Our Team

Dr. Kerry Howard is the Research Manager at the Center for Public Health Modeling and Response. She received her PhD degree from Clemson University in Applied Health Research and Evaluation and a MS degree from Seton Hall University in Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. Her research focuses on the elimination of health disparities through data-driven examinations of delivery of care in disadvantaged populations, as well as methodology that impacts decision-making in the prevention and treatment of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s Disease, opioid use disorder, Hepatitis C, and community child safety. Dr. Howard has performed research in the fields of health and psychology over the course of her career, accumulating extensive experience with research design, data maintenance and analysis, and scientific writing, as well as an understanding of how these areas can be applied to improve real-world outcomes and disseminate findings to the community.

Dr. Fatih Gezer is a Research Associate at the Center for Public Health Modeling and Response. He received his PhD in Statistics from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and his MS degree in Statistics from the University of Delaware. His areas of expertise include spatial and spatio-temporal statistics, computational statistics, biostatistics, and data visualization. His current research focuses on infectious disease modeling and the application of statistical techniques to healthcare data obtained from hospitals and mobile health clinics. His research informs interventions by identifying communities vulnerable to diseases such as opioid misuse, HCV, HIV, and COVID-19; forecasting disease spread; and providing interactive toolkits.

Dr. Jiande Wu is the Data Manager/Data Scientist at the Center for Public Health Modeling and Response. He received his PhD degree and MS from the University of New Orleans in Electrical Engineering. He also holds MS and BS degrees from North China Electric Power University in Computer Science and Engineering. Dr. Wu possesses extensive training expertise in the field of computational genomics and data analysis. His research primarily focuses on the development and application of advanced big data analysis techniques and computational genomic methods. Dr. Wu currently serves as the Center’s Data Manager and is responsible for data extraction and management of electronic health records (EHR) data. He is also responsible for overseeing the application of machine learning techniques for prediction, including the development of early warning systems for infectious disease outbreaks based on digital trace data.

Dr. Tolulope Fashina is the program manager for the CDC-funded grant, “Disease Modeling and Analytics to inform Outbreak Preparedness, Response, Intervention, Mitigation, and Elimination in South Carolina (DMA-PRIME).” She received her MD degree from All Saints University School of Medicine, Dominica, and an MPH and Certificate in Global Health from Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. Dr. Fashina has worked in research and research management in global health and infectious disease throughout her career, most recently overseeing clinical trials as the clinical research supervisor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Grace Austen is a Research Associate with the School of Computing at Clemson University. She received her MS degree in Computer Science from Clemson. Her MS concentration was in data science and informatics; however, she also took an interest in visualization. She worked on several research projects as a student at Clemson and is now collaborating with the Center for Public Health Modeling and Response on creating visualizations for infectious diseases that will support public health organizations and decision makers.

Karen Atkinson is the Administrative Coordinator for the Center for Public Health Modeling and Response and Research Program Manager within the Department of Public Health Sciences. She received her MS from Furman University in Exercise Physiology. She has contributed to various projects for the CDC, DoD, USAID, NIH, AHA, and many others, as well as managed budgets of a combined total of $30 million. She has performed research in the fields of high obesity prevention, mobile health, remote patient monitoring, diabetes prevention, and rural health.

Dr. Christopher McMahan is an Associate Professor and the Associate Director for Graduate Studies in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at Clemson University. He received his PhD from the University of South Carolina in Statistics and a MS degree from Western Kentucky University in Mathematics. Dr. McMahan has extensive expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence applications, COVID-19 modeling, and disease mapping and forecasting. During the 2020-2021 academic year, Dr. McMahan was a member of the public health strategy team which provided public health guidance to Clemson University amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Dr. McMahan was named an American Statistical Association Fellow, one of the highest honors for statisticians, due to his exceptional contributions to statistical science, collaboration with researchers internationally, and promotion of scientific discovery across disciplines.

Dr. Federico Iuricich is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computing at Clemson University. He received his Ph.D. and MS degrees in Computer Science from the University of Genova in Italy. Dr. Iuricich has specialized training in spatial data analysis and data visualization, including development of open-source products for large-scale 3D visualization, educational material using visualization to disseminate advanced concepts in mathematics, and lightweight visualization toolkits. Dr. Iuricich has collaborated with Dr. Rennert on numerous projects, as lead in the development of visual interfaces for mobile health clinic resource allocation toolkits.

Dr. Md Sakhawat Hossain is a Research Assistant Professor in the Center for Public Health Modeling and Response. He received his PhD from Texas Tech University in Statistics and MS degree from Clemson University in Mathematics. His expertise is in development of predictive modeling frameworks, parameter identification, and numerical optimization. His role in the Center focuses on development, optimization, and calibration of predictive modeling frameworks for infectious diseases.

Dr. MinJae Woo is an Assistant Professor of Health Informatics in the Department of Public Health Sciences. He received his PhD from the Clemson University - Medical University of South Carolina (joint) program in Biomedical Data Science and Informatics. Dr. Woo is a multidisciplinary researcher whose research interests lie in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare, focusing on its application in predictive analytics and public health intelligence. He has led a multi-institutional team of health scientists and computer scientists with one shared goal of revolutionizing health interventions through technology.

