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Curricula Vitae

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Name	Personal Focus	Summary
Dr. Ann Blair Kennedy Clinical Associate Professor Medicine Greenville	Patient and Public Involvement/Engagement in Research, Lifestyle medicine - stress and relationships main areas, Health professions and health professionals
Dr. Robert David Dawson, PhD Clinical Associate Professor Neuropsychiatry	Assistive and adapted technology, Rehabilitation and disability studies, Education	Active research and work in the area of assistive and adapted technology since 1983. Research and teaching rehabilitation disability studies. Involved in innovative media for instructional design.
Dr. Carlina M. de la Cova Professor Anthropology	Skeletal biology, Paleopathology, Biohistory	Although trained as a biological anthropologist, I have always taken a four-field approach in my work, employing an interdisciplinary research agenda that integrates bioanthropological, biocultural, historical, sociological, and cultural methodologies. Skeletal analyses comprise the core component of my research design, but primary historical sources (census records, manuscripts, family papers, government documents, and medical records) also form an integral part of my work.
Dr. Tony Plotner Professor Educational & Developmental Science	Special Education	Anthony Plotner's primary research interests include the community inclusion of individuals with significant disabilities: specifically, transition to college, supported employment, and the collaboration across systems to promote positive student outcomes.
Dr. Pearl Fernandes, PhD Professor SMT PALMETTO COLLEGE	Sexually transmitted infections among college students, Genetics of Peromyscus	Associate Dean at University of South Carolina Honors College
Dr. Breanne Leigh Grace Associate Professor Social Work - Dean's Office	Area Studies (Africa), Social Welfare/ Social Work, Policy	Breanne Grace, Ph.D. uses an intersectional approach to compare refugees' experience of social and legal citizenship rights in durable solutions with how governments, NGOs, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees conceptualize rights in program design and measure rights in evaluation. She is especially interested in the ways refugees draw upon formal and informal institutions and transnational networks to access health care and social rights.
Dr. Bret Kloos Professor Psychology	promotion of adaptive functioning in community settings, meaning-making after major life disruption, homelessness and community responses to homelessness, collaboration with community-based resources	Bret Kloos is a Professor of Psychology at the University of South Carolina. He specializes in the areas of community psychology and recovery from serious mental illness and homelessness, with particular interests in promotion of adaptive functioning in community settings, homelessness, meaning-making after major life disruptions, mutual support and self-help, acculturation of immigrant groups, and collaboration with community-based resources to address social and health problems
Dr. Chao Cai Assistant Professor Pharm - Clin Pharm & Outcomes Sciences	Survival Analysis, Causal Mediation Analysis, Medication Adherence and Persistence	Chao Cai, Ph.D. has many years of working experience including academia, industry and government in statistical design, analysis, and statistical consulting. Her research interests include: survival analysis, cure modeling, causal mediation analysis, advanced statistical methods in pharmaceutical outcomes assessment.
Dr. Courtney Monroe Assistant Professor Health Prom., Educ. & Behavior	Physical activity, Behavioral weight control	Courtney Monroe is an Assistant Professor for the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior Arnold School of Public Health at University of South Carolina.
Barbara Cuevas Instructor ASPH-Undergraduate Student Services	Exercise Science	Cuevas was part of a USC cohort that joined with volunteers from Palmetto Health and the Lexington Medical Center to work with the Shrinkdown for the past two years.Cuevas surveyed the participants at the beginning of the Shrinkdown, at the conclusion, and again six months later. Respondents indicated by a 97.3 percent margin that they would participate in a 2008 Shrinkdown.
Brianne Lea Dunn Clinical Associate Professor Pharm - Clin Pharm & Outcomes Sciences	Clinical Pharmacy, Outcomes sciences	Currently my research interests focus on the pharmacotherapy of cardiovascular diseases, with a specific focus on anticoagulation, hypertension and heart failure.
Dr. Deshia Ann Breaux Associate Professor UPS Informatics & Engineering Syst	Informatics	Deshia Leonhirth, Ph.D. teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of South Carolina Upstate in areas such as health informatics, public health statistics, vendor management, strategic management, and quality improvement. Deshia earned her Master of Business Administration at Winthrop University and her doctorate in health services policy management at the University of South Carolina. She has also taught courses at our partner university in Landshut, Germany.
Dr. Charley Adams Clinical Assistant Professor Communication Sci & Disorders	Speech	Dr. Adams' areas of interests are neurogenic disorders, stuttering, accent training, and literacy.
Dr. Swann Arp Adams, PhD Professor Biobehavioral Health & Nursing Science	Breast cancer racial disparities, Cancer epidemiology, Cancer survivorship	Dr. Adams' extensive research has focused on disparities in breast cancer screening and epidemiology; premature discontinuation of cancer treatment; dietary and physical activity interventions, subject recruitment strategies; inflammation processes and cancer.
