Faculty

 

 

Raina Pang, PhD

Associate Professor of Research Population and Public Health Sciences

 

About Raina Pang, PhD

Dr. Pang’s research interest lies in understanding sex/gender differences and women-specific factors in substance use and other health risk behaviors (e.g., eating). Dr. Pang completed a postdoctoral fellowship for mentored training in behavioral pharmacology and laboratory-based menstrual cycle studies and mentored K01 with training in Ecological Momentary Assessment. Currently, Dr. Pang is PI on projects investigating perinatal tobacco use, adolescent eating behavior, and alcohol use across the menstrual cycle.

Raina Pang, Ph.D.  

Director

Associate Professor of Research

Dr. Pang is an Assistant Professor of Research in the Department of Preventive Medicine in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and a member of the USC Norris Cancer Center. She earned her B.S. in Psychology at the University of Oregon, PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Southern California, and completed a TRDRP postdoctoral fellowship at the Health, Emotion, and Addiction Laboratory at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Pang’s interdisciplinary psychosocialbiology research program utilizes human behavioral pharmacology and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods to investigate mechanisms underlying tobacco related health disparities (e.g., sex/gender differences, female-specific factors, psychiatric comorbidity). This interdisciplinary research carries direct clinical relevance because it will improve our understanding of tobacco addiction in females and individuals with co-morbid psychiatric disorders, and also bears translational relevance to the development of neuroendocrine-based pharmacotherapies to reduce smoking.

Staff & Volunteers

 

 

Hannah Ruck
Project Specialist

About Hannah Ruck

Hannah Ruck graduated from the University of Texas at Austin where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and a certificate in pre-medicine. Her undergraduate research includes studying the Latino Health Paradox and its outcomes on women’s health for Latina populations in Texas. She is passionate about women’s health and health equity. Her lifetime goal is to become a licensed physician. In her free time, she loves to read, go to the beach, watch sports, and spend time with family and friends.

 
 
 
 
 
Nicole St. Denis
Project Assistant 

nstdenis@usc.edu

About Nicole St. Denis

Nicole St. Denis graduated from the University of Portland with a B.S. in Integrative Health & Wellness. At the University of Portland, Nicole was a research assistant on an Integrative Review identifying and describing current definitions and instruments used to measure nurse well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her research interests include women’s health, biopsychosocial model of chronic disease, and the vagus nerve. Nicole’s future goals include receiving an MPH in Epidemiology. Outside of research, she enjoys camping, pottery, road trips, and spending time with family and friends. 

 
 
Katrina Huynh
Volunteer Research Assistant 

knhuynh@usc.edu

About Katrina Huynh

Katrina Huynh is an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California studying Biology and Spanish. Her research interests include women’s health, addiction science, and the social determinants of substance use. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, running, spending time outdoors, and creating Spotify playlists. She hopes to attend medical school and become an Emergency Medicine physician.

 
 
Jasmine Alagoz
Volunteer Research Assistant 

alagoz@usc.edu

About Jasmine Alagoz

Jasmine Alagoz is an undergraduate at the University of Southern California studying Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Her research interests include socioeconomic disparities in women’s health, infertility, and healthcare accessibility in Los Angeles. In her free time, Jasmine loves to spend time with her family and friends, travel, cook, and write. In the future, Jasmine hopes to become a physician and work in underserved communities.

Frequent Collaborators

Matthew Kirkpatrick, PhD mgkirkpa@usc.edu
Associate Professor of Research Population and Public Health Sciences

Lina D’Orazio, PhD
lina.dorazio@med.usc.edu
Assistant Professor of
Clinical Neurology

Casey Guillot, PhD
Casey.Guillot@unt.edu
Assistant Professor