Michelle Neinhius, MPH

Michelle Nienhius serves the state of South Carolina as Prevention and Intervention Manager for the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS). This position includes planning and implementing statewide programs in the field of substance abuse prevention, as well as overseeing several state and federal grants awarded to South Carolina for substance abuse prevention.

Ms. Nienhius manages the primary prevention set aside from the Substance Abuse Prevention Treatment Block Grant for the state; serves as the Project Director of the South Carolina Partnership for Success and Preventing Opioid Overdose Death grants; and manages the prevention portion of the State Targeted Response and State Opioid Response discretionary grants. Michelle also oversees the South Carolina Alcohol Enforcement Team (AET) initiative for the state. She serves as the state representative to the National Prevention Network (NPN) and is currently serving in the role of Past President of the network.

She has presented at numerous national meetings and conferences on prevention workforce development; prevention strategies to reduce underage drinking, opioid, marijuana and youth tobacco use; retailer education; and collaboration between prevention professionals and the law enforcement community to address substance use prevention. Ms. Nienhius completed her Masters of Public Health at the University of South Carolina in 2000 and an undergraduate degree in Biology from the College of Charleston in 1998. She has worked in various roles within the state prevention system at DAODAS since 2001.