People

Executive Committee

Swann Adams, PhD, MS, FACE

Dr. Adams has been conducting research in South Carolina for over 20 years. As an epidemiologist, she has a deep understanding of research study design, sources of bias in research, and applied analytic methods. Much of her work has been conducted using a community-based participatory research approach in which she partners with African American community members to enhance the relevance and impact of her work. Her research has predominately focused on understanding the determinants of cancer health disparities experienced by African Americans and ways to intervene to improve these inequalities. She has received grant funding from multiple sources including the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the South Carolina Cancer Alliance, and the South Carolina Cancer Center among others. She has also received awards for her work from the Arnold School of Public Health, the Vice President for Research of USC, and the College of Nursing.

Oluwole Ariyo, PhD

Dr. Ariyo is an associate professor of biology at Allen University. He is also the Chairperson of the Allen University Curriculum Committee and the lead contact for the Institutional Review Board. His current research focuses on the expression patterns of microRNAs under different stress conditions and developmental stages in rice, corn and wheat. Dr. Ariyo is the Allen University liaison to the CCADMR and a subcontract principal investigator.

Omar Bagasra, MD, PhD

Dr. Bagasra is a professor of biology and the director of the South Carolina Center for Biotechnology at Claflin University. For the past several years, his research has been focused on trying to gain insight into the molecular pathogenesis of HIV and the role of microRNA in protection against lentiviruses. Current lines of research examine the link between environmental chemicals and fetal brain development. Dr. Bagasra is the Claflin University liaison to the CCADMR and a subcontract principal investigator.

Hongtu Chen, PhD

Dr. Hongtu Chen, PhD, is a senior scientist at the Department of Psychiatry, and Co-Director of the Program of Global Aging and Social Change, at the Global Health and Social Medicine Department, at Harvard Medical School. He served as Principal Investigator on numerous research projects related to aging and health service delivery, most of which were funded by NIH and other U.S. governmental agencies. He received the Fulbright Scholar Award to develop intervention programs to improve care of elders with dementia in collaboration with Thailand ministry of public health. Most of his research programs combine health intervention design, implementation science, and technological innovation. For the CCADMR program, he serves as an external evaluator.

Cheryl J. Dye, PhD

Dr. Dye is a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences and the director of the Clemson University Institute for Engaged Aging. Her research has focused on promoting quality of life of older adults through health promotion, chronic condition self-management, dementia caregiving, and fall prevention. She has received over $5.5M in funding as a Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator from agencies including the National Institutes of Health, Health Resources and Services Administration, the Kellogg Foundation, the Duke Endowment, the USDA, and the Veteran’s Administration. Dr. Dye is the Clemson University liaison to the CCADMR and a subcontract principal investigator.

Daniela B. Friedman, PhD

Dr. Friedman is professor and chair of the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior in the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health. She is also co-director for the university’s Office for the Study of Aging which houses the oldest and most comprehensive Alzheimer’s Disease Registry in the U.S. Her interdisciplinary and partner-engaged research is focused on health communication with racially and ethnically diverse older populations. Dr. Friedman is a principal investigator of the CCADMR.

Marvella E. Ford, PhD

Dr. Ford is a tenured professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where she is also the associate director of Population Sciences and Cancer Disparities at the Hollings Cancer Center. She also holds a SmartState Endowed Chair position in cancer disparities research at South Carolina State University (SCSU). In 2017, Dr. Ford and Dr. Salley (SCSU) were funded by the NIH/NCI Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities to increase SCSU's capacity to conduct transdisciplinary cancer research and to further strengthen and extend a longitudinal research education pipeline to catalyze a new diverse generation of cancer disparities-focused biomedical researchers. Dr. Ford is a Co-Lead of the Research Education Component (REC) of the CCADMR..

James W. Hardin, PhD

Dr. Hardin is a professor of biostatistics. He has been with the University of South Carolina since 2003. His research interests include correlated data, limited dependent variables, discrete choice analysis, generalized estimating equations, and complex survey data. Dr. Hardin is a Co-Lead of the Analysis Core of the CCADMR.

Lucy A. Ingram, PhD, MPH

Dr. Ingram is an associate professor in the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior and the assistant dean of Academic Affairs and Online Education for the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. Her research is focused on addressing racial/ethnic health disparities in sexual and reproductive health. Dr. Ingram is a Co-Lead of the Research Education Component (REC) of the CCADMR.

Sue Levkoff, ScD, MSW, SM

Professor Sue Levkoff specializes in gerontology, gerontechnology, and Alzheimer’s Disease. She is involved in technology-based research on topics including, mHealth to monitor medication adherence among older HIV+ African Americans, remote monitoring to prevent hospital readmissions on older African Americans discharged with a diagnosis of congestive heart failure, and mHealth to improve sleep in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Dr. Levkoff is a principal investigator of the CCADMR.

Audrey McCrary-Quarles, PhD

Dr. McCrary-Quarles is an associate professor in the Health Sciences Department at South Carolina State University (SCSU). Her research is focused on healthy aging and injury prevention for seniors, promoting career awareness for minority youth, tobacco prevention, cancer disparities, and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. McCrary-Quarles is the SCSU liaison to the CCADMR.

Maggi Miller, MS, PhD

Dr. Miller is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Alzheimer’s Disease Registry Manager for the Office for the Study of Aging in the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. Her research interests include Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and caregivers of individuals with dementia. Dr. Miller is key personnel for the Analysis Core of the CCADMR.

CCADMR Program Coordinator

Quentin McCollum

Mr. McCollum is the Program Coordinator of the Carolina Center on Alzheimer’s Disease and Minority Research (CCADMR). He provides administrative, research, and fiscal support for the Center. He earned his masters degree in public health (MPH) from USC in the Department of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior.

College of Social Work