Dr. Helmut Albrecht, MD Clinical Professor Internal Medicine	HIV/AIDS, opportunistic infections,, bacterial, viral, fungal pathogens	Dr. Albrecht's research interests include: HIV, AIDS, viral kinetics in various compartments, immune reconstitution with associated clinical syndromes, metabolic complications of HIV infection and antiretroviral therapy, study of the lymphatic system in HIV disease, opportunistic infection in HIV infection and other immunodeficiency syndromes microsporidiosis, non-tuberculous mycobacteria, gastrointestinal infections, antibiotics and antifungal medication.
Dr. David J Amrol Clinical Associate Professor Internal Medicine	Allergy, Asthma, Immunology	Dr. Amrol graduated medical school magna cum laude from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in 1998. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in 2001.
Dr. Christina Andrews, PhD Associate Professor Health Services Policy & Mgmt	social work, substance abuse	Dr. Andrews' research interests include the impact of organization financing of substance abuse treatment on access to services; gender, racial, and ethnic disparities in treatment service access; and adoption of evidence-based practices in substance abuse treatment.
Jeanette Andrews Dean Nursing	Community Engaged Research, Patient Centered Care, Cardiovascular Risk Reduction, Health Disparities	Dr. Andrews is a National Institutes of Health-funded investigator for multiple community trials targeting cardiovascular risk reduction and tobacco control. With her expertise on community based participatory research (CBPR), she is leading efforts to build capacity for CBPR among academic and community partners in the Southeastern U.S. region. She has authored over 200 publications and abstracts.
Dr. Jennifer March Augustine Associate Professor Sociology	Demographic characteristics	Dr. Augustine's research examines the transmission of advantage and disadvantage across generations in U.S. families. She focuses, in particular, on how mothers' demographic characteristics shape family level processes, which in turn, lead to disparities in young children's health and academic outcomes.
Dr. Nathaniel Bell Associate Professor Families in Society, Institute	trauma systems, geographic information science, social epidemiology	Dr. Bell's research program intersects the fields of GIScience, social epidemiology, and injury epidemiology. His current research focuses on the measurement of functional outcomes and quality of life after major trauma, exploring frameworks for classifying outcomes of trauma care and the design and application of GIS-based tools for health services studies relevant to injury.
Dr. Kevin J. Bennett Professor Translational and Clinical Science	Health Disparities (Rural, Minorities), Systems Evaluation, Healthcare Workforce	Dr. Bennett is a Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, in Columbia, SC. He is also the Director of the Research Center for Transforming Health, and Director of Research and Evaluation for the South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Care. His work focuses upon care delivery for vulnerable populations, such as non-whites, rural residents, and those with chronic diseases, and how national, state, or local policies and legislation affect these populations.
Dr. Monique Janiel Brown, PhD Assistant Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics	HIV/AIDS, Aging, Health disparities	Dr. Brown's research interests are in HIV intervention and prevention; childhood trauma; social, behavioral and mental health; and aging. She is interested in these as separate and intersecting areas of study. Dr. Brown was awarded a K01 award from the National Institute of Mental Health to study the impact of childhood sexual trauma on aging with HIV, and to develop an intervention addressing childhood sexual trauma with the aim of improving HIV treatment outcomes among adults living with HIV.
Charles J Carter, MD Clinical Professor Family & Preventive Medicine	Residency Education, Medical Writing, Editing, Healthcare Quality, Migraine Headaches, Heart Failure	Dr. Charles Carter joined the faculty of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in 2005. He serves as the associate dean for graduate medical education, and as the regional GME executive and designated institutional official (DIO) for Prisma Health-Midlands Graduate Medical Education. He previously served for ten years as the residency director for the Palmetto Health family medicine residency. Dr. Carter received his undergraduate and medical education in South Carolina.
Dr. Christopher Marcus DeWitt, PhD Professor AK Dept of Exercise Science	Exercise sciecne, Sports Science	Dr. Chris DeWitt is the Department Chair of the Department of Exercise & Sport Science at the University of South Carolina Aiken.
Dr. Dezhi Wu Associate Professor IIT - Engineering	Human-Computer/AI/Robotics Interaction, Health IT/Health Informatics, Artificial Intelligence	Dr. Dezhi Wu is an associate professor in the Department of Integrated Information Technology at the University of South Carolina. She earned her Ph. D. degree in Information Systems with a concentration in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She also earned a professional "Human Factor Engineering" certification from the University of Michigan. She is the former President of the AIS SIGHCI.
Dr. Edward A. Frongillo, Jr. Professor Health Prom., Educ. & Behavior	infants and young children, families, parenting, nutrition, hunger, policy, programs	Dr. Edward Frongillo, Jr.'s work is primarily focused on the study of nutrition. His work includes establishing growth standards and improving the development and feeding of infants and young children. Additionally, his work examines the role that family stress and parenting as well as the role of policy can and do play in improving nutrition.
