A multidisciplinary team of graduate students representing the USC School of Social Work, USC Marshall School of Business and the Keck School of Medicine of USC won the fourth annual USC Global Health Case Competition.

Jay Lytton, MSW/MBA candidate; Mitch Otu, MD/MBA candidate; Amy Patel, MBA candidate; Edwin Kulubya, MD/MBA candidate; and Fereshte (Nina) Kharazmi, MPH candidate, comprised the winning team.

The competition, organized each year by the USC Institute for Global Health, featured a case challenge addressing the social impact of global giving programs at TOMS, the company known for its one-to-one retail sales model.

Approximately 80 students representing more than 10 USC schools participated in the competition. Shira Shafir, director of social innovation and impact at TOMS, was among the judges who watched the top three finalist teams’ presentations.

“I was really impressed with the group that ended up being the winner and the work that they did and the solutions they presented to the case,” Shafir said.

The winning team’s solution involved a plan to incorporate local song, dance and storytelling to educate Cameroonians on the importance of wearing shoes, drinking clean water and maintaining good sanitation practices.

“Ultimately, we took micro theoretical frameworks and concepts about data analytics but implemented them at the macro level,” Lytton said. “The solution to the case was not a business solution. It was a social work solution.”

Following the competition, Shafir presented about global health and social innovation at TOMS for the USC Global Health Lecture Series.

The winning team went on to compete at the International Emory Global Health Case Competition at Emory University in Atlanta. Though the USC team did not win, Lytton was still optimistic about his team’s work.

“Beyond just focusing on research, we have to also think about its implications,” he said. “We can think about everything from theory to what happens in real life, and find that common ground. That’s what’s going to push innovation forward.”