Kapasi Appointed Dean of MUSC College of Health Professions

Contact: Heather Woolwine
843-792-7669
woolwinh@musc.edu

Feb. 26, 2018

CHARLESTON, SC – Zoher F. Kapasi, PT, Ph.D., MBA, will be the new dean of the Medical University of South Carolina’s College of Health Professions (CHP) effective May 1.

The announcement was made by MUSC Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Lisa Saladin, PT, Ph.D.

“Dr. Kapasi was selected after an extensive national search and we look forward to welcoming him to this pivotal leadership role,” Saladin said. “His leadership experience encompasses all areas of our tripartite mission of education, research, and service, and he is a strong advocate for faculty and student engagement in their respective professional associations. He is the ideal person to help lead the College of Health Professions and MUSC forward in our pursuit of excellence.”

“It is an honor and a wonderful opportunity to serve as the next dean of the College of Health Professions at MUSC,” Kapasi said. “I appreciate the trust and faith MUSC has shown in me and I am excited to work with a stellar group of faculty, staff, students, alums, and friends of CHP.”

Kapasi has 24 years of experience as an academic faculty member and seven years of experience as an academic leader as Emory University School of Medicine’s director of the Division of Physical Therapy, and vice chairman of education and chief of outpatient development in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. His administrative skills include academic program development, accreditation and fiscal management, fundraising and alumni engagement, and faculty mentoring, assessment, and development. Some of his many administrative accomplishments include the successful initiation of two dual degree programs that combine a clinical degree with either an MBA or a Master of Public Health degree, the successful development of two residency programs, increasing direct research grant revenues by more than 200 percent over a five-year period, establishing a collaborative relationship with the Georgia Institute of Technology to broaden research opportunities, and increasing clinical revenues in the faculty practice.

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical therapy from Seth G.S. Medical College, University of Bombay in India. He received his Ph.D. in anatomy-immunology from the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University. He later earned an MBA from Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

He did post-doctoral work in immunology at Basel Institute for Immunology, Switzerland and the Medical College of Virginia. After graduation, his research focused on age-related changes in immune function and the effects of exercise and nutrition on the immune system.

Throughout his academic career, Kapasi has earned several teaching awards. In 2014, Emory University School of Medicine conferred upon him the Dean’s Teaching Award. In 2017, Emory University presented Kapasi with the Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award, and the Atlanta Business Chronicle named him the Health Care Heroes Allied Health Professional.

About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state's only comprehensive academic health system, with a unique mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,200 students in six colleges – Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy – and trains more than 900 residents and fellows in its health system. MUSC brought in more than $300 million in research funds in fiscal year 2023, leading the state overall in research funding. MUSC also leads the state in federal and National Institutes of Health funding. Learn more about our academic programs.

As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Patient care is provided at 16 hospitals (includes owned or governing interest), with approximately 2,700 beds and four additional hospital locations in development, more than 350 telehealth sites and nearly 750 care locations situated in all regions of South Carolina. In 2023, for the ninth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston the Number 1 hospital in South Carolina. Learn more about our patient services.

MUSC has a total enterprise annual operating budget of $5.9 billion. The nearly 26,000 MUSC family members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, students, affiliates and care team members who deliver groundbreaking education, research, and patient care.