April 21, 2025 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu

The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) has selected Peiyin Hung, an associate professor in the Department of Health Services Policy and Management and co-director of the Rural Health Research Center, as the recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Researcher of the Year Award. This award is conferred annually at the NRHA Annual Meeting in May to one rural health researcher in recognition of exceptional research activity.

A member of NRHA since 2011, Hung has established her expertise in health services and rural health for the past two decades. After completing master’s (Emory University) and doctoral (University of Minnesota) degrees in the field, she received additional training with a postdoctoral research fellowship at Yale University. Recognized for her contributions to rural health research in her early career, she received NRHA’s John Snow Inc. Achievement Award in 2017.

Hung joined the HSPM department in 2018 and was invited to join NRHA’s Rural Health Fellows Program the following year. Advancing her leadership roles, Hung became deputy director for the Rural Health Research Center in 2022 and by 2024, she stepped into the role of co-director, along side HSPM associate professor Elizabeth Crouch. In 2023, the USC Office of the Vice President for Research named her a Breakthrough Star.

“Dr. Hung’s expertise in rural and maternal health research has conferred on her a national reputation as a leader in these areas,” Crouch says. “She has analyzed the effects of rural health policies, pay-for-performance programs, and obstetric care policies on the quality, access, and welfare of patients – all of which has elevated her to become a national voice in rural and maternal health.”

Hung’s work has been cited by the White House Maternal Health Blueprint and Rural Action Plan, as well as bipartisan legislation, Improving Access to Maternity Care Act. Her rural health expertise has been recognized through invitations to co-chair the Rural Obstetric Readiness Workgroup for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Alliance to Modernize Healthcare in 2020. At the request of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Hung has served in the Health Equity Workgroup and the Health Equity Advisory Committee for the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies Program.

In her six years at USC, Hung has secured over $22 million in funding as a principal or co-investigator. Her work has resulted in more than 100 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals such as JAMA, JAMA Network Open, the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, the American Journal of Public Health, Health Affairs, The Milbank Quarterly, and Cancer. These projects also provide training and research opportunities for students, staff and faculty, making widespread public health impacts for rural communities throughout South Carolina and the United States.

“Dr. Hung has emerged as one of the top junior faculty members, demonstrating exceptional research productivity,” says epidemiology professor Jihong Liu, her mentor and co-investigator. “This is evident in her leadership in developing and conducting independent research and successfully securing extramural funding to support her work.”

Devoted to improving rural health through policy, advocacy, clinical collaboration, and education, Hung publishes her research in scholarly journals and shares her findings through the popular press. Her media coverage includes NPR, The Washington Post, NBC News, U.S. News & World Report, PBS NewsHour, and USA Today.

“Dr. Hung’s research is not only voluminous, but also rigorous and impactful,” says Xiaoming Li, a professor in the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior and director for both the South Carolina SmartState Center for Healthcare Quality and the USC Big Data Health Science Center. “Her outstanding vision and work not only contribute to academic excellence but also translate into tangible health benefits for rural populations.”

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