Dr. Amanda Jane Fairchild Professor Psychology	statistical mediation analysis, program evaluation, effect size	Dr. Fairchild's research interests involve the intersection of mediation and moderation models and how the integration of these models aids in program evaluation. Her other research interests include: effect size measures for mediation, measurement and evaluation of programs and outcomes, and statistical pedagogy.
Professor Naomi Farber, PhD Associate Professor Social Work - Dean's Office	Rural and urban poverty with special focus single mother families, adolescent pregnancy prevention, services to adolescent parents; HIV prevention	Dr. Farber has chaired the College's doctoral program since 2004 and has been with the University since 1998. She has studied adolescent pregnancy and written a book on that topic. Recent funded research efforts have focused on poor white single mothers in the South and kinship networks among rural African Americans.
Dr. Maryah Stella Fram Associate Professor Social Work - Dean's Office	Child/family poverty, influences the growth and development of underprivileged children	Dr. Fram's research and service interests include early childhood, parenting, and women and poverty in the South. More specifically, Dr. Fram concentrates her research interests on maternal and child poverty, child care and early education, poverty policy and women's workforce participation and inequality, stratification and social capital theory. She is currently coordinator for the Capstone Sequence on the Curriculum Committee and is also active in both the policy and research sequences.
Daniela Beth Friedman Department Chair/Professor Health Prom., Educ. & Behavior	health communication, health literacy, healthy aging, cancer prevention, mass media	Dr. Friedman's community- and partner-engaged research is focused on communication and aging specifically regarding cancer prevention and control and Alzheimer's disease. She serves as Principal Investigator of the South Carolina Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network and the South Carolina Healthy Brain Research Network. She has also conducted research on how to communicate with communities about participation in clinical trials and about the Affordable Care Act.
Nicole L Hair, PhD Assistant Professor Health Services Policy & Mgmt	Health Policy, Maternal and Child Health, Health Economics	Dr. Hair is an economist whose research focuses on understanding the relationships between inequality, health, and human capital. She has written about the influence of early environments on children’s neurobiology. Her current research examines racial and socioeconomic disparities in health and access to health care, policies and interventions aimed at improving vaccination outcomes, and the potential for public health interventions to promote more equal opportunity for disadvantaged children.
Dr. Liam C. Hein, PhD Associate Professor Advanced Prof Nursing Practice	LGBTQ Health Equity, Health Policy, Social justice	Dr. Hein's work focuses on improving LGBTQ health through federal health policy. He accomplishes this through his professional service with healthcare organizations. He is co-chair of the LGBTQ Expert Panel in the American Academy of Nursing, serves on the Diversity and Inclusion committee, on the Board of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality and on the Advisory Board of the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center locally in Columbia, SC. .
Dr. John Earl Bragg, MD Clinical Assistant Professor Neuropsychiatry	Neuropsychiatry	Dr. John Bragg joined the faculty of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in 2003. His appointment to the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science followed the completion of his child and adolescent psychiatry residency at the USC School of Medicine/Palmetto Health Alliance, Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Bragg also served a general psychiatry residency at Palmetto Health Alliance in conjunction with the USC School of Medicine.
Dr. Jungmi Wu Associate Professor Journalism & Mass Comm.	tobacco/cancer risk communication, health information disparities, PR practices of tobacco control organizations and healthcare providers	Dr. Jungmi Jun’s research focuses on tobacco/cancer risk communication. She is particularly interested in examining the relationship between health messages and risk perceptions/behaviors, social media surveillance of emerging tobacco products (e-cigarettes and heated tobacco), health information disparities, and PR practices of tobacco control organizations and healthcare providers. She is an author of more than 60 peer-reviewed academic journal or conference articles.
Chen Liang, PhD Assistant Professor Health Services Policy & Mgmt	development and application of data science, informatics, and artificial intelligence	Dr. Liang's research interest focuses on the development and application of data science, informatics, and artificial intelligence that lead to a safe and intelligent health system. His recent work involves heterogeneous health data integration, Electronic Health Records (EHR) based phenotyping and data mining, medical knowledge representation, EHR-based machine learning and predictive modeling, and clinical natural language processing.
Dr. Angela Dorothea Liese Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease	Dr. Liese's work focuses on epidemiology and prevention of obesity and diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents, methods and applications of nutritional epidemiology Metabolic Syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Jihong Liu Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Obesity, physical activity, perinatal and reproductive epidemiology	Dr. Liu's work has focused on two areas: 1) the impact of maternal obesity, gestational weight gain, and physical activity on pregnancy complications and birth outcomes; 2) the contribution of maternal (or early life), behavioral, social, and environmental factors to childhood obesity and child neurodevelopment. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Dr. Ana Lopez-DeFede Research Professor Families in Society, Institute	State health care policy; Public health insurance programs (Medicaid and Medicare), Access to health care among vulnerable populations, Social and Cultural Determinants of Health Status	Dr. Lopez-De Fede currently directs interdisciplinary research dedicated to exploring the links between health, place, and family well-being. Her publications and professional interest are in health care systems change, Medicaid financing of health care, service delivery to rural and minority communities, immigrant health issues, maternal and child health (birth outcomes), behavioral health (mental and substance use), and the social and cultural determinants of health.
