DPOH Faculty & Staff

Amy Martin, DrPH, MSPH

Professor and Director for the DPOH at the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina. She is a Senior Investigator and is adjunct faculty in the department of HSPM in the Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina. Dr. Martin’s health policy research foci are safety net populations, access to care, and oral health with an emphasis on rural Health care and public health systems. Dr. Martin holds Doctor and Master of Science in Public Health degrees. She is active in national health policy through various rural and safety-net serving organizations such as: NRHA and MSDA

Amy Martin CV

Joni D. Nelson, Ph.D., MS

Dr. Joni Dunmyer Nelson, native of Ravenel, South Carolina, is an Assistant Professor and Deputy Director in the Division of Population Oral Health at the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine and also serves in a dual appointment role in the Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine. As a Health Promotion, Education, and Behavioral specialist her research foci are qualitative research evaluation, social determinants of health equity, quality improvement science, and collaborative care workforce models to reduce rural oral health inequities, in support of an interprofessional approach to improve population health outcomes. She is the program director for the Dental Safety Net Certificate Program and teaches a public health research methods course. She was appointed as a 2017 National Rural Health Association Fellow and serves as the National State Representative of South Carolina for DentaQuest Foundation’s Oral Health 2020 Network, an initiative to improve oral health for all. Dr. Nelson is a graduate of the Arnold School of Public Health in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior from the University of South Carolina and received a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences from the Medical University of South Carolina. 

Deirdre S. Williams, DDS, MS

Dr. Williams joined the College of Dental Medicine (CDM) in 2019 after a successful private practice career of 20 years taking care of pediatric dental patients here in South Carolina.  She is an active Dental Safety Net provider.  With this experience and enthusiasm, it’s no surprise that her clinical research efforts center around the prevention and care of early childhood caries as well as school-based oral health initiatives.  Dr. Williams is board certified in Pediatric Dentistry and a Fellow in the American College of Dentists, International College of Dentists, and American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.  She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and the Division of Population Oral Health.  She has authored numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals, given presentations at local, state, and national dental meetings, and has been the recipient of several grants and awards.  Dr. Williams has responsibilities and commitments with many MUSC and CDM committees.  She is the principal investigator for a strategic plan pilot program centered on mentoring.  She was the co-course director for the first Rural Health Improvement for Pediatric Dental Essential Services (RHIP-TIDES) continuing education/simulation course for rural health dentists who treat children.  She holds memberships in many professional and civic organizations.  She is actively involved with predoctoral education and residency training in Pediatric Dentistry.  Dr. Williams is a graduate of Spelman College, Howard University College of Dentistry, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she received her Master’s  Degree and Certificate in Pediatric Dentistry.

Amah Riley, MPH, RDH

Amah Riley is a Program Manager in the Division of Population Oral Health at the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine. She provides guidance to school-based oral health programs funded through the SBOHI grant and other oral health related initiatives. Mrs. Riley received her Associate Degree in Allied Health from Florence Darlington Technical College and is a Registered Dental Hygienist. She practiced in private dental offices before finding a passion for public health dentistry. She began working at a Federally Qualified Health Center and became the Director of Mobile Health Services. Here she helped design and implement a program to deliver medical and oral health services to schoolchildren using mobile and portable equipment. Mrs. Riley has also served as the South Carolina Provider Representative for DentaQuest, the third-party payer for Medicaid. She has since earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Coker College and her Master in Public Health at A.T. Still University.  She is currently enrolled in the Doctorate of Health Science program at Campbell University. 

Chanda J. Mason, BS, RDH, CDHC

Chanda J. Mason currently serves as the Lead Community Oral Health Integration Navigator in the Division of Population Oral Health at the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine.  She is a key member of the partnership between MUSC Health’s primary care team and the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine.  This partnership is committed to integrating oral health into the MUSC Health’s primary care model with an emphasis on priority populations for whom oral health is essential to achieving optimal wellness.  Ms. Mason has been a Registered Dental Hygienist for over 20 years and brings an extensive background in clinical research to the Division of Population Oral Health.  In addition to an Associates in Health Science degree in Dental Hygiene (Cum Laude), she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences with a Business Management Concentration from North Carolina State University.  In 2022, she completed the American Dental Association’s Community Dental Health Coordinator Certification program at Southern Illinois University - Carbondale to become one of the first certified CDHCs serving in the state of South Carolina.  Ms. Mason is the founder of ChildSmiles Dental, Inc. which is a non-profit organization that focuses on improving the oral health status of disadvantage children through school-based and community-based dental prevention programs in Marion County, South Carolina

Dr. Julie Marshall, Ph.D.

Dr. Julie Marshall is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Population Oral Health at the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine. Prior to joining MUSC, she worked as an economist for the Joint Committee on Taxation, a nonpartistan committee of the United States Congress, and for the Appalachian Regional Commission. Dr. Marshall’s research focuses on the relationships between inflammatory diseases and oral health, the economic effects of poor oral health, the evaluation of national and state-level policies, and aging. In addition, she provides research, methodological, and statistical support to students, dental residents, and faculty research projects. She is currently participating in MUSC’s Fellowship in Clinical and Translational Research Ethics program.  Dr. Marshall earned her Ph.D. in economics from the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee.