Jane Steinberg, PhD, MPH

Jane K. Steinberg, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences and Public Health in the Keck School of Medicine at USC. She also serves as the Director of Public Health Practice for the Master’s in Public Health Program. Trained as a behavioral scientist, her research examines the health and policy implications of youth tobacco and cannabis use, with a focus on health equity and the development of effective programmatic and policy interventions to reduce disparities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she and her colleagues developed and evaluated educational initiatives aimed at increasing protective behaviors and reducing vaccine hesitancy among high-risk Latino populations and homebound or disabled adults in Los Angeles County. She has also contributed extensively to workforce development and training for public health students. She teaches courses in public health practice and community organizing for health and has supported the professional preparation of more than 2,000 students entering the public health workforce. She has established formal partnerships with over 100 local, state, national, and international public health organizations to facilitate high-quality field placement opportunities.

Dr. Steinberg currently serves as a Co-Investigator on a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) workforce development grant focused on building career pipelines for MPH students through scholarships, training, mentorship, and job placement. She is also the Principal Investigator of a Training Core within a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program, where she co-leads an interdisciplinary team of faculty from environmental health and engineering. She and her colleagues train a diverse cohort of master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral scholars in environmental health, community engagement, research translation, and data science. The goal of this work is the development of a skilled workforce equipped to apply environmental science to inform public policy, regulatory decision-making, and risk reduction strategies. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Davis, and her MPH and PhD in Community Health Sciences from the University California, Los Angeles.

• University of Southern California: Faculty Mentoring Award for Graduate Students, 2019

• Trojan Scholars for Advancement in Public Health
  Health Resources and Services Administration · Sep 30, 2022 – Sep 29, 2025 · Role: Co-Investigator
• Partners in Vaccination
  California Healthcare Foundation · Sep 1, 2021 – Aug 31, 2022 · Role: Co-Investigator
• Stay Connect LA-a Latino COVID-19 Murals Project
  Keck School of Medicine COVID-19 Research Fund · Aug 7, 2020 – Sep 30, 2021 · Role: Co-Investigator
• Statewide Hispanic/Latino Coordinating Center
  California Tobacco Control Program · Jul 1, 2018 – Jun 30, 2023 · Role: Co-Investigator
• Proximity to cannabis retailers/dispensaries and adolescent cannabis use
  Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, Office of the President, University of California · Jul 1, 2018 – Jun 30, 2021 · Role: Co-Investigator
• Keeping it Real Together: Integrating Successful Pregnancy Prevention Programs into Large Urban School District and Community Systems
  US Dept of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health · Jul 1, 2015 – Jun 30, 2020 · Role: Co-Investigator
• Evaluation of Evidence-Based Prevention Initiative for Alcohol and Other Drugs
  Los Angeles County Department of Public Health · Jan 5, 2012 – Jan 30, 2016 · Role: Co-Investigator

• Master's students help LA County with COVID-19 contact tracing, vaccine surveys (05/19/2021)
• Keck professor shares coronavirus work with White House task force (04/09/2021)

• Partners in vaccination: A community-based intervention to promote COVID-19 vaccination among low-income homebound and disabled adults. Disabil Health J. 2024 Jul; 17(3):101589.. View in PubMed
• Proximity to Cannabis Retailers and Recent Cannabis Use among a Diverse Sample of California Adolescents. Subst Use Misuse. 2024; 59(5):643-650.. View in PubMed
• Surveying Adolescents During a Pandemic: Comparison of Adolescents Recruited via Social Media vs. Schools. Prev Sci. 2026 01; 27(1):41-46.. View in PubMed
• The Impact of Childhood Trauma on Problematic Alcohol and Drug Use Trajectories and the Moderating Role of Social Support. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 02 06; 20(4).. View in PubMed
• Associations between Local Jurisdiction Ordinances and Current Use of Cannabis Products in California Adolescents. Subst Use Misuse. 2022; 57(3):373-379.. View in PubMed
• Longitudinal Tracking of Vape Shop Compliance With State Business Regulations Within Southern California Ethnic Neighborhoods During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Eval Health Prof. 2021 03; 44(1):87-92.. View in PubMed
• Locations of licensed and unlicensed cannabis retailers in California: A threat to health equity? Prev Med Rep. 2020 Sep; 19:101165. Unger JB , Vos RO, Wu JS, Hardaway K, Sarain AYL, Soto DW , Rogers . View in PubMed
• A Tobacco Control Framework for Regulating Public Consumption of Cannabis: Multistate Analysis and Policy Implications. Am J Public Health. 2020 02; 110(2):203-208.. View in PubMed
• Testing mediational processes of substance use relapse among youth who participated in a mobile texting aftercare project. Subst Abus. 2022; 43(1):1-12.. View in PubMed
• Tobacco Retail Licensing and Youth Product Use. Pediatrics. 2019 02; 143(2).. View in PubMed
• Implementation of HPV vaccination guidelines in a diverse population in Los Angeles: Results from an environmental scan of local HPV resources and needs. Vaccine. 2017 09 05; 35(37):4930-4935.. View in PubMed
• High Chlamydia and gonorrhea incidence and reinfection among performers in the adult film industry. Sex Transm Dis. 2011 Jul; 38(7):644-8.. View in PubMed
• Methamphetamine use and high-risk sexual behaviors among incarcerated female adolescents with a diagnosed STD. J Urban Health. 2011 Apr; 88(2):352-64.. View in PubMed
• A proposal for strengthening medical school training in STD prevention techniques. Public Health Rep. 1991 Mar-Apr; 106(2):196-202.. View in PubMed

• Leventhal, Adam
• Unger, Jennifer
• Klausner, Jeffrey
• Barrington-Trimis, Jessica
• Sussman, Steven
• Pacula, Rosalie