About
Lori A. Dickes is an Associate Chair, Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in the Department of Political Science. Her research interests focus on a range of specific issues impacting the ability of communities to be economically and socially sustainable. With a policy and economic lens, Dr. Dickes studies issues around maternal and child health, community health and policy interventions, as well as issues around rural broadband access and availability among others. Utilizing expertise in survey research, stakeholder engagement, and policy and economic evaluation, her research seeks to understand how communities and regions create innovative and transformative policy and institutions to sustain healthy rural and regional communities. She has been the co-investigator on approximately $2 million in grants and contracts to support her work. She has also taught a wide variety of courses focused on rural and community development, economic development, organizational theory and behavior, and special topic courses on policy evaluation.
Visit Dr. Dickes' Faculty Profile.
How their research is transforming health care
One example of how Lori is striving to transform health care is through a focus on policy and evaluation of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. She has served as one of the Clemson co- investigators for a collaborative project with Prisma studying the cost, safety and efficacy of a palliative approach to treating narcotic dependent newborns. This research is now being conducted in 10 hospitals across SC. Another example of how Dr. Dickes is helping to transform health care is through her work on the CDC funded Policy, Systems and Environment project working on the intersection of policy, food systems and obesity. Dr. Dickes is focused on how local government, planning and administration can help advance community walk and bike ability, as well as understanding how to effectively integrate health and wellness goals and objectives into local government comprehensive planning.
News and media related to Dr. Dickes’ research
- Helping Mothers and Children: neonatal abstinence syndrome research, Clemson News
- Out in Front of Pain, Clemson World Magazine
Health Research Expertise Keywords
Faculty Scholar, Health Policy, Health Disparities, Rural Health, Cost/Benefit Analysis, Policy Evaluation, Women’s Health
