María P. Aranda

Professor Executive Director, Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging

Research interests address interplay between chronic illness, social resources and psychological well-being in low-income minority populations.

Aranda joined the USC faculty in 1995 and holds a joint appointment with the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. She has 20 years of licensed clinical experience providing mental health services to Latinos in the greater Los Angeles area. She has served on local and national boards and committees dedicated to the enhancement of practice, policy, research and advocacy related to underserved minority populations.

Michàlle Mor Barak

Professor

John Clapp

Director, Doctor of Social Work Program

John D. Clapp is a professor at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California. Clapp is known internationally for his research and translational work in the field of alcohol problem prevention. A fellow in the American Academy of Health Behavior, Clapp is currently studying the system dynamics of drinking events with a team of engineers and computer scientists with the goal of developing “smart” real-time prevention applications. He has published more than 100 journal articles, with his work appearing in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Addiction, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, among numerous other top research journals.

Avelardo Valdez

Professor

Suzanne Wenzel

Professor

Interdisciplinary researcher, specializing in the health-related needs of vulnerable populations. Suzanne Wenzel has devoted much of her career to interdisciplinary research that seeks to understand and address health-related needs of vulnerable populations, particularly individuals experiencing homelessness in urban communities. Wenzel has also served as the principal investigator on ten grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Yuri Jang

Professor

Carl Castro

Professor Director, Military and Veterans Programs

Carl A. Castro is an associate professor, also serving as the director of Military and Veterans Programs. Castro joined the faculty in 2013 after serving 33 years in the U.S. Army, where he obtained the rank of colonel. Castro began his military career as an infantryman in 1981. He served in a variety of research and leadership positions, including as director of the Military Operational Medicine Research Program, Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Maryland.

Ben Henwood

Professor Director, Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research

Expert on housing and integrative support for homeless individuals. Dr. Henwood is a licensed clinical social worker who has served as an administrator, clinician and researcher for organizations serving adults experiencing homelessness and serious health conditions, including mental illness, physical disease and addiction.

Henwood helped start and served as the clinical director for Pathways to Housing, Inc., a Housing First agency in Philadelphia, where he also served as the principal investigator of clinical research that sought to develop more effective models of integrating primary and behavioral health care.

Eric Rice

Professor 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.

Eric Rice is an associate professor and the founding co-director of the USC Center for Artificial Intelligence 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.