Dr. Steven Phillip Lownes Associate Professor UN PALMETTO COLLEGE	Lusophone and Hispanic Cultural Studies, Service-Learning, Translation and Interpretation	Dr. Lownes began teaching at USC Union in August 2019. Formerly, he was the Assistant Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute at the University of Georgia, where he administered $1.9 million for the Federal Department of Education’s Title VI National Resource Center and Foreign Language and Area Studies grants. He has lived, conducted research, and worked in Spain, Argentina, and Brazil. He has taught Spanish and Portuguese at several universities.
Dr. Emily S. Mann Associate Professor Health Prom., Educ. & Behavior	reproductive health and justice; maternal health, sociology of health and medicine, sociology of gender and sexuality	Dr. Mann is a medical sociologist whose research focuses on topics related to reproductive health, rights, and justice. Her work uses qualitative research methods to examine how reproductive health promotion efforts unfold in variety of institutional contexts and how social factors influence the reproductive decision making and experiences of diverse groups.
Dr. Karen Kane McDonnell Associate Professor Biobehavioral Health & Nursing Science	Intervention Research, Cancer Survivorship, Cancer Risk-reducing Behavior Research	Dr. McDonnell’s primary research interests include developing and testing interventions for cancer risk-reducing behavior modification when a diagnosis of lung cancer exists within a family. Concept areas include low intensity physical activity, smoking reduction, decision making, mindfulness-based stress reduction, health-related quality of life, and dyadic analysis.
Murray Mitchell, PhD Associate Dean Grad. School - Dean's Office	Program Evaluation, Teacher Education, Socialization	Dr. Murray Mitchell, Associate Dean for the Graduate School, has been in the Department of Physical Education and Athletic Training in the College of Education at USC since 1994 where he has served as Professor, Department Chair and Graduate Director I study the socialization of professionals--especially physical educators and athletic trainers--seeking insight into professional effectiveness. I also engage in program assessment at a variety of levels.
Dr. Melissa S Nolan Associate Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics	patient-oriented clinical research, infectious diseases, health disparities	Dr. Nolan is a translational researcher, whose work integrates field epidemiology, laboratory science, and clinical investigations. Her current projects focus on pediatric and autochthonous Chagas disease in the Americas, developing a remote sensing model for prioritizing mosquito breeding habitats for insecticide application in resource-limited areas, defining the immunologic response to polyparasitism in pediatric populations, and clarifying the clinical impact of COVID-19 during pregnancy.
Leigh B Pate Clinical Associate Professor Professional Nursing Practice	Rural Health Disparities, Community Health in Underserved Areas	Dr. Pate received her Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Winthrop University in 2008. She then completed her BSN in 2011, her MSN in 2014, and her DNP in 2018 from the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
Dr. Susan E. Steck, PhD Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Nutritional epidemiology, Cancer epidemiology, Public health	Dr. Steck's research focuses on the role of nutrition in cancer prevention and control using epidemiologic methods. In particular, she is interested in innovative methods for describing dietary patterns related to disease mechanisms, and identifying modifiable lifestyle factors and screening biomarkers to reduce cancer related health disparities in breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers.
Tia Stevens Andersen Associate Professor Criminology & Criminal Justice	Girls' Delinquency and Programming, Gender and Racial Disparities in Justice System Processing	Dr. Stevens's research focuses primarily on examining how gender, race, and other structural inequalities influence juvenile offending and justice system processing. She is currently involved in research examining girls' pathways to illegal behavior and help-seeking behaviors, the effects of school context on delinquency, and the effects of contextual factors on disproportionate minority contact with the justice system.
Dr. Abbas S Tavakoli Clinical Professor Advanced Prof Nursing Practice	linear model, categorical analysis, data management	Dr. Tavakoli has been involved with many research projects and manuscripts during his tenure at the College. His research interests are health related topics and he has considerable experience in data management, linear modeling, logistic regression, and experimental design.
Dr. Teri Browne Dean Social Work - Dean's Office	Kidney disease, kidney transplant, health social work, Health disparities, Psychosocial barriers to chronic illness outcomes	Dr. Teri Browne is the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research and Associate Professor at the College of Social Work. Dr. Browne has a wealth of knowledge and teaching experience related to health social work including research on social work in health care settings, patient navigation, nephrology social work, kidney disease, kidney transplantation, and health disparities.
Dr. Homayoun Valafar Professor Computer Science & Engineering	Computational biology, bioinformatics, and medical informatics, Protein folding, Protein/ligand and protein/protein interaction	Dr. Valafar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Carolina. His main research interests are three broad areas of Computational Biology, Bioinformatics and Computational Medicine. More specifically, his current focus in on structure and dynamics of proteins, and development of Artificial Neural Network based clinical diagnostic tools.
