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Eric Rice

Professor, Associate Dean for Research and Co-Director, USC Center for AI in Society

Social work expert, focusing on community outreach, network science, and the use of social networking technology by high-risk youth

Media Contact
Eric Rice
Email:  ericr@usc.edu
Phone:  +1 213.821.4292
Rank:  Tenure Track Faculty

Eric Rice

Professor, Associate Dean for Research and Co-Director, USC Center for AI in Society

Social work expert, focusing on community outreach, network science, and the use of social networking technology by high-risk youth

Media Contact

Biography

Eric Rice is a professor, the associate dean for research and the founding co-director of the USC Center for AI in Society, a joint venture of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Rice received a BA from the University of Chicago, and an MA and PhD in Sociology from Stanford University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles. He joined the USC faculty in 2009.

Rice specializes in social network science and theory, as well as community-based research. His primary focus is on youth experiencing homelessness and how issues of social network influence may affect risk-taking behaviors and resilience. For several years he has worked with colleague Milind Tambe to merge social work science and AI, seeking novel solutions to major social problems such as homelessness and HIV.

Rice is the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed articles in such publications as the American Journal of Public Health, AIDS and Behavior, Journal of Adolescent Health, Pediatrics, and Child Development, and the Journal of the Society for Social Work Research. He is the recipient of grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the California HIV/AIDS Research Program, the Army Research Office and other agencies. In 2012, he received the John B. Reid Early Career Award through the Society for Prevention Research. In 2021, he was inducted as a Fellow of the Society for Social Work Research.

Since 2002, Rice has worked closely with homeless youth providers in Los Angeles and many other communities across the country. He is the creator of the TAY Triage Tool — to identify high-risk homeless youth for prioritizing them for supportive housing — which was incorporated into Orgcode’s Next Step Tool for homeless youth. Rice’s primary collaborators in Los Angeles are the Los Angeles Housing Service Authority, the United Way’s Home for Good, the LA LGBT Center, My Friend’s Place and Safe Place for Youth.

Media

Eric Rice, Phd - How Technology Reduces the Risk-Taking of Homeless YouthMilind Tambe, Eric RiceHEALER Algorithm Improves HIV Knowledge among Homeless YouthKPFK interview with USC CAIS Co-Directors Milind Tambe and Eric RiceUSC Center for Artificial Intelligence in SocietyCAIS Intro

Education

University of California Los Angeles

Postdoctoral Fellow 2004

Stanford University

PhD 2002

Stanford University

MA 1996

University of Chicago

BA 1995

Area of Expertise

  • Artificial Intelligence for Social Good
  • Homelessness
  • HIV Prevention
  • Application of social networking methods to social work research
  • Social Network Theory
  • Social Network Analysis
  • Homeless youth
  • Suicide Prevention
  • Artificial Intelligence

Industry Experience

  • Health Care - Services
  • Health Care - Facilities
  • Mental Health Care
  • Public Policy
  • Research
  • Education/Learning
  • Program Development
  • Health and Wellness
  • Health Care - Providers

Research Interest

Children & Families Health HIV/AIDS Homelessness

Accomplishments

Sterling C. Franklin Award for Distinguished Faculty

Awarded by the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work

Articles & Publications

Petry, L., Hill, C., Milburn, N., & Rice, E. (2022). Who is couch-surfing and who is on the streets? Disparities among racial and sexual minority youth in experiences of homelessness. Journal of Adolescent Health, 70(5), 743-750.

Rice, E., Wilder, B., Onasch-Vera, L., DiGuiseppi, G., Petering, R., Hill, C., ... & Tambe, M. (2021). A Peer-Led, Artificial Intelligence-Augmented Social Network Intervention to Prevent HIV Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (1999), 88(1), S20.

DiGuiseppi, G., Clomax, A., Dodge, J. R., & Rice, E. (2021). Social network correlates of education and employment service use among youth experiencing homelessness: A longitudinal study. Children and Youth Services Review, 129, 106212.

Rice, E., Holguin, M., Hsu, H. T., Morton, M., Vayanos, P., Tambe, M., & Chan, H. (2018). Linking homelessness vulnerability assessments to housing placements and outcomes for youth. Cityscape, 20(3), 69-86.

 

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