Amandeep Kaur, MS
akaur@email.sc.edu
I am a Ph.D. student in the department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health. As a research assistant, I am working with Dr. Monique Brown on NIMH funded project focusing on the impact of childhood sexual trauma on the process of aging with HIV. My research interests are HIV, Adverse Childhood Experiences as well as Mental Health. I obtained master’s degree in Public Health from East Tennessee State University in 2018 and bachelor’s in Dental Surgery from Baba Farid University of Health Sciences in India. My past experiences include Volunteer Research Assistant (The East Tennessee State University), Field Experience focusing on “Evaluation of Pharmacogenetic Association of Tenofovir Formulation and Adverse Effects” (Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, ETSU) and Dentistry (India).
Ran Zhang, MSW
rz1@email.sc.edu
Ran Zhang is a PhD candidate in the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior. Ran’s research interests include HIV prevention and intervention, mental health of vulnerable populations, COVID-19 vaccine promotion, and stigmatization of sexual minorities. Her current research project focuses on the intersecting stigma and mental health of gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men in Zambia. Ran obtained her Master of Social Work (child welfare and social policy track) from the University of Pennsylvania and her bachelor’s degree in Finance from Ohio University. As a CHQ junior scholar, she is mentored by Dr. Xiaoming Li and Dr. Jan Ostermann.
Fanghui Shi
fshi@email.sc.edu
Fanghui Shi is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior. And she is working under the supervision of Dr. Xiaoming Li. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Preventive medicine from Shanghai JiaoTong University, China. Her research interest is leveraging advanced epidemiological designs and methods to investigate the structural barriers (e.g., structural racism and transportation barriers) to optimal health outcomes among people with HIV (PWH) at the population level. Additionally, she is interested in linking the electronic health records data, publicly available geospatial data, and questionnaire survey data and leveraging data mining methods to better understand social determinants of health disparities among PWH.
Camryn Garrett, MPH
camrynmg@email.sc.edu
Camryn Garrett is a current Ph.D. student in the Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior. She is working under the supervision of Dr. Shan Qiao on two studies. One study is related to the mental health impacts of Covid-19 on people living with HIV (PLWH) in South Carolina. The second study is related to the experiences of people diagnosed with Covid-19 and long haulers. She obtained her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Virginia in 2021. Camryn’s research interests include social media, social health, community health, sexual health, HIV prevention and support, as well as, a focus on rural areas.
Abhishek Aggarwal
aggarwa@email.sc.edu
Abhishek is currently a Ph.D. student at the Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior. He has initiated various projects to design and implement interventions to promote adolescent mental health across different states in India. Through such experiences, he serves as the international leader from India at the School Mental Health International Leadership Exchange (SMHILE). His current project is to test the use of immersive gaming technologies for developing real-life resilience in adolescents. The topic “technology for mental health” really excites him.”
Atefeh Aghaei, Ph.D.
aaghaei@email.sc.edu
Atefeh Aghaei is a PhD student at HPEB Department, Arnold School of Public Health, UofSC. She is a multidisciplinary expert in Medical Sociology and Public Health with a Ph.D. in Communication Science. She served as a Program Coordinator in the healthcare system for more than nine years. She was then an Assistant professor at the University of Tehran, Iran. Her research interest is social determinants of health and the mental health of vulnerable populations like Immigrants and refugees, and HIV-positive women.
Gazi Sakir Mohammad Pritom
gspritom@email.sc.edu