Danielle C. Biss is a Senior Researcher in the Health & Social Sciences research section at the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center. Her expertise is in qualitative research methods, specifically interviewing, document analyses, and organizational ethnography. Since joining the GRC in 2024, she has joined a variety of research projects sponsored by the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) and the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), including the Medicaid Next Generation Evaluation, Ohio Medicaid Assessment Survey (OMAS), and Ohio’s SUD 1115 Waiver Demonstration Evaluation.
Danielle's research seeks to understand how health organizations communicatively respond to oppression and trauma—whether through their careers or personal lives—by caring for, tending to, and responsibly guiding others who are struggling. She has conducted qualitative research projects in partnership with rural Southeast Ohio emergency services organizations. Current projects have explored topics such as professional facework, emotional labor, dirty work, mental health and wellness, and critical incidents. Danielle also has published qualitative research on confidants of sexual assault disclosures, resilience and wellness in rape crisis volunteerism, and challenges anti-violence nonprofits experience in their efforts to support marginalized communities—e.g., survivors of sexual violence who are living with intellectual and developmental disabilities and Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Danielle’s independent research can be found in the Journal of Applied Communication Research, Women’s Studies and Communication, Southern Communication Journal, and Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Communication Research.
Danielle holds a B.A. in Communication with minors in Ethnic Studies and Critical Intercultural Communication from California State University San Marcos and a M.A. in Communication from San Diego State University. Currently, Danielle is a doctoral candidate in communication studies at Ohio University. Her dissertation is an organizational ethnography of a rural Southeastern Ohio emergency medical services agency and investigates how EMS providers manage their emotions while supporting rural underserved communities.