health U01 grant to further explore postpartum trends related to the intersection of residence location and race/ethnicity.

A recent study led by Ph.D. in Epidemiology candidate Marion Granger Howard and published in JAMA Pediatrics (the highest-ranked journal in the field) compared the health outcomes of planned hospital births vs planned community births (i.e., births that were intended to take place at home or at a birthing center). The researchers found that individuals who planned community births and actually delivered in those settings experienced lower risks of adverse health outcomes. However, those who planned community births at the onset of labor but then transferred to a hospital had increased odds of medical interventions and negative outcomes.

Rural and maternal health expert Peiyin Hung has published new research on maternal health outcomes based on the hospital locations where rural South Carolinians give birth. Published in JAMA Network Open, the health services policy and management (HSPM) associate professor and her co-authors* found that 47% of rural mothers are opting to deliver in urban hospitals over local facilities. These rural residents had higher risks of severe maternal morbidity and mortality.

Findings provide insights into how corporate ownership affects local TV, the most trusted source of news in the United States.

Scientists at HSE University have discovered that in preeclampsia—one of the most severe complications of pregnancy—the placenta remodels its lipid metabolism, reducing its own cholesterol synthesis while increasing cholesterol transfer to the foetus. This compensatory mechanism helps sustain foetal nutrition but accelerates placental deterioration and may lead to preterm birth. The study findings have been published in Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences.

A company’s ability to be technologically unique is an asset — but it can also be a costly, isolating characteristic. A new study published in Strategic Management Journal provides empirical evidence of this paradox, offering documentation of technologically unique pay-offs, as well as the double penalty of being a contrarian company.

As self-driving cars begin operating in cities, a question remains about how to make them work in rural areas with limited telecommunications infrastructure. New research from Washington State University suggests a potential answer, demonstrating that a small, affordable computer running a compressed large-language model may be an effective decision-maker for autonomous vehicles.