David Black, PhD, MPH

David Black is an Associate Professor with tenure at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and a member of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. A behavioral scientist and prevention researcher, his work examines how behavior changes, how change is maintained, and how precise behavioral operations can be used to prevent chronic disease, reduce symptoms, and improve health-relevant behaviors.Supported by university, state, and federal funding, Dr. Black has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, including journals in The Lancet and JAMA networks, Cancer, Pediatrics, and the American Journal of Public Health. His research is grounded in the experimental analysis of human behavior, with particular emphasis on reinforcement processes, contingency-shaped learning, behavioral measurement, and the development of controlling stimuli that support adaptive behavior and symptom reduction. Across clinical and community settings, he is interested in how environments, feedback systems, digital tools, and culturally meaningful cues can be arranged to make healthier behavior more likely, durable, and personally relevant.He k earned his Ph.D. in Preventive Medicine as a National Cancer Institute predoctoral fellow at the USC Institute for Prevention Research, where he studied addictive-type behavior. He then completed postdoctoral training at UCLA’s Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology as a National Institute on Aging fellow, leading a randomized controlled trial of behavioral modification and mindfulness training for sleep and cellular inflammation in older adults.His methodological expertise spans human subjects experimental design, behavioral analysis, and continuous objective measurement using digital sensors, including continuous glucose monitoring. He currently serves as Principal Investigator of diabetes prevention trials within a P50 center with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. In collaboration with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, he co-developed ¡Mi Control!, an innovative AI-supported prevention program integrating digital storytelling, continuous glucose monitoring, and natural language processing to support individuals with prediabetes.During a Visiting Scholar sabbatical at Stanford Medicine, Dr. Black trained in research transparency and reproducibility, strengthening his commitment to rigor and open science in health research. He is also a dedicated mentor to undergraduate and graduate students and has received USC mentoring awards at both levels, including the 2015 Graduate Student Mentoring Award and the 2022 Undergraduate Student Mentoring Award from the Center for Excellence in Teaching.His work brings together behavior analysis, prevention science, digital health, and culturally grounded intervention design to build more precise, equitable, and scalable approaches to behavior change and human health.

• USC Center for Excellence in Teaching: Mentoring Award for Undergraduate Students, 2022
• USC Institute for Integrative Health: Ingersoll-Burklo Award, 2018
• USC Center for Excellence in Teaching: Mentoring Award for Graduate Students, 2015
• NIH – National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: Clinical LRP Award, 2014-2016
• Society of Behavioral Medicine: SBM Citation Award, 2014
• University of Southern California: Medical Innovation Program finalist, 2013
• NIH – National Institute on Drug Abuse: RTI International Travel Award, 2012
• NIH – National Institute of Mental Health: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2011-2013
• Charlotte Resnick Memorial Scholarship, 2005-2006

• Continuous Glucose Monitoring-Derived Glycemic Profiles and Correlates in Young Adults Ages 18 to 26 Years. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2026 May; 20(3):627-638.. View in PubMed
• Continuous Glucose Monitoring-Derived Glycemic Profiles in Adolescents With Obesity Without Diabetes. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2026 May; 20(3):639-649.. View in PubMed
• Defensive Freezing and the Evolutionary Origins of Meditation in Humans. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2026 Mar; 1557(1):e70249.. View in PubMed
• The effect of continuous glucose monitoring feedback on glycaemic variability in youth with obesity: A within-participant feasibility study. Pediatr Obes. 2025 Oct; 20(10):e70035.. View in PubMed
• Characterising the design and methods of continuous glucose monitoring used in behavioural interventions to inform future research in prediabetes. Lancet Digit Health. 2025 Oct; 7(10):100904.. View in PubMed
• Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Glycemic Control in an Adult Without Diabetes: Over 4,000 Automated Recordings Guide Contingency-Shaped Learning. Telemed Rep. 2025; 6(1):253-258.. View in PubMed
