About
The Team
The South Carolina Center of Excellence in Addiction’s Data Analytics Core aims to use statewide data to inform timely, targeted, and data-driven clinical, educational, and programmatic interventions. The Data Analytics Core, the developer of the South Carolina Opioid Treatment Dashboard, is led by Dr. Christina Andrews. It is a collaborative initiative involving researchers from the University of South Carolina’s Department of Health Services Policy and Management, the Big Data Health Science Center, and the Center for Applied Research and Evaluation in the Arnold School of Public Health, as well as the Department of Geography. This work was made possible with the generous support of the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund (SCORF), the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS), and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of South Carolina.
Team members involved in the development of this dashboard include:
Christina Andrews, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Services Policy and Management at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, leads the Data Analytics Core and serves on the leadership team for the South Carolina Center of Excellence in Addition. Dr. Andrews leads a portfolio of research focused on the impact of the organization and financing of substance use disorder treatment on access and quality.
Bankole Olatosi, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Services Policy and Management at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, co-leads the Big Data Health Science Center and applies data science to statewide electronic health records population data. Dr. Olatosi’s research is focused on how data science can advance disease surveillance, transmission, natural history, and progression important for treatment and intervention.
Jiajia Zhang, PhD, Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, is the lead biostatistician for the Data Analytics Core. Dr. Zhang’s expertise is in developing advanced statistical methodologies for handling the complex data in electronic health records as well as investigating links between health risk factors and disease.
Sicheng Wang, PhD, Assistant Professor in Department of Geography in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina, is responsible for managing the South Carolina Opioid Treatment Dashboard’s mapping resources. He is an expert in advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS) science applications and spatial analytics.
Yuhao Kang PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the University of Texas Austin, is a geographer and the lead developer of the maps displayed in this Opioid Treatment Dashboard. Dr. Kang’s research focuses on human-centered geospatial data science can be used to address real-world public health challenges.
Maria McClam, PhD, Research Associate in the Center for Applied Research and Evaluation at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, possesses expertise in data-driven decision-making, evaluation of public health programs, and dissemination of research findings. Dr. McClam’s applied research focuses on reproductive, maternal, and child health, yet her interdisciplinary expertise enables her to tackle complex health and social issues across various fields.
Shujie Chen, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, specializes in data management and statistical analysis. Dr. Chen has expertise in analysis of large scale observational data and health and social service encounter data. She collaborates with Drs. Zhang and Olatosi using big data approaches.
Ethan Li, MS, Research Associate in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, applies data science to advance big data health analytics, bridging complex data with real-world, actionable insights through advanced statistical and computational techniques.
Skylar Gross, MPH, PhD student and Graduate Research Associate in the Department of Health Services Policy and Management at the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, focuses on policy impacts for substance use disorder treatment utilization, access, and quality. She has extensive experience working with health insurance claims data.