Dr. Xuewen Wang Associate Professor Exercise Science	Energy expenditure in relation to body weight, body composition;, sleep and health, Women's health, aging	Dr. Wang is interested in studying the effects of lifestyle factors such as physical activity and sleep on metabolic health in humans. She conducts observational and intervention studies.
Dr. Sara Wilcox Professor Exercise Science	physical activity, nutrition, exercise	Dr. Wilcox's research has two primary foci. First, she studies factors that influence physical activity. This research is grounded in behavioral theory and attempts to understand personal, social, and environmental factors that relate to physical activity in generally understudied populations. Second, she conducts research to promote physical activity and healthy eating in individuals and communities.
Dr. Dawn Wilson-King Professor Psychology	Obesity prevention	Dr. Wilson's areas of research interest include understanding family dynamics/interactions in promoting healthy diet and physical activity in underserved adolescents, ecological and social cognitive theoretical models for understanding family connectedness, social support and role modeling in promoting health behavior change in youth, family-based interventions for promoting healthy diet and physical activity among underserved adolescents.
Patricia Witherspoon Clinical Associate Professor Family & Preventive Medicine	CARD and Health Disparities	Dr. Witherspoon has served in a variety of roles throughout her tenure. Initially she was a member of the investigator team at the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center in the Office of Rural Health Policy. She was a member of the South Carolina Cardiovascular Task Force, a subcommittee chair of the Tri-State Stroke Network. She is currently the Co-Medical Director for the outpatient facility.
Dr. Sudha Xirasagar Professor Health Services Policy & Mgmt	Colonoscopy screening and colorectal cancer, Physician leadership, healthcare leadership, transformational leadership, provider behavior, healthcare outcomes, Retail food defense preparedness	Dr Sudha Xirasagar is Associate Professor of health services policy and management in Arnold School of Public Health at USC. Research expertise: Colorectal cancer screening and outcomes, racial disparities in colorectal cancer screening and treatment; physician leadership in quality of care and outcomes; and global health services research on health systems strengthening, costs, provider behavior, and clinical outcomes. She has over 65 publications and received federal grants in these areas.
Dr. Hayden Smith Professor Criminology & Criminal Justice	Criminology, Epidemiology / Public Health	Health Disparities in the Criminal Justice System; Penology, specifically jail diversion programs; Criminology Theory; Ethics and Social Justice. Current Research and Interests: I am presently involved in research examining self-injurious behaviors that occur within correctional settings, and other areas where the public health and criminal justice system intersect.
Dr. Richard Hoppmann Clinical Professor Internal Medicine	Ultrasound education, Ultrasound in patient safety, quality care, and, health care disparities.	He joined the faculty in 1990 as a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and was named Associate Dean for Medical Education and Academic Affairs in 2000. His areas of expertise are arthritis and connective-tissue diseases.
Charles Bennett Professor Pharm - Clin Pharm & Outcomes Sciences	pharmaceuticals, safety	He oversees and does research in CoEE, which helps improve drug safety. Scientists there study the effects of prescription and over-the-counter medications, particularly on children and the elderly. The CoEE also is focused on education and outreach to healthcare professionals and the public through the Doris Levkoff Meddin Medication Safety Education Program.
Dr. Cheryl L. Addy Department Chair/Head Epidemiology & Biostatistics	physical activity, psychiatric epidemiology, categorical data analysis	Her interests include survey data analysis, community interventions, epidemiologic mehtods, and maternal and child health.
Calvin Odhiambo Associate Professor UPS Soc CJ Women St	HIV/AIDS and Cardiovascular Disease, Medical Sociology, Mental Health	His specialties and research interests are Health, Healing, and Illness, HIV/AIDS, Aging, Inequality, Culture: Cultural Anthropology, Africa, Race and Ethnic Relations, Social Change, and Globalization
Dr. Robert R Moran Clinical Associate Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Nutritional Instruments	His teaching interests surround nutritional instruments and his past research projects have all included diabetes, prevention, and assessments to help kids and people struggling.
Dr. Jan Ostermann Associate Professor Health Services Policy & Mgmt	HIV/AIDS, Child wellbeing, Global health	I am a health services researcher who focuses on individuals’ decision making regarding health and preventive behaviors. My research targets the intersection of health policy and health economics, access and outcomes disparities, and inefficiencies in resource allocation. I firmly believe in the use of robust and innovative methods and the use of experimental or quasi-experimental designs to support causal inferences and inform policy.
Dr. Jennifer Fiona Reynolds Professor Anthropology	Linguistic Anthropology	I am a Linguistic Anthropologist who studies the nexus of language, power, and performance as it pertains to the reproduction of social life in families and communities. I am a specialist in language ideology, and the anthropology of childhood, with area specialization in Latin America and the United States.
Dr. Cheryl Annette Armstead Associate Professor Psychology	Cardiovascular health disparities, Cancer health disparities, Stress and cardiovascular disease	I am a tenured Associate Professor. I am director the USC Health Equity Laboratory, which focuses on a clinical-community based CBPR lifestyle intervention as it pertains to the behavioral and social determinants of African American stress-related health inequities. I am a core faculty member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Center and adjunct associate professor in Biostatistics and Epidemiology.
