2024 R25 Fellows

The BDHSC would like to congratulate the 2024 R25 Fellows. Read on to learn more about our fellows, their mentors and proposed research.

Pieter Baker

Pieter Baker

Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health


Proposed Research
: Leveraging Big Data Approaches to Identify People who Inject in the Electronic Medical Record Database in South Carolina

Primary Mentor: Bankole Olatosi
Co-Mentor: Jiajia Zhang

Hui Chen

Hui Chen

Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences


Proposed Research
: SARS-CoV-2-Pathogenesis in Early Embryogenesis

Primary Mentor: Michael Shtutman
Co-Mentor: Sharon Weissman

Lelia Larson

Lelia Larson

Assistant Professor, Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health


Proposed Research
: Impact of Climate Change on Childhood Health, Infectious Disease, and Development

Primary Mentor: Melissa Nolan
Co-Mentor: Jiajia Zhang

Parthenia Luke

Parthenia Luke

Research Assistant Professor, College of Social Work


Proposed Research
: The Impact of Gentrification on COVID-19 Health Outcomes in South Carolina: A Big Data Approach

Primary Mentor: Xueying Yang
Co-Mentor: Bankole Olatosi

Yuan Wang

Yuan Wang

Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health


Proposed Research
: Precision Phenotyping of Long COVID with Graph AI Models

Primary Mentor: Leonardo Bonilha
Co-Mentor: Homayoun Valafar

Yanfeng Xu

Yanfeng Xu

Assistant Professor, College of Social Work


Proposed Research
: STIs and HIV Prevalence and Health Care Service Utilization Patterns and Disparities among Adolescents in Foster Care: Using Machine Learning Methods

Primary Mentor: Shan Qiao
Co-Mentor: Xueying Yang