Minnjuan Flournoy, a third year all-but-dissertation doctoral candidate in Health Services Policy and Management in the USC Arnold School of Public Health, hails from Warsaw, NC. Minnjuan is a graduate research assistant at the USC Institute for Partnerships to Eliminate Health Disparities. She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from North Carolina Central University (Durham, NC) in 2001; and with highest honors with a Masters degree in Public Health from Eastern Virginia Medical School (Norfolk, Va) in 2005. Ms. Flournoy’s research is dedicated to eliminating health disparities while increasing human capital, social justice, and health equity in rural, minority, underserved, and disenfranchised communities. She is also the recipient of two esteemed doctoral fellowships: the Mobilizing Against Threats to Community Health (MATCH) Fellowship funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and the USC/Claflin Centers of Excellence in Partnerships, Community Outreach, Research on Health Disparities, and Training (EXPORT) Fellowship funded by the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Sharonda Williams is a native of New Ellenton, South Carolina. Currently, she is a graduate student in the Health Service Policy and Management department at the University of South Carolina. She has dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Experimental Psychology and Biology with a minor in Medical Humanities and a cognate in premedical sciences. A few of her honors include: graduate assistantship with the South Carolina Office of Rural Health (2008-current) , recipient of the Michael and Alexander Smith scholarship (2005-2006), the South Carolina Office of Rural Health Palmetto Initiative for Excellence (PIE) intern (2006), and the South Carolina Alliance for Minority Participation (SCAMP) scholar (2006-2007). It was through these scholastic achievements that she honed in on her purpose of wanting to focus on rural health disparities. Ultimately, this focus will allow her to serve rural South Carolinians through healthcare, and thus help to reduce health disparities. Even though she has achieved these accomplishments and sets high goals, she feels her biggest success was becoming a mother to her five year old daughter, Syriah.

India Walters, a native of Myrtle Beach, SC is currently a first year master of public health student in the Health Services, Policy, and Management program at the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. India is currently a Graduate Assistant at the Department of Health and Environmental Control. India received her undergraduate degree at the University of South Carolina in Sociology. India's interests are in Health Services and Health Education for the minority population, particularly focusing on efforts for women and teen girls.

Monica Y. Ragin, a native of Gable, SC is the daughter of Willie and Barbara Ragin. Monica has one younger sister, Faneisha Ragin. Ms. Ragin graduated in 3 years as a pre-med student with a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology from Presbyterian College (Clinton, SC) in 2006. As a first year doctoral candidate, Monica’s graduate research at the University of South Carolina is dedicated to defining the genetic differences amongst breast cancer patients that make African American women more prone to aggressive forms of this disease. She is the recipient of the following fellowships: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Zeta Phi Beta Sorority/National Education Foundation, Inc. Nancy McGee Scholarship; and the South East Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate Fellowship. Ms. Ragin is also honored to be a member of the Golden Key International Honor Society and the National Scholars Honor Society.