The University of South Carolina College of Nursing keeps the top spot in the state for NIH funding. Last year, the college received its highest NIH ranking in history.

The college is committed to supporting and enhancing faculty research and scholarship. Our Office of Research helps develop faculty and PhD students as scientists and scholars and provides specialized expertise to enhance success. Our research mission has expanded with the addition of new faculty scholars who, with existing faculty, have generated new research and grant awards over the past 10 years.

A closer look

Vulnerable populations

• Health disparity solutions are needed, particularly for rural Black men. Dr. Demetrius Abshire is developing and testing behavioral interventions to reduce obesity for vulnerable adults living in rural areas through focus groups and pilot trials. His research and training activities will have significant impact in addressing multiple obesity-related rural and minority health disparities.
• Improving communications through collaborative treatment can improve health management, empower the patient and family, and decrease outcome disparities. Its why Dr. Robin Dawson is using a Spanish-language mobile app to study a patient-centered program between rural Latino children with asthma and their families, school-based nursing and primary care providers.
• Dr. Gayenell Magwood’s study tests the efficacy of telehealth, quality of life and health-related outcomes in vulnerable minority adults and their care partners. She focuses on improving the collaborative health of minority COVID-19 survivor and care-partner relationships through interventions, targeting social and structural health inequities.
• Dr. Allison Sweeney leads a clinical trial to promote daily exercise and greater cardiovascular health among Black women. The Together Everyone Achieves More Physical Activity (TEAM-PA) project is partnering with community organizations to make physical activity programs social, accessible, and easy for people to participate.

Maternal and infant health

• Dr. Robin Dail continues to improve health outcomes for infants and their families through her interdisciplinary research while leading the Perinatal, Pediatrics, and Family Research Center (PPFRC). Much of her research is aimed at preventing neurologic developmental delays and other health challenges in children born premature. The goal is to decrease the socioeconomic stress due to complications from prematurity.
• Dr. Phyllis Raynor studies the effects of life-threatening infant complications from maternal opioid use disorders. Proven interventions supporting long-term recovery management and parenting for addicted new mothers already exist. But Raynor is using a community-based approach to determine the possibilities of customized technology self-management recovery programs. Her research will significantly improve the health outcomes of vulnerable newborn infants.
• Understanding the psychosocial challenges faced by parents due to infant transport and NICU hospitalization and how they relate to social determinants of health (SDOH) is critical to improving quality of life. Research Associate and PhD student Karen Warren is working to mitigate risks to families of preterm infants through her research. 

Transformative initiavties

• In partnership with the university’s Arnold School of Public Health, Dr. Tisha Felder is working to transform academic communities into settings that embrace a commitment to belonging. The FIRST FIIRE program is designed to recruit diverse early-stage faculty who are committed to inclusive excellence and whose work focuses on health disparities and equity.
• Following Dr. Bernadine Pinto’s previous research studies of close to 10 years, Moving Forward Together, her team expanded their peer engagement technology platform to provide an effective physical activity program for survivors. The goal is to streamline key processes, including peer management.

Go deeper: Learn more about the College of Nursing’s research strengths.