New leadership
Noted life scientist, teacher and academic leader Carol L. Folt, PhD, became the University of Southern California’s 12th president on July 1, 2019. Folt has identified four areas of focus for the university: affordability, sustainability, the urban future and excellence (areas where USC has a distinct advantage).
Charles F. Zukoski, PhD, joined USC as the university’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, effective Oct. 1. A skilled administrator, researcher and member of the National Academy of Engineering, Zukoski was previously the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University at Buffalo.
Caryn Lerman, PhD, became the new director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, effective March 15. Lerman, who also holds the positions of associate dean for cancer programs and professor of psychiatry and the behavioral sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, is nationally recognized for cancer prevention research.
Kathryn “Kat” Carrico, an accomplished advancement professional with experience at several top academic medical centers, joined the university in January as vice president for USC Health Sciences Advancement.
Commencement 2019: Laughter rings out
The Galen Center roared with cheers and laughter as late-night TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel shared levity, as well as his own family’s personal health struggles, to help send off 192 new doctors at the 134th Keck School of Medicine of USC commencement, held on May 11.
Time for sweet celebration
More than 2,000 guests came to celebrate Keck Medical Center of USC, which includes Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, ranking No. 16 on the U.S. News & World Report 2019-20 Best Hospitals Honor Roll. The academic medical center was ranked among the top 5 hospitals in California and top 3 hospitals in Los Angeles. Pictured is Tom Jackiewicz, MPH, CEO of Keck Medicine of USC, who thanked attendees and shared that the health system’s future was brighter than ever.
Keck Hospital nationally recognized with an ‘A’ hospital safety grade
Keck Hospital of USC earned an “A” grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national patient safety watchdog, during the Fall 2019 release of the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades. This rating places Keck Hospital among the safest hospitals in the United States. Keck Hospital’s “A” grade is the result of a strict adherence to comprehensive quality and safety programs and a dedication to continuous improvement projects.
Recognizing excellence at USC-VHH
The emergency department nurses of USC Verdugo Hills Hospital received the Lantern Award from the Emergency Nurses Association. The award recognizes emergency departments that demonstrate exceptional and innovative performance in leadership, practice, education, advocacy and research.
USC brings world’s largest stem cell conference to Los Angeles
For the first time ever, the City of Los Angeles hosted the world’s largest stem cell conference. By choosing Los Angeles as the host city for this major annual meeting, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) acknowledged the city’s growing importance as a hub for the biosciences, as well as the world-class research taking place across the city, region and state of California. The meeting was co-sponsored by USC Stem Cell and the Choi family.
The meeting started with exciting news from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation: an award of $30 million in continuing support of the groundbreaking research in three California stem cell research centers, including USC.
Get treated like a King
Officials celebrated a new partnership on Sept. 4, as Keck Medicine, the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and Meyer Institute of Sport held a ribbon-cutting for the Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo, a new sports medicine and athletic rehabilitation center. The facility provides services to the LA Kings, youth sports teams and the surrounding communities.
Communicating with our communities
To raise awareness of cancer services now available at our Koreatown and Buena Park locations, Keck Medicine developed print ads, billboards and radio campaigns in English and Korean.
Keck School’s physician assistant program ranked No. 1 in California
The Primary Care Physician Assistant Program at the Keck School ranked No. 1 in California and No. 10 nationally in physician assistant programs in the 2020 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings.
The Keck School ranking for physician assistant programs, conducted every five years, leaped to No. 10 from No. 20 nationally, a reflection of the school’s commitment to the program, which includes a strengthened and refocused curriculum, including an emphasis on team-based medicine in underserved communities and proficiency in medical Spanish.
Bringing the hospital to the homeless
Housed within the Keck School Department of Family Medicine, the Street Medicine team's sole job is to serve people living on the streets — whether that’s providing care, which they do daily, or consulting as specialists at USC’s hospitals.
The Street Medicine program is just over a year old, but it speaks to the need in Los Angeles and the state: There are 45,000 unsheltered homeless people in Los Angeles County alone. Although there are similar programs across the state and U.S. — usually run out of clinics — the Keck School's Street Medicine team is unique in that it wasn’t started with grant funding and has dedicated daily staff.
Keck PRIDE
Keck Medicine faculty, staff and friends marched in the 2019 Los Angeles Pride Parade, held June 9 in West Hollywood.
In addition, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) Health Equality Index (HEI) designated Keck Medicine’s hospitals as LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Leaders. Both Keck Medical Center — which includes Keck Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital — and USC Verdugo Hills Hospital received the maximum score of 100 points.