Mellissa Withers

Mellissa Withers is an associate professor of clinical preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. She also directs the Global Health Program of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, a non-profit network of 50 leading research universities in the region.

Her research focuses on global reproductive health and women’s empowerment, including human trafficking, HIV/AIDS prevention and family planning. Other research interests include community participatory research, border health and mental health. Dr Withers is the editor of two books: Global Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health Across the Lifecourse, and Global Health Leadership: Case Studies from the Asia-Pacific. She has also published more than 30 scientific articles and serves on the editorial boards of six international global health journals. She spent several years living and working in countries in Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Withers teaches several courses relating to global health, including ethics, leadership, and research methods. Prior to coming to USC in 2013, she taught at UCLA; California State University, Los Angeles; Occidental College; and UC San Francisco.

Dr. Withers received a doctorate in community health sciences from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in 2009. She also earned her Master of Health Sciences degree in the health systems management track from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of International Health. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in global development.