• Sex differences in cigarette smoking following a mindfulness-based cessation randomized controlled trial. Addict Behav. 2025 Jan; 160:108177.. View in PubMed
• Mindful attention is inversely associated with pain via mediation by psychological distress in orthopedic patients. Pain Med. 2024 Jan 04; 25(1):63-70.. View in PubMed
• Prior 8-month substance use trajectories predict psychological functioning at start of residential treatment. J Psychol Clin Psychiatry. 2024; 15(6):325-328.. View in PubMed
• Effect of a mindfulness training app on a cigarette quit attempt: an investigator-blinded, 58-county randomized controlled trial. JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2023 10 31; 7(6).. View in PubMed
• Psychometric Assessment of the Applied Mindfulness Process Scale (AMPS) Among a Sample of Women in Treatment for Substance Use Disorder. Mindfulness (N Y). 2023 Jun; 14(6):1406-1418.. View in PubMed
• Test of daily app-based mindfulness meditation preceding a planned smoking quit attempt date on abstinence: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial recruiting across the 58 counties of California. Contemp Clin Trials. 2022 09; 120:106855.. View in PubMed
• The Acute Relationship between Affective States and Stress Biomarkers in Ethnic Minority Youths. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 12 01; 18(23).. View in PubMed
• Initial Efficacy of a Community-Derived Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Latinx Parents and their Children. J Immigr Minor Health. 2021 Oct; 23(5):993-1000.. View in PubMed
• Distress tolerance and subsequent substance use throughout high school. Addict Behav. 2021 09; 120:106983.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness-Based Intervention Effects on Substance Use and Relapse Among Women in Residential Treatment: A Randomized Controlled Trial With 8.5-Month Follow-Up Period From the Moment-by-Moment in Women’s Recovery Project. Psychosom Med. 2021 Jul-Aug 01; 83(6):528-538.. View in PubMed
• Effect of Telephone Call and Text Message Reminders on Patient Return to Acupuncture Follow-Up Treatment: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Med Acupunct. 2021 Jun 01; 33(3):226-234.. View in PubMed
• Mindful Body Scans and Sonographic Biofeedback as Preparatory Activities to Address Patient Psychological States in Hand Therapy: A Pilot Study. Hand Ther. 2020 Sep; 25(3):98-106.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness Training by Telephone Before and After Orthopedic Surgery: A Feasibility Study. J Altern Complement Med. 2020 Mar; 26(3):249-251.. View in PubMed
• Seeking refuge in the present moment: A qualitatively refined model of dispositional mindfulness, minority stress, and psychosocial health among Latino/a sexual minorities and their families. Psychol Sex Orientat Gend Divers. 2019 Dec; 6(4):408-419.. View in PubMed
• Moment-by-Moment in Women’s Recovery (MMWR): Mindfulness-based intervention effects on residential substance use disorder treatment retention in a randomized controlled trial. Behav Res Ther. 2019 09; 120:103437.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness meditation and gene expression: a hypothesis-generating framework. Curr Opin Psychol. 2019 08; 28:302-306.. View in PubMed
• Response to Meghani and Liou re: “Demographic and Clinical Factors Associated with Patient Adherence to Acupuncture Treatment”. J Altern Complement Med. 2019 06; 25(6):661.. View in PubMed
• Demographic and Clinical Factors Associated with Patient Adherence to Acupuncture Treatment. J Altern Complement Med. 2019 May; 25(5):522-525.. View in PubMed
• Factors in the perceived stress scale differentially associate with mindfulness disposition and executive function among early adolescents. J Child Fam Stud. 2019 Mar; 28(3):814-821.. View in PubMed
• Reporting of Treatment Fidelity in Mindfulness-Based Intervention Trials: A Review and New Tool using NIH Behavior Change Consortium Guidelines. Mindfulness (N Y). 2019 Feb; 10(2):215-233.. View in PubMed
• Sexual trauma history is associated with reduced orbitofrontal network strength in substance-dependent women. Neuroimage Clin. 2019; 24:101973.. View in PubMed
• Genomic mechanisms of fatigue in survivors of colorectal cancer. Cancer. 2018 06 15; 124(12):2637-2644.. View in PubMed
• Sleep and mood in older adults: coinciding changes in insomnia and depression symptoms. Int Psychogeriatr. 2018 03; 30(3):431-435.. View in PubMed
• Improving Hairdressers’ Knowledge and Self-efficacy to Detect Scalp and Neck Melanoma by Use of an Educational Video. JAMA Dermatol. 2018 02 01; 154(2):214-216.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness-based interventions for cancer survivors: what do we know about the assessment of quality of life outcomes? Expert Rev Qual Life Cancer Care. 2018; 3(1):5-7.. View in PubMed
• MicroED Structure of Au146(p-MBA)57 at Subatomic Resolution Reveals a Twinned FCC Cluster. J Phys Chem Lett. 2017 Nov 16; 8(22):5523-5530.. View in PubMed
• Moment-by-Moment in Women’s Recovery: Randomized controlled trial protocol to test the efficacy of a mindfulness-based intervention on treatment retention and relapse prevention among women in residential treatment for substance use disorder. Contemp Clin Trials. 2017 11; 62:146-152.. View in PubMed
• Barbershop Prostate Cancer Education: Factors Associated With Client Knowledge. Am J Mens Health. 2017 Sep; 11(5):1415-1425.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness-Based Interventions and Sleep Among Cancer Survivors: a Critical Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Curr Oncol Rep. 2017 Sep; 19(9):60.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness practice reduces cortisol blunting during chemotherapy: A randomized controlled study of colorectal cancer patients. Cancer. 2017 Aug 15; 123(16):3088-3096.. View in PubMed
• Sugar Restriction Leads to Increased Ad Libitum Sugar Intake by Overweight Adolescents in an Experimental Test Meal Setting. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017 Jul; 117(7):1041-1048.. View in PubMed
• Video-Based Grocery Shopping Intervention Effect on Purchasing Behaviors Among Latina Shoppers. Am J Public Health. 2017 May; 107(5):800-806.. View in PubMed
• Associations among dispositional mindfulness, self-compassion, and executive function proficiency in early adolescents. Mindfulness (N Y). 2016 Dec; 7(6):1377-1384.. View in PubMed
• Shared health characteristics in Hispanic colorectal cancer patients and their primary social support person following primary diagnosis. Psychooncology. 2016 09; 25(9):1028-35.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2016 06; 1373(1):13-24.. View in PubMed
• Complementary and Integrative Health Practices Among Hispanics Diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer: Utilization and Communication with Physicians. J Altern Complement Med. 2016 Jun; 22(6):473-9.. View in PubMed
• The Applied Mindfulness Process Scale (AMPS): A process measure for evaluating mindfulness-based interventions. Pers Individ Dif. 2016 Apr 01; 93:6-15.. View in PubMed
• Community-Based Mindfulness Program for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: Targeting Stress Reduction. Am J Health Promot. 2015 Sep-Oct; 30(1):36-41.. View in PubMed
• Mental resilience training modulates stress physiology of active duty marines preparing for deployment. Evid Based Ment Health. 2015 May; 18(2):61.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness meditation and improvement in sleep quality and daytime impairment among older adults with sleep disturbances: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 Apr; 175(4):494-501.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness Training and Classroom Behavior Among Lower-Income and Ethnic Minority Elementary School Children. J Child Fam Stud. 2014 Oct; 23(7):1242-1246.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness-based intervention for prodromal sleep disturbances in older adults: design and methodology of a randomized controlled trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2014 Sep; 39(1):22-7.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness-based interventions for obesity-related eating behaviours: a literature review. Obes Rev. 2014 Jun; 15(6):453-61.. View in PubMed
• The thinking mind as addiction: mindfulness as antidote. Subst Use Misuse. 2014 Apr; 49(5):605-7.. View in PubMed
• Unresolved issues in the application of mindfulness-based interventions for substance use disorders. Subst Use Misuse. 2014 Apr; 49(5):601-4.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness for chronic pain and prescription opioid misuse: novel mechanisms and unresolved issues. Subst Use Misuse. 2014 Apr; 49(5):608-11.. View in PubMed
• Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of a mindfulness-based relapse prevention intervention for culturally-diverse, low-income women in substance use disorder treatment. Subst Use Misuse. 2014 Apr; 49(5):547-59.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness-based interventions: an antidote to suffering in the context of substance use, misuse, and addiction. Subst Use Misuse. 2014 Apr; 49(5):487-91.. View in PubMed
• Use of mindful reappraisal coping among meditation practitioners. J Clin Psychol. 2014 Mar; 70(3):294-301.. View in PubMed
• Brain Gray Matter Changes Associated with Mindfulness Meditation in Older Adults: An Exploratory Pilot Study using Voxel-based Morphometry. Neuro. 2014; 1(1):23-26.. View in PubMed
• Applying neurodevelopmental theory to school-based drug misuse prevention during adolescence. New Dir Youth Dev. 2014; 2014(141):33-43, 9-10.. View in PubMed
