About
Wiley D. Jenkins is an epidemiologist and health researcher with over 30 years of experience in public health and academia. He earned Bachelor degrees in chemistry and biology, and from there worked at a state health laboratory for 13 years. During this time he earned his MPH (epidemiology) from Tulane University and then a PhD (public health policy and administration) from the University of Illinois at Chicago. At that point he joined Southern Illinois university School of Medicine as Research Director for Family and Community Medicine. Over the next 17 years he assumed roles of increasing responsibility, culminating as interim Chair of Population Science and Policy. In July of 2024, he moved from IL to South Carolina to take the role of Chair of Public health Sciences at Clemson University.
Visit Dr. Jenkin's Faculty Profile.
How their research is transforming health care
Dr. Jenkins’ work is largely associated with clinical collaborations and addressing barriers to care engagement and routine utilization (e.g., screening). To this end he partners with both healthcare organization and community partners to identify and test better means of outreach and engagement. One specific example involves engagement of people who use drugs with routine primary care. As a group, such individuals frequently have poor care experiences and often only utilize urgent/emergency care. This results in care that is more expensive, and less responsive to ongoing health needs. Working with a community advisory board, a local harm reduction service organization, and a primary care provider, he and his group have explored new methods of peer navigation, and the use of a Patient Advocacy Form to address past experiences and increase patient confidence. In a similar sense, cervical cancer screening is both highly effective to reduce cancer risk, but underutilized, both generally and especially among sexual and gender minority individuals. Again partnering with a local organization and primary care provider, Dr. Jenkins and his group are exploring the use of peer champions and video messages to increase screening utilization.
Health Research Expertise Keywords
Rural Health Disparities, Infectious Disease, Cancer Epidemiology and Screening, Substance Use and Harm Reduction