Dr. Brian Witrick is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health at Clemson University. He received his PhD from Clemson University in Applied Health Research and Evaluation and a Master of Public Health from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Epidemiology. Dr. Witrick has expertise in spatial epidemiological methods, including small area estimation and spatio-temporal modeling. He has experience in research working to provide clinicians with the best evidence to support the care of patients with cardiovascular disease and in investigating racial disparities in maternal and infant health. His current research focuses on cardiovascular epidemiology and the use of spatial analysis to understand disparities, compare outcomes, and improve clinical practice in South Carolina.

Dr. Sarah Griffin is a Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Clemson University. She received her PhD in Public Health and Master of Public Health in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior degrees from the University of South Carolina. She is a health researcher with extensive community-based research experience and expertise in implementation research. Dr. Griffin's research is focused on eliminating health disparities by researching the efficacy and effectiveness of complex interventions to improve health. She often uses mixed-method approaches to assess the effectiveness of community, clinical, and school based interventions addressing health equity in South Carolina. Currently, Dr. Griffin serves as Co-PI for a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention obesity prevention initiative with rural health extension.

Dr. Brandon Boatwright is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and is the Director of the Social Media Listening Center. He received his PhD in Communication & Information from the University of Tennessee and his MS in Communication, Technology, & Society from Clemson University. Dr. Boatwright has expertise in the collection and analysis of digital media content. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he provided location-based social media analysis to provide insight into outbreaks in the Clemson area.

Dr. Kathleen Cartmell is Research Faculty in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Clemson University. She received her PhD from the Medical University of South Carolina in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and a Master of Public Health degree from the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. She is a health services researcher with a focus on dissemination and implementation of evidence-based strategies for disease prevention and control, including interventions to optimize vaccination at the health system and community levels. She now leads a statewide multi-level intervention designed to increase HPV vaccination in South Carolina.

Dr. Delphine Dean is a Ron and Jane Lindsay Family Innovation Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Clemson University. She received her PhD and Master of Engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She is the director and founder of the Clemson Center for Innovative Medical Devices and Sensors and the Research Education in Disease Diagnosis and Intervention (REDDI) Lab, which includes Clemson's only CLIA certified diagnostic laboratory, and is key in surveillance of COVID-19. She recently served as Project Lead for an NIH award aimed at sequencing all the positive samples from the REDDI Lab for surveillance of emerging strains.

Dr. David Freedman is a Professor and the Chair in the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Clemson University. He received his PhD and MS in Environmental Engineering from Cornell University and the University of Cincinnati, respectively. His research focuses on hazardous waste management, water and wastewater treatment, and methodology for biodegrading hazardous organic contaminants. Dr. Freedman lent his expertise to Clemson University’s response to COVID-19, in which wastewater-based epidemiology was used to predict and model infection rates in the community. Such methodology can be expanded to detect communities at high risk of other diseases, with wastewater research as a source for active prediction and surveillance of disease.

Dr. Ronald Gimbel is a Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Clemson University and Director of Clemson Rural Health. He received his PhD from the State University of New York at Albany in Public Administration and Policy and a Master of Arts degree from Webster University in Management. The Clemson Rural Health organization operates rural health clinics, a fleet of mobile health units, telehealth services, and other technologies to enhance overall wellness in South Carolina communities. Dr. Gimbel’s research focuses on improving health equity and outcomes in rural and underserved communities within an effort to bridge biomedical research with communities.

Dr. Alain Litwin is a Professor of Medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, a Professor at Clemson University School of Health Research, executive director of the Addiction Medicine Center at Prisma Health, and co-chair of the Prisma Health Opioid Stewardship Council. He received his MD from Tulane University School of Medicine and specializes in internal and addiction medicine. His research is focused on developing and studying models of Hepatitis C care for drug users and advocating for increasing access to effective care for patients. Through his roles, Dr. Litwin has helped shape public policy through collaboration with community and government organizations to develop clinical guidelines and expand access to treatments.

Dr. Gary Machlis is a Professor of Environmental Sustainability in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University. He received his PhD from Yale University in Human Ecology and his MS from the University of Washington in Forestry. His research interests are disaster response, science during crisis, conservation science and politics, and sustainability. Dr. Machlis has lent his expertise to multiple roles serving communities during crises, including Science Advisor to the Director of the U.S. National Park Service, co-Leader of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Strategic Sciences Group, and an executive councilman of the National Academics of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Response and Resilient Recovery Strategic Science Initiative. He has created an international presence, conducting research and promoting science capacity in China, the Galapagos Islands, Haiti, Kenya, and Eastern Europe.

Dr. Natasha Malmin is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. She received a joint PhD in Public Policy from Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University and an MPH from Emory University. Prior to her career in academia, she served as a health scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for seven years. Areas of specialization include public health emergency response, school recovery after disasters, administrative burden and federal disaster recovery, participatory geographic information systems mapping, and community resilience.

Dr. Rachel Mayo is a Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences. Her recent research focuses on delivery of care to Latino patients, experiences with cancer among African Americans, and promotion of participation in breast and cervical cancer screenings among minority populations. Dr. Mayo’s research and evaluation of treatment for newborns with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome has transformed healthcare research in communities across South Carolina. Her participation on state and national boards, such as the Alliance for a Healthier South Carolina’s Health Disparities Task Force, and Academy Health’s Health Disparities Interest group, have led to a shaping of community and public policy.