Dr. Caitlin M Hudac Associate Professor Psychology	developmental cognitive neuroscience, neurodevelopmental disorders, social brain	I am joining the University of South Carolina in Fall 2022. I am a developmental cognitive neuroscientist using a variety of techniques (EEG/ERP, eye tracking, fMRI) to study the social brain in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs such as autism spectrum disorder and related genetic conditions) and neurotypical populations across the lifespan. Our primary aims: (1) understand the development of the social brain; (2) identification of "biomarkers" of NDDs; (3) address disparities in neuroscience.
Dr. Scott Sutton Clinical Professor Pharm - Clin Pharm & Outcomes Sciences	HIV and Infectious Diseases, Retrospective observational research (VA), MRSA in collegiate athletes (USC)	In one of his research projects that he conducted they completed two different evaluations of MRSA colonization on collegiate football players. Their results have been successful and led to a publication in a top notch journal (impact factor > 4).
Dr. Jennifer Theresa Grier, PhD Clinical Associate Professor Medicine Greenville	Host-Pathogen interactions during (-)ssRNA viral respiratory Infections, Community factors contributing to health disparities in respiratory infections, Human Immune responses to Acinetobacter baumannii	Investigation of host factors that contribute to antiviral immunity is important for understanding the innate response to infection and identifying protective pathways following viral infection. This is particularly important when studying viruses for which there are no vaccines available, such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), a human pathogen which infects nearly every child before the age of 2, and in some cases, can result in lifelong complications.
Dr. Joseph Michael Quinn Assistant Professor Sociology	how people’s environments & connections to members of other groups shape their beliefs, how people’s environments & connections to members of other groups influence macro patterns	Joseph Quinn received his PhD in sociology in 2022 from Duke University, specializing in social network analysis and social psychology. He studies when and how interactions between dissimilar people induce positive feelings and prosocial behaviors, and whether these interactions can be leveraged to reduce inequality.
Dr. Kamla Sanasi-Bhola, MD Clinical Assistant Professor Internal Medicine	Infectious Disease, Public Health, Bone and Joint Infections	Kamla Sanasi-Bhola, MD is an infectious diseases physician with Prisma Health-UofSC Medical Group. I am currently Assistant Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine, Associate Program Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program at the UofSC, SOM and director of the PrEP Telehealth Program. My research interests include Bone and Joint Infections, HIV PrEP and Transgender Health. In addition, I advocate for LGBTQIA+ culturally competent care.
Dr. Kathryn Luchok Senior Instructor Anthropology	Maternal and Child Health, Women's Health, Community Health Promotion	Kathryn J. Luchok, PhD, is a Research Professor in the Department of Anthropology and a Senior Instructor in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. Her expertise is in medical and applied anthropology and she is cross trained in Anthropology and Public Health. She specializes in women’s reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum, maternal and child health, and health equity. Her work is interdisciplinary and she has research experience in the US, Togo, Nigeria and Nepal.
Dr. Magdalena Stawkowski Assistant Professor Anthropology	cultural & medical anthropology, focusing on militarized & nuclear spaces & the political economy	Magdalena Stawkowski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and a faculty associate at the Walker Institute for International Studies. She is also a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen and a fellow in the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Stawkowski received her PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2014.
Dr. Mark Sterlyn Coe Associate Professor LAN PALMETTO COLLEGE	Children's Mental Health, Rural Mental Health, Mental Health Issues of Youth in the Juvenile Justice System, Mental Health Disparities	Mark Coe is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Business, Behavioral Sciences, Criminal Justice, and Education, USC Lancaster.
Dr. Megan A Weis Research Assistant Professor Translational and Clinical Science		Megan A. Weis, DrPH, MPH, MCHES® is an Academic Affiliate in the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health.
Jamy Archer Clinical Assistant Professor Communication Sci & Disorders	Therapy, Communication	Ms. Archer's areas of interest are auditory-verbal therapy, total communication with use of sign, dynamic stimuli presentation (iPad, Smartboard, and dysphagia
Dr. David Sean Simmons Associate Professor Anthropology	International Health, Health and Healing in the African Diaspora, Social and Health Disparities	My current research focuses on the relationship between human rights abuses and health outcomes for Haitian agricultural workers, or braceros, in the Dominican Republic. This work is sponsored through the Program in Infectious Disease and Social Change, Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School and builds on my intersecting interests in health and the social determinants that undergird it.
Dr. Jiajia Zhang, PhD Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics	developing methodologies for analyzing censored failure time data	My current research interests are in developing methodologies for analyzing censored failure time data. These types of data arise frequently from many fields of cancer/clinical studies. Specific statistical interests lie in nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation, semiparametric estimating equations, survival models, mixture cure models and frailty models.