• Tai chi meditation effects on nuclear factor-κB signaling in lonely older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Psychother Psychosom. 2014; 83(5):315-7.. View in PubMed
• Spirituality in addictions treatment: wisdom to know…what it is. Subst Use Misuse. 2013 Sep; 48(12):1203-17.. View in PubMed
• Adolescent neurocognitive development, self-regulation, and school-based drug use prevention. Prev Sci. 2013 Jun; 14(3):218-28.. View in PubMed
• A comparison of stigma among patients with leprosy in rural Tanzania and urban United States: a role for public health in dermatology. Int J Dermatol. 2013 Apr; 52(4):432-40.. View in PubMed
• Yogic meditation reverses NF-κB and IRF-related transcriptome dynamics in leukocytes of family dementia caregivers in a randomized controlled trial. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013 Mar; 38(3):348-55.. View in PubMed
• Assessing hairdressers’ knowledge of scalp and neck melanoma and their willingness to detect lesions and make referrals to dermatologists. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2013 Jan; 68(1):183-5.. View in PubMed
• Trait mindfulness helps shield decision-making from translating into health-risk behavior. J Adolesc Health. 2012 Dec; 51(6):588-92.. View in PubMed
• Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction delivered to human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients in Iran: effects on CD4⁺ T lymphocyte count and medical and psychological symptoms. Psychosom Med. 2012 Jul-Aug; 74(6):620-7.. View in PubMed
• Socio-demographic variables and perceptual moderators related to mental health stigma. J Ment Health. 2012 Jun; 21(3):244-56.. View in PubMed
• Psychometric assessment of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) among Chinese adolescents. Assessment. 2012 Mar; 19(1):42-52.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness and substance use intervention. Subst Use Misuse. 2012 Feb; 47(3):199-201.. View in PubMed
• Testing the indirect effect of trait mindfulness on adolescent cigarette smoking through negative affect and perceived stress mediators. J Subst Use. 2012; 17(5-6):417-429.. View in PubMed
• Incorporating mindfulness within established theories of health behavior. Complementary Health Practice Review. 2012; 2(15):108-109.
• Component Processes of Executive Function-Mindfulness, Self-control, and Working Memory-and Their Relationships with Mental and Behavioral Health. Mindfulness (N Y). 2011 Sep; 2(3):179-185.. View in PubMed
• Decision-making style and gender moderation of the self-efficacy-condom use link among adolescents and young adults: informing targeted STI/HIV prevention programs. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2011 Apr; 165(4):320-5.. View in PubMed
• Cultural values associated with substance use among Hispanic adolescents in southern California. Subst Use Misuse. 2011; 46(10):1223-33.. View in PubMed
• Skin disease and stigma in emerging adulthood: impact on healthy development. J Cutan Med Surg. 2010 Nov-Dec; 14(6):285-90.. View in PubMed
• The influence of school-based natural mentoring relationships on school attachment and subsequent adolescent risk behaviors. Health Educ Res. 2010 Oct; 25(5):892-902.. View in PubMed
• Mindfulness Research Guide: a New Paradigm for Managing Empirical Health Information. Mindfulness (N Y). 2010 Sep 01; 1(3):174-176.. View in PubMed
• School disrepair and substance use among regular and alternative high school students. J Sch Health. 2010 Aug; 80(8):387-93.. View in PubMed
• Gender differences in body consciousness and substance use among high-risk adolescents. Subst Use Misuse. 2010 Aug; 45(10):1623-35.. View in PubMed
• A further look at the intergenerational transmission of violence: witnessing interparental violence in emerging adulthood. J Interpers Violence. 2010 Jun; 25(6):1022-42.. View in PubMed
• Peer group self-identification as a predictor of relational and physical aggression among high school students. J Sch Health. 2010 May; 80(5):249-58.. View in PubMed
• A concise history of school-based smoking prevention research: a pendulum effect case study. J Drug Educ. 2010; 40(3):217-26.. View in PubMed
• Sitting-meditation interventions among youth: a review of treatment efficacy. Pediatrics. 2009 Sep; 124(3):e532-41.. View in PubMed
• Substitute addiction: a concern for researchers and practitioners. J Drug Educ. 2008; 38(2):167-80.. View in PubMed
• Tobacco control in developing countries: Tanzania, Nepal, China, and Thailand as examples. Nicotine Tob Res. 2007 Sep; 9 Suppl 3:S447-57.. View in PubMed

• Sussman, Steven
• Unger, Jennifer
• Leventhal, Adam
• Lenz, Heinz-Josef
• Hempel, Susanne
• Davis, Jordan
• Pentz, Maryann
• Kirkpatrick, Matthew
• Barrington-Trimis, Jessica
• Peters, Anne