Faculty and Staff

Joni D. Nelson, Ph.D., MS, is an Associate Professor and serves as Chief of the Division of Population Oral Health within the Department of Biomedical & Community Health Sciences. She also holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Public Health Sciences in the College of Medicine and serves as Assistant Director for the Office of Workforce Development and Organizational Culture at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. She serves as Co-Leader of the Community Engagement Core for the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute (SCTR) and as Director of QUAD Core, which provides expertise and support in qualitative research and evaluation. Her research and professional interests include population and rural oral health, qualitative research and evaluation, head and neck cancer, community health, health disparities, and collaborative workforce approaches to improving access to care. Dr. Nelson earned her Ph.D. in Health Promotion, Education and Behavior from the University of South Carolina and her M.S. in Biomedical Sciences from MUSC. Her work emphasizes community-engaged approaches to strengthening the health care workforce and improving health outcomes, particularly in rural and safety net communities.

Amy B. Martin, DrPH, MSPH, is a Professor and Senior Associate Dean and serves as Chair of the Department of Biomedical & Community Health Sciences. She is also Director of the Center for Rural Oral Health Research and Community Engagement in Marion, South Carolina. Her health services research focuses on improving access to care, addressing oral health needs in rural communities, and strengthening the health systems that serve them. Dr. Martin co-leads Community Engagement for the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute (SCTR), supporting community-engaged approaches to research and collaboration. She is also active in national partnerships addressing rural and oral health priorities. Dr. Martin earned her DrPH, MSPH, and bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina.

Amah Riley, DHSc, MPH-D, RDH, CDHC, is an Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of the Center for Rural Oral Health Research and Community Engagement within the Division of Population Oral Health at the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine. With experience in both private dental practice and public health dentistry, Dr. Riley’s career has focused on advancing oral health equity and improving access to care in rural and safety net communities. As the former Director of Mobile Health Services at a Federally Qualified Health Center, she helped develop programs providing integrated medical and dental care to school-aged children. In her current work, she supports the development of sustainable school-based oral health programs and contributes to initiatives designed to strengthen the rural oral health workforce and expand community-based access to care. She is also a National Rural Health Association Fellow and serves as course director for the Community Dental Health Coordinator certification program at MUSC.

Julie Marshall, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical & Community Health Sciences. Trained as an economist, Dr. Marshall brings experience in economic research and analysis from previous roles with the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Joint Committee on Taxation of the U.S. Congress. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Tennessee. Dr. Marshall contributes to Medicaid-focused oral health policy research, where she leads statistical design and SAS programming, analyzes findings, and contributes to policy briefs that support evidence-based Medicaid oral health policy. Her expertise in economics and quantitative analysis complements the Division of Population Oral Health’s broader work in health services and population health research aimed at improving oral health for safety net populations.

Traci Willimon, Ed.D., MHA/ED, RDH, CDA, CDHC, is an instructor and program advisor for the Center for Rural Oral Health Research and Community Engagement. She brings more than 30 years of experience in clinical dental hygiene and higher education, with expertise in dental hygiene education, program leadership, curriculum development, and community engagement. Dr. Willimon previously served as Academic Program Director for Dental Hygiene at Greenville Technical College, where her work focused on preparing the next generation of dental hygienists for clinical practice. In her work with MUSC’s Community Dental Health Coordinator program, she draws on her clinical and educational experience to prepare oral health professionals to serve rural and safety net communities. The program is designed to strengthen community-based oral health care and help address barriers to accessing dental services.