USC Dornsife News Briefs highlight faculty research studies, newly published books, awards, grants and other news showcasing faculty members’ work at USC Dornsife. All USC Dornsife faculty are eligible to submit content.
(The diverse opinions expressed in News Briefs do not necessarily represent the views of USC Dornsife administration or USC.)
Santiago Morales, assistant professor of psychology and pediatrics, has received the 2024 Kucharski Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology. This award recognizes early-career researchers making significant contributions to the field. Morales’ research explores how early differences in emotion regulation and temperament shape socioemotional development and risk for psychopathology. Honoring the memory of David Kucharski, the award includes a cash prize, an engraved plaque and an invitation to present at the society’s annual meeting, highlighting Morales’s innovative work and its impact on advancing developmental psychobiology.
Morteza Dehghani, professor of psychology and computer science, has been named a 2024 Fellow of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. This honor recognizes his outstanding contributions to personality and social psychology, including his leadership, research, pedagogy and advocacy for the field. Dehghani’s work combines machine learning and natural language processing to uncover cognitive and psychological patterns in social discourse, offering new insights into moral cognition. The fellowship celebrates his dedication to advancing understanding in the discipline and his role in shaping its future through innovation and influence.
Sarah Gualtieri, professor of American studies and ethnicity, history and Middle East studies, has received the Mary C. Turpie Prize from the American Studies Association. The award recognizes her exceptional contributions to teaching, advising and program development in American studies at the local and regional levels. The association honored Gualtieri for her impactful work on U.S. imperial interests in Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) and their domestic consequences, particularly the rise of anti-Arab racism in the U.S. domestic sphere.
Remo Rohs, founding chair of the Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology and professor of quantitative and computational biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy and computer science, has been elected a fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA). Rohs is one of four fellows from the quantitative and computational biology department to receive this honor. Fengzhu Sun, professor of quantitative and computational biology and mathematics, was also elected this year, and Nobel laureate Arieh Warshel, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Quantitative and Computational Biology and Dana and David Dornsife Chair in Chemistry as well as University Professor Michael Waterman were previously elected. AAIA is a global, academic, nonprofit organization formed by scholars who share a focus on advancing artificial intelligence.
Fengzhu Sun, professor of quantitative and computational biology and mathematics, has been elected a fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association. The association is a global, academic, nonprofit organization formed by scholars who share a focus on advancing AI. Sun is one of four fellows from the quantitative and computational biology department to have received this honor, joining Remo Rohs, founding chair of the Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology and professor of quantitative and computational biology, chemistry, physics and astronomy and computer science, who was also elected this year, as well as Nobel laureate Arieh Warshel, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Quantitative and Computational Biology and Dana and David Dornsife Chair in Chemistry, and University Professor Emeritus Michael Waterman, who were previously elected.
Distinguished scholars, artists and activists convened at USC on Nov. 2 for “Artsakh Uprooted,” a symposium addressing the displacement of Armenians from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and hosted by USC Dornsife’s Institute of Armenian Studies.
Sheel Ganatra, associate professor of mathematics, has been named a 2025 Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. The AMS Fellows program honors members for advancing the mathematical profession and recognizes boty extraordinary and excellent mathematicians, aiming to support their visibility and competitiveness for broader recognition within and beyond academia. Ganatra’s research focuses on structural aspects of Fukaya categories and Floer theory, using homological algebra and non-commutative geometry to explore applications in mirror symmetry and string topology.
Viet Nguyen, Aerol Arnold Chair of English and professor of English, American studies and ethnicity, and comparative literature, has been honored with an ACLU Foundation of Southern California Bill of Rights Award. The annual award, this year bestowed during a Nov. 10 ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, celebrates those whose seminal work has challenged the status quo and fostered a more just and inclusive world.
Brittany Friedman, assistant professor of sociology, has received a Visiting Scholar Fellowship with the University of Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain, stationed in the university’s Department of Law during summer 2025. Friedman, who co-founded the Captive Money Lab and co-leads a cross-national study on inmate reimbursement practices that examines the evolution of pay-to-stay policies, debt and inequality, will present her research and advance her next book project.
