. The USC Prevention Research Center
Promoting Health through Physical Activity

Vision
Physically Active People in Active Community Environments

Mission
The USC PRC is committed to conducting research that benefits the public's health and to translating research into practice. We promote physical activity through community intervention, training, dissemination, and applied research.

The USC Prevention Research Center (PRC) has been funded since1993 as part of the Prevention Research Centers Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the current cycle (2004-2009), the PRC receives funding to support its core community-based, participatory research project, as well as activities to support collaboration and partnerships; communication and dissemination; training and education; evaluation; and infrastructure. The USC PRC has established a research agenda to achieve its vision of Physically Active People in Active Community Environments. This agenda consists of four goals: 1) to understand how individual, interpersonal, organizational, environmental, and policy factors relate to physical activity (PA) within community settings; 2) to evaluate the influences of changes in community environmental features and policies on PA behaviors; 3) to promote PA across the lifespan; and 4) to affect social, environmental, and political influences on reducing racial and ethnic disparities in PA. Click here to see the PRC Brochure.

Core Research: The USC PRC's participatory, community-based core research project is titled "Policy and environmental change to promote PA: A participatory, university-community partnership." This quasi-experimental study uses a series of repeated cross-sectional telephone surveys to assess and evaluate determinants and correlates of physical activity and community intervention effects. The core research project is directly related to the PRC research agenda and mission of conducting research that benefits the public's health, promotes physical activity, and translates this research into practice. This project is conducted in Sumter County, SC, through the Sumter County Active Lifestyles (SCAL) coalition.

Other projects and activities: In addition to core funding, the USC PRC also seeks funding for projects related to our mission. Descriptions of our projects can be found by clicking on the appropriate links to the right.

CDC Support: Supported by CDC Cooperative Agreement 5-U48-DP-000051, the USC PRC is one of 33 university-based centers conducting applied research and practice in chronic disease prevention and control as part of the Prevention Research Centers Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).