We are delighted you’re here! Hope your November is a time of cherished gatherings with the important people in your life.
In this issue, learn how an often missed diagnosis threatens the quality of life of millions, dive into a discovery that could save coral reefs and explore a report that maps L.A.’s past to prepare for its future.
🗓️Save the date, Nov. 16 at noon, for the upcoming Dornsife Dialogue: The Independent Voter Surge. More voters are prioritizing issues over party allegiance. USC Dornsife scholars discuss the implications.
NEWS
1 Big Thing: Missed Diagnosis — The Hidden Crisis
More than 7 million Americans live with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) — increased difficulty with memory and thought — without knowing it. Two studies by USC Dornsife researchers reveal that most people suffering from this condition go undiagnosed.
Why it matters: Detecting cognitive impairment early is crucial because early treatment can slow the progression toward more severe forms of Alzheimer’s or dementia.
By the numbers: They estimate 8 million of them have MCI. Alarmingly, more than 90%, or 7.4 million of them, remained undiagnosed.
A second study examined 200,000 primary care clinicians and revealed that 99% of them failed to accurately diagnose MCI.
A diagnosis can be missed if the patient doesn’t mention their concerns or if the physician doesn’t notice subtle signs.
A typical clinic visit leaves insufficient time to adequately discuss or assess cognitive impairment.
Historically disadvantaged groups, such as individuals with lower levels of education and Black and Hispanic Americans, are hit hardest.
These groups are at a higher risk of cognitive decline due to their increased likelihood of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension.
The researchers also found that detection of MCI was even worse for these groups.
“So, they’re hit twice: They have higher risk and yet lower detection rates,” explains Mattke.
Bottom line: If an elderly person you know begins to exhibit uncharacteristic forgetfulness or struggles with tasks that were once easy, or experiences a change in personality, encourage them to contact their doctor and request an evaluation for MCI.
A USC Dornsife-led study discovered that offspring of coral that were more sensitive to high temperatures were, paradoxically, more heat resilient.
Why it matters: Protecting coral from climate change is crucial as rising ocean temperatures, leading to coral bleaching and increased susceptibility to diseases, threaten the ecosystems they support.
How they did it: USC Dornsife biologist Carly Kenkel and a team that included her former PhD student Yingqi Zhang developed an experiment to identify corals that better handled higher temperatures.
They collected coral reproductive cells (gametes) from two different reef sites — one in warmer water close to shore, the other in cooler offshore waters.
They bred corals from the two sites in a controlled environment and exposed thelarvae to heat stress conditions in the lab.
Then they examined coral gene activity for signs of stress and assessed coral survival after exposure.
The researchers were surprised to find that the offspring from the more heat-sensitive population performed better under high temperatures compared to those from the more heat-tolerant population.
The lesson: Coral offspring’s heat tolerance may be influenced by various factors, including their parents’ past exposure to environmental stressors such as bleaching.
In her words: “The study findings have significant implications for how we think about saving coral reefs. It’s not as simple as just breeding more heat-tolerant corals,” said Kenkel.
To effectively protect coral reefs, it is crucial to employ diverse strategies that account for factors like coral genetic diversity and the impact of their surroundings on their overall well-being.
The “Mapping Los Angeles Landscape History” report, spearheaded by USC Dornsife’s Spatial Sciences Institute, details L.A.’s Indigenous and ecological history before European settlement.
Why it matters: Understanding L.A.’s historical ecology and how Indigenous people interacted with the land can guide modern planning efforts involving sustainability, habitat restoration and climate change preparation. Understanding the past can help avoid future urban planning mistakes.
Nature in the region evolved to resist regular droughts, fires and floods. But urbanization, which quickly introduced non-native plants and drained wetlands, exceeded nature’s ability to cope.
In his words: “Only with an informed understanding of how this environment operates, and how the indigenous managed it successfully for thousands of years, can we hope to recover its balance and sustainability,” says Philip Ethington of USC Dornsife, one of the principal investigators.
Biologists, geographers and historians from USC, four local public universities and three tribes collaborated to produce the first systematic map of L.A.’s natural ecology, which includes:
A historical map of rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands, ponds and other water features that could reveal locations of buried streams and wetlands.
A map of the pre-European trade and movement networks of the indigenous population.
An estimation of historical bird species composition, noting how the presence of different bird species shifted with urbanization.
A model of the historical distribution of notable plant species.
Did you know? What is now Ventura Boulevard and the 101 freeway corridor was a well-traveled path long before Europeans arrived.
Bottom line: Combining diverse archival research and traditional knowledge of the area from Indigenous people with modern computational tools that support spatial analysis, mapping and modeling, “Mapping Los Angeles” created a detailed and multidimensional picture of the landscape as it existed centuries ago.
We want to highlight the impact of our alumni. If you know an alum — maybe yourself? — doing important, interesting work, tell us! We’re especially interested in stories that fit an upcoming USC Dornsife Magazine theme of either “Health and Well-being” or “California.”
“Unresolved conflict, injustice, insecurity and fear will always come back to create more insecurity, more violence and more fear.”
Salpi Ghazarian from the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies wrote an op-ed for MSNBC about the ongoing conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
“Black, Hispanic, Native American kids attend lower-income schools. It’s not that sitting next to a white kid is magical. It’s money in schools.”
Ann Owens of sociology, public policy and spatial sciences spoke with The New York Times about new SAT data that shows inequality in American education.
“If you want to be a reader, you need to confront work that is beyond you, work that makes you uncomfortable, that provokes your sensibilities.”
David Ulin of English was interviewed by the Orange County Register and spoke about the virtues of an open-shelf policy.
Events
The Independent Voter Surge
Nov. 16, noon - 1 p.m. PT
Virtual
More voters identify as independent than with a specific political party. In this Dornsife Dialogue, scholars discuss the implications, including how it could redefine the political landscape and mold future campaigns. Learn more >>
Alumni Perks
Visions and Voices
Alumni have access to a wide array of events highlighting USC’s excellence in the arts and humanities. Featuring musical groups, high profile speakers and visual artists, events are free and open to alumni and your guests through the Visions & Voices initiative.
