Faculty in the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS) have completed the inaugural year of the Embedded Faculty Scholar Program in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Public Health (SC-DPH). The program provided research support for SC-DPH and offered CBSHS faculty members invaluable field experience and research opportunities.
The program is led by Lior Rennert, CBSHS associate dean for health sciences, and Dr. Brannon Traxler, SC-DPH acting director.
“The Embedded Faculty Scholar Program demonstrates what can be achieved when academic research and public health practice come together,” said Rennert. “In its inaugural year, this partnership provided valuable research support to the Department of Public Health, as well as unique opportunities for our faculty to learn in the field and develop research to benefit communities across South Carolina.”
“Through the Embedded Faculty Scholar Program, Clemson faculty share their expertise in ways that directly support the health of South Carolinians, while gaining a deeper understanding of the realities and opportunities within public health practice. The partnership has created lasting connections that will continue to strengthen both research and public service across our state,” said Traxler.
CBSHS Embedded Faculty Scholars included:
Erin Ash, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Communication
Ash’s work with the S.C. Department of Public Health focused on communication strategy and evaluation. She assisted with the development of public vaccination messaging and consulted with campaign teams to discuss evaluation and future strategy across agency sections.
She also included students in client-based research to support the work of SC-DPH. Currently, her undergraduate research methods class is conducting research on college students’ attitudes, behaviors and memorable messages related to vaping, as well as testing the effectiveness of anti-vaping message strategies within that population.
Throughout the program, Ash made connections that continue to support her teaching and research endeavors. Her current research focuses on communication related resilience among public health providers, including the misinformation providers encounter, current strategies for addressing misinformation with patients, and the impact of confronting misinformation on professional identity and personal well-being.
Brian Witrick, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences
Over the past year, Witrick has worked with SC-DPH on several projects to strengthen public health surveillance and use data to inform decision-making. One of his primary projects provided support for the development of a measles wastewater surveillance dashboard, which visualizes geographic patterns of viral detection across South Carolina. He also collaborated with SC-DPH epidemiologists on surveillance-related questions to review available data, explore analytic approaches and identify opportunities to improve how public health information is interpreted and used.
More recently, he has started collaborating with SC-DPH’s HIV and sexually transmitted infection surveillance team on the development of dashboards to better visualize disease trends across South Carolina. This work is focused on exploring patterns over time and across geographic areas, with the goal of making surveillance data more accessible and useful for public health professionals.
Across these projects, his role has largely involved contributing expertise in epidemiology, statistical analysis and geographic information systems, while working alongside SC-DPH staff to address practical public health questions.
“The CBSHS Embedded Faculty Scholar Program provides meaningful opportunities for our faculty to collaborate with state agencies and deepens our partnerships with key organizations across South Carolina,” said Leslie Hossfeld, CBSHS dean. “Combining academic expertise with the knowledge and experience of public health practitioners allows us to develop and implement research that benefits individuals and communities throughout our state. We look forward to continuing this great work and expanding the program to other state and national agencies and organizations.”
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The Departments of Communication and Public Health Sciences are part of the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences. Established in July 2016, CBSHS is a 21st-century, land-grant college that combines work in nine disciplines – communication; nursing; parks, recreation and tourism management; political science; psychology; public health sciences; sociology, anthropology and criminal justice – to further its mission of “building people and communities” in South Carolina and beyond.
