About
Dr. Arelis Moore, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., is an Associate Professor of Spanish and International Health at Clemson University. A physician-epidemiologist, social scientist, and community-engaged health researcher, her scholarship focuses on the social determinants of health (SDOH), health equity, and culturally responsive care for Latinx and underserved communities in the U.S. Southeast, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Visit Dr. Moore's Faculty Profile.
Dr. Moore leads interdisciplinary research integrating community-based participatory research (CBPR), mixed methods, and implementation science to improve health systems and patient experiences. Her peer-reviewed publications on CBPR partnership trust, culturally competent service delivery, patient safety in pediatric mental health, environmental justice, diabetes mHealth, and caregiver experiences advance evidence-based strategies for equitable care. She is leading development and validation of the bilingual CBPR/Partnership Trust Scale to strengthen community-academic health collaborations.
She collaborates with regional health partners including Prisma Health, the Prisma Memory Health Program, MUSC/SCTR, the Prisma Addiction Medicine Center, Clemson Rural Health Veggie Rx, PASOs, and other community-based health organizations, and serves on the Prisma Health Multicultural Advisory Council. She mentors graduate students and interdisciplinary student research teams through creative inquiry and service-learning initiatives such as SPAN 4190, or the experiential learning research team.
Dr. Moore has received multiple recognitions, including the 2026 Gulf South Summit Outstanding Faculty Contributions to Service-Learning Award, the 2023 CAH Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the 2024 Pearce Center Professional Writing & Communication Award, honoring her sustained integration of service-learning initiatives, community-engaged health research, scholarship, and dissemination.
How their research is transforming health care
My research transforms health care by building trust-centered, culturally and linguistically relevant and community-engaged approaches that improve care quality, patient safety, and equity for underserved populations. By integrating social epidemiology with CBPR and implementation science, my work identifies how structural inequities and social determinants shape health experiences, and then co-creates solutions with patients, caregivers, clinicians, and community- based organizations.
Through partnerships with Prisma Health, MUSC/SCTR, Clemson Rural Health, PASOs, and other regional organizations, I develop culturally responsive interventions and measurement tools that strengthen communication, patient engagement, and clinical outcomes. For example, the bilingual CBPR/Partnership Trust Scale pursues helping health systems evaluate collaboration quality and build sustainable community partnerships. My contributions to the AHRQ-funded RIPCHD.PED project advanced patient safety research for pediatric mental health crises, while related work with Prisma Memory Health addresses caregiver needs in Alzheimer’s disease among Latinx families.
Equally important, my service-learning research programs train the next generation of health professionals to address social determinants of health through culturally humble, holistic, and bilingual community practice. By linking research, education, and clinical partnerships, my work produces actionable evidence that improves health systems while empowering communities.
Together, these efforts advance Clemson’s interdisciplinary health mission by translating community knowledge into equitable, patient-centered health solutions.
Health Research Expertise Keywords
Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), Health Equity, Culturally Responsive Care, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Latinx/Latinos/Hispanics, Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), Mixed-Methods Health Research, Community-Academic Partnerships, Health Promotion & Service-Learning, Partnership Trust Measurement, Implementation Science in Community Health, Environmental Justice & Rural Health, Mobile Health (mHealth) Interventions
