CHQ Scholars
Buwei He
Buwei He is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, with research interests in survival analysis, high-dimensional data, and machine learning methods. His applied focus centers on chronic disease, HIV health outcomes, and antiretroviral therapy (ART). Buwei has contributed to multiple projects in these areas, employing statistical methods to analyze electronic health record (EHR) data from the South Carolina Department of Health (SCDPH) and the All of Us Research Program. As a CHQ Junior Scholar, he is currently working under the mentorship of Drs. Xueying Yang and Bankole Olatosi.
Jiayang Xiao
Jiayang Xiao is a third-year PhD candidate in Biostatistics at the University of South Carolina, with a master’s degree in Biostatistics from Georgetown University. His research focuses on statistical methods in public health, including survival analysis, clustering methods, longitudinal data analysis, and mixed models. He applies these methods to critical public health concerns, such as HIV outcomes and adverse maternal and birth outcomes. As a Junior Scholar with the SmartState Center for Healthcare Quality, he is mentored by Drs. Peiyin Hung and Jiajia Zhang.
Victoria Money
Victoria Money is a doctoral candidate in the Sociology Department, and a Bilinski Fellow. She earned a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Maryland (Europe division) after completing 8 years of service in the U.S. Navy, and her MA in Sociology at USC. Her research centers on information flow and health disparities within social networks. She has published a sole authored paper in Social Psychology Quarterly and has presented research at both international and national conferences. Within CHQ, she works with Drs. Qiao and Li, assessing the efficacy of different coping mechanisms affecting stress among people living with HIV/AIDS in China.
Julie Nguyen
Julie is a PhD Student in Clinical-Community Psychology. Her research focuses on: 1) examining sociocultural risk and protective factors for ethnic minority children and families, 2) using this knowledge to culturally adapt trauma-informed, family-based evidence-based treatments, and 3) increasing access to mental health services through implementation science and policy. The ultimate goal of her research is to advance health equity among racial/ethnic minority communities. As a CHQ scholar, she is mentored by Drs. Cheuk Chi (George) Tam and Sayward Harrison.
Diamonde McCollum
Diamonde McCollum is a PhD student in Clinical-Community Psychology at the University of South Carolina, where she serves as a graduate research assistant in the Resilience, Equity, and Child Health (REACH) Lab. Her research focuses on identifying risk and protective factors related to the intersection of childhood trauma, HIV, and problematic substance use within families, aiming to inform prevention and intervention strategies to improve child outcomes.
Ibitein Okeafor
Ibitein Okeafor is a PhD student in Health Services Policy and Management with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health Services. Her research focuses on evaluating health policies and interventions to identify effective strategies for optimizing maternal and child health outcomes, with a particular emphasis on promoting vaccinations and other preventive services. As a CHQ Scholar, Ibitein is working with her CHQ mentors, Drs. Jan Ostermann and Jiajia Zhang to investigate the impact of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) policy recommendation for adolescent vaccine bundling on healthcare providers’ practice of bundling the Tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis (Tdap) and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.
Salome-Joelle Gass
Salome-Joelle Gass is a PhD candidate in Health Services Policy and Management at the University of South Carolina, specializing in global health and health systems research. She holds an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a BSc in Biochemistry. Salome’s research experience spans several high-impact global health initiatives, including coordinating randomized trials and mixed-methods studies in Africa and the U.S. At the University of South Carolina, she has contributed to projects such as the MINT-CKW cluster-randomized trial, which leverages community health workers and digital health tools to improve vaccination timeliness, and the CONSORT study, focusing on mobile-based HIV testing interventions. Her work with IDinsight and the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia has addressed HIV care, sexual and reproductive health, and behavioral incentives to improve medication adherence. As a CHQ Scholar, she is mentored by Dr. Shan Qiao and Dr. Bankole Olatosi.