MUSC Board of Trustees thanks state lawmakers for their vision and funding for Alzheimer’s disease

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Oct. 16, 2023) – The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Medical University Hospital Authority (MUHA) Board of Trustees held their regularly scheduled committee sessions and board meeting on Oct. 12 and 13, respectively.

Members of the S.C. House of Representatives Sylleste Davis (chairman, House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee), Mark Smith and Brandon Cox were on the MUSC campus for a tour of Hollings Cancer Center on Thursday before greeting members of the board. The BOT recognized these legislative leaders and thanked them for their service.

Vice president of Research Lori McMahon, Ph.D., reported that MUSC’s extramural research funding increased to record levels last year, with the University attracting $300 million for research and sponsored programs. McMahon unveiled that a new data dashboard would soon be public facing, allowing access to real-time funding updates.

McMahon also announced a new partnership between MUSC, Clemson and the University of South Carolina to create an Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in South Carolina (ADRC). This initiative received $10 million in support from our state lawmakers as a part of the Alzheimer’s State Plan legislation passed in May.

James Lemon, D.M.D., MUSC Board of Trustees chairman, said we are making great strides as an institution in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. “The combination of our experience in education, research and treatment perfectly positions us to contribute to the ADRC,” he said. “Families suffer as much or more than patients do when they are taxed with taking care of loved ones who are no longer aware of their surroundings.”

Steven Carroll, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at MUSC, is leading the ADRC effort. “The situation is dire and complicated in South Carolina,” Carroll said. “We must develop an Alzheimer’s disease research center in this state. The types of dementia we are seeing in South Carolina are very different than what they’re seeing in other parts of the country.” Carroll is the only neuropathologist in the state with expertise in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases and experience in ADRCs. He said the center will help to identify disease-causing genetic variants, improve accuracy of diagnoses and advance clinical care methods.

Tsveti Markova, M.D., presented the recent ACGME approval of a new Regional Health Network-based graduate medical education (GME) program. The state of S.C. currently has a mismatch between the number of M.D.s graduating from medical school and the number of South Carolina-based GME training slots available. The result is that, despite having critical physician shortages in rural areas of the state, we export physicians to other states to complete their trainings. South Carolina AHEC data shows that greater than 75% of physicians who complete their medical educations and trainings in S.C. stay and practice in the state. The goal of this program is to increase the ability to train primary care physicians that are a part of our communities. The GME program will start at the MUSC Health Florence Medical Center in July of 2024 and in Lancaster in 2025. The goal of the program is to train 160 resident physicians per year by the year 2030.

“MUSC is uniquely positioned to make significant contributions to this area of urgent need,” said David J. Cole, M.D., FACS, MUSC president. Breaking down barriers to physician training and retention across the state is a topic for which there is increasing alignment and support with state legislators. Our combination of GME experience and sustainable presence in rural areas through our Regional Health Network now provides