Dr. Peiyin Hung Assistant Professor Health Services Policy & Mgmt	Health Services Research, Rural Health, Maternal and Child Health	My research focuses on geographic disparities in health services and quality of health care in the national, state, and institutional levels (e.g. hospital, nursing home, hospice, etc.). Most of my work integrates: a) Building statistical models to simulate rural healthcare delivery processes; b) Identifying effective health policy interventions to address health disparities; c) Implementing technology changes to help close gaps in costs, access, and quality of care.
Dr. Rachel Davis Associate Professor Health Prom., Educ. & Behavior	health promotion, health communication, survey methodology	My research focuses on three areas relevant to eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities among Latino and African American populations: (1) developing and testing culturally tailored interventions to prevent child obesity and promote type 2 diabetes management; (2) understanding how interactions between individuals and their socio-cultural environments influence obesity-related behaviors; and (3) reducing culturally associated measurement error in health-related survey data.
Dr. James Thrasher, PhD Professor Health Prom., Educ. & Behavior	Health Communication, Public Health Policy, Tobacco Prevention and Control	My research generally involves clarifying how social and cultural factors influence both health behaviors and the efficacy of communication and policy efforts to promote these behaviors. The mixed-method, interdisciplinary approach I take draws from my training in health behavior, epidemiology, anthropology, and psychology. Furthermore, the transnational nature of my research reflects my commitment to illuminating and engaging with health issues at home and abroad.
Dr. Orgul Demet Ozturk Department Chair/Professor Moore Sch - Div. of Research	Health Economics, Labor Economics, Economics of Education	My research interests are in applied microeconomics fields, specifically labor economics and health economics. I have recently published on effects of SNAP program on health and education outcomes, effect of food related interventions on cognitive performance and lunch line design on healthy food choice. I have several ongoing projects that analysis education program and policy effects on short and long run student academic and crime and social program dependency other outcomes.
Dr. Michael David Wirth Assistant Professor Biobehavioral Health & Nursing Science	Circadian Disruption, Diet, Cancer	My research interests include environmental/behavioral and cancer epidemiology, specifically focusing on the relationship between circadian disrupters (i.e., shiftwork, sleep disruption, clock genes) diet, and physical activity. I am particularly interested in relationships with intermediate outcomes associated with cancer development (e.g., inflammation). Additionally, I have a strong interest in exploring associations between the Dietary Inflammatory Index and various health outcomes.
Dr. Lisa Marie Fitton Assistant Professor Communication Sci & Disorders	Bilingualism, Assessment, Literacy development	My research objective is to disrupt educational inequities experienced by children in the U.S. My expertise is at the intersection of rigorous quantitative methods & multilingual language/literacy development. My current work focuses on investigating and improving assessment to identify bilingual learners at risk for reading difficulty. I also collaborate with content-area experts to apply innovative methods to address questions with relevance to education in the areas of language and reading.
Dr. Christine Elizabeth Blake Associate Professor Health Prom., Educ. & Behavior	Focuses on understanding how contexts and cognitions interact to influence what foods mean to people, and food choice behaviors, particularly among low-income parents	My research provides insight into food-related behaviors to inform development of theory-based approaches for promoting healthy dietary intake. More specifically, my work focuses on understanding contextual and cognitive factors that influence food-related behaviors with an emphasis on people and organizations that shape these behaviors in children. My work draws heavily on schema theory, and involves the use of novel mixed-methods approaches.
Myriam Torres, PhD, MPH Clinical Associate Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Hispanic/Latino Health	Myriam E. Torres, PhD, MSPH is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director, Consortium for Latino Health Studies in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health.
Dr. Lauren Workman Research Assistant Professor Applied Research & Evaluation (CARE)	Community-engaged research and evaluation, Implementation science, Maternal and child health	My work focuses on the use of community-engaged research and evaluation techniques to promote community health development, systems transformation, and health equity. Some of my current work is focused on evaluating maternal and child health home visiting programs and community-based collaboratives to support vulnerable children and their families.
Dr. Nansi Boghossian Associate Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Hospital quality, Medicaid expansion, & racial/ethnic disparities in maternal mortality & morbidity	Nansi Boghossian is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health.
Dr. Nikki R Wooten Associate Professor Social Work - Dean's Office	Substance Use and Psychological Problems in Military Personnel and Veterans, Gender differences in military behavioral health service utilization, Deployment stressors and post-deployment mental health	Nikki R. Wooten, PhD, LISW-CP, is an early career investigator who is a 2010 NIDA Social Work Research Scholar. Dr. Wooten is a licensed clinical social worker with almost 18 years of experience providing services to civilian and military families as a child therapist at the Navy Family Advocacy Program, Social Work Consultant for the Armed Forces Center for Child Protection at the National Naval Medical Center, medically underserved communities, and vulnerable children and families.
