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.