The link between highly processed modern-day diets and inflammation-related chronic diseases (e.g., cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, poor mental health) has been well-established. But what other factors influence the systemic inflammation and rising rates of chronic diseases experienced by industrialized nations?

USC researchers* recently reviewed the existing literature on diet-induced inflammation, climate change, and food systems – finding numerous scientific papers focusing on each of these areas but very few that looked at their overlap. With nutrition epidemiologist and inflammation expert James Hébert taking the lead, the team examined the intersection of these three factors – along with their collective impacts on health – publishing their insights in Advances in Nutrition.

As USC leadership and expertise in advancing brain health and healthy aging grows ever stronger, a recent scholarly paper perfectly exemplifies why South Carolina’s flagship university is excelling in these efforts. Led by health promotion, education, and behavior (HPEB) professor Daniela Friedman, 26 researchers representing 16 departments came together to integrate their knowledge and insights related to Alzheimer’s disease research in the Palmetto State. They published their collective perspectives in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports.

Using a second National Institutes of Health grant awarded this year, health promotion, education, and behavior assistant professor Leila Larson will examine the factors influencing childhood development from yet another angle: weather. With nearly $400,000 in funding support, Larson will examine the direct and indirect effects of extreme weather events – from extreme heat, precipitation, and drought to hurricanes, cyclones, and other storms – on pediatric health.

It detects a genetic signature for X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism, which primarily affects men of Filipino descent.

Leila Larson has been awarded nearly three million dollars from the National Institutes of Health to lead a five-year study aimed at improving childhood health and development. The health promotion, education, and behavior assistant professor and global health researcher will use the funds to deploy a health intervention (i.e., the BUNDLE study) that employs three strategies, individually and in combination, that address critical adversities faced by many children in resource limited settings.

Embargoed press materials are now available for the Association for Molecular Pathology 2025 Annual Meeting & Expo.

Bentham Science Publishers latest release, Advances in the Medicinal Chemistry of Neglected Tropical Disease and Related Infectious Diseases is a detailed exploration of how modern drug discovery and design are addressing the global health burden posed by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and related infections.