Dr. Sara J Corwin Clinical Professor Public Health - Dean's Office		Part of her research is the Year 5 Evaluation Funded Art-based After School Program. The purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of three innovative arts-based after-school educational programs at Gibbes & Saunders middle schools, located in Richland One School District, Columbia SC. The evaluation is a mixed-method approach containing several data collection methods with several participant groups. Combining all of these methods, a more comprehensive picture of the effectiveness can be drawn.
Dr. Nabil Natafgi Assistant Professor Health Services Policy & Mgmt	Health Services Research, Health Policy	Recent research examined the effectiveness and value of telehealth interventions in rural settings and learning health care communities in urban settings. My research has encompassed a variety of methodological approaches including both quantitative and qualitative analyses, with emphasis on mixed-methods and special interest in engagement of patients, community members, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders.
Dr. Michelle Lynne Vieyra Associate Professor AK Biology & Geology	Introductory Biology, Anatomy, Animal Behavior	Research interests are Olfaction, Olfactory Receptor Genes, Animal Behavior, Sensory Systems, Herpetology, Brain Anatomy/Physiology.
Dr. Karen McGee Clinical Associate Professor Pharmacy - Dean's Office	Geriatrics, Seniors	Research interests include Geriatric Education Center (GEC) Grant: Educate health care practitioners on caring for senior adults. This is a multidisciplinary program. Diabetes care for frail elders Poly-pharmacy Medication Adherence
John Brooks Professor Health Services Policy & Mgmt	Pharmacoeconomics, Cancer	Research interests include Using Linked Databases to Construct Instrumental Variables Suitable for Early Stage Breast Cancer Treatment Effectiveness Research. Principal Investigator, Factors Affecting Bargaining Between Pharmacists and Insurers, and Faculty Development Award in Pharmacoeconomics.
Ms. Ruth A Riley Librarian Medicine Library	Medical informatics, E-books, E-learning	Ruth A. Riley is the Director of Library Services and Assistant Dean for Executive Affairs in the Department of Medical Library, School of Medicine Columbia.
Dr. Sarah J. Gareau Research Assistant Professor Families in Society, Institute	Maternal & Child Health, Health Equity, Health Services & Policy	Sarah Gareau, DrPH, MCHES is a Research Assistant Professor and the Maternal and Child Health and Health Equity Evaluation Projects Team Lead at the University of South Carolina’s Institute of Families in Society (UofSC IFS). Her research and policy work centers around reducing maternal morbidity among communities of opportunity, as well as improving outcomes and access to healthcare for the uninsured.
Dr. Bankole Adeyemi Olatosi Associate Professor Health Services Policy & Mgmt	HIV/AIDS, Rural Health, Business Analytics	Skilled in secondary data analysis with strengths in data mining techniques. Trained in applied analytics using Enterprise guide and miner, visual analytics and text mining and analysis.
Dr. Tessa J. Hastings Assistant Professor Pharm - Clin Pharm & Outcomes Sciences	Implementation Science	Tessa Hastings, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy in Columbia, South Carolina. Hastings’ research applies implementation science principles to improve healthcare safety and effectiveness through the adoption of innovations in pharmacy settings. Her research primarily focuses on immunization information systems, or immunization registries.
Thaddeus Davis Associate Professor Theatre and Dance		Thaddeus Davis is an Instructor of Contemporary Dance at the University of South Carolina. As a teacher and choreographer, he has done residencies at The Juilliard School, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Butler University, Arizona State University, Ballet Austin Academy, and has served as guest faculty at The Alabama School of Fine Arts.
Dr. James R. Hebert Professor Epidemiology & Biostatistics	Organizing a Statewide Cancer Prevention and Control Program, epidemiologic cancer research	The Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of South Carolina is dedicated to discovering the underlying causes of some of the largest cancer disparities in the world, especially those in African-Americans in comparison to their European-American counterparts. The Program's aim in discovery is to inform people and organizations who are willing and able to make a difference in the fight against cancer.
Dr. Tisha M Felder Associate Professor Biobehavioral Health & Nursing Science	Cancer, Health services research, African American health	The goal of my research is to ensure that people have access to quality care and services, particularly underserved groups (e.g., African Americans, Medicaid-insured) diagnosed with cancer. I desire to identify strategies that help patients overcome barriers to accessing the health-related services they need and provide patients with support to adhere to their prescribed regimen.
Dr. Mitzi Nagarkatti Department Chair/Professor Path, Microbio. & Immunology	Cancer, Autoimmunity, Immunotoxicology and Immunopharmacology, Complementary and Alternative Medicine	The primary research interests of my lab include Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy, Biodefense, Immunopharmacology, Immunotoxicology, and Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Currently, we are pursuing research in the following specific areas: Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy
Dr. Yi Crystal Zhan Associate Professor Moore Sch - Div. of Research	Labor economics, Economics of education, Applied econometrics	Yi Crystal Zhan is an assistant professor of Economics in the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego in 2013. Dr. Zhan’s research interests lie in the fields of labor economics, economics of education, and applied econometrics. Her work particularly addresses topics related to immigration and ethnic disparities.