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Health Services Policy and Management (HSPM) is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the promotion of personal and public health through planning, organizing, directing, controlling, coordinating and evaluating health services.
June 12, 2026 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu
Olivia Hinds is working on her third degree from USC, but she can trace her interest in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment even further back. As a high school student, the Inman, South Carolina native had a unique opportunity to contribute to a two-year research project examining SUD treatment options for pregnant women in the state.
She continued building on these interests after arriving at Carolina, where the Honors College student began working with health services policy and management professor and addiction expert Christina Andrews. Andrews’ work, which includes two National Institutes of Health-funded studies, focuses on the delivery and public financing (particularly through Medicaid) of SUD treatment – adding a health policy perspective to Hinds’ broadening lens for addressing this pervasive public health challenge.
After graduating with Leadership Distinction in Research, Hinds enrolled in the Master of Public Health (MPH) in HSPM program and continued working with Andrews. She also secured her own funding as a Maternal and Child Health Master’s Scholar to further examine maternal substance use. When Hinds graduated in 2024, she received her department’s Michael D. Jarrett Scholarship Award for Leadership Potential in Public Health and moved straight into the Ph.D. program.
USC chose her as one of a handful of doctoral students to receive the Presidential Fellowship, and she recently joined the South Carolina SmartState Center for Healthcare Quality’s Junior Scholars program. Hinds is currently in year six of conducting SUD research alongside Andrews.
“One of the most important aspects of a Ph.D. program is who your mentor is, and Dr. Andrews is truly one of the best,” Hinds says. “She has been one of my biggest advocates and has challenged me to grow as a researcher, student and individual while always making me feel supported.”
Across these experiences, Hinds has been building her expertise in SUD treatment with a focus on individuals enrolled in Medicaid, which is the largest payer for this type of treatment in the U.S. With unintentional drug overdose as one of the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S., Hinds’ focus on the intersection of SUD treatment and maternal and child health is more important than ever.
To further this work, she recently secured two sources of funding to support her investigation into perinatal opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment for Medicaid enrollees in South Carolina. A SPARC award from the USC Vice President for the Office of Research will allow Hinds to examine treatment utilization among pregnant women, and an F31 Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute on Drug Abuse will support her research into maternal-infant outcomes.
“My research will help us better understand whether Medicaid managed care plans with more comprehensive insurance coverage for OUD treatment benefits improves adverse OUD-related maternal health outcomes such as overdose and opioid-related emergency department visits as well as OUD-related child protective services outcomes like maltreatment cases and foster care entry,” Hinds says.
It’s an ambitious project, but Hinds has a full cast of supporters backing her progress. In fact, the F31 fellowship requires trainees to create a sponsorship team of experts and mentors as part of the application process. In addition to Andrews, Hinds has mentors in HSPM faculty Peiyin Hung (maternal and child health expert) and David Anderson (health insurance markets expert) as well as social work associate professor Kristen Seay (child protective service and maternal substance use).
“Ms. Hinds is laser-focused, driven and highly intelligent, and she is among the very best students I have ever had the privilege of working with,” Andrews says. “The project she is pursuing is of the greatest scientific and policy significance, and I have no question in my mind that she will make the very most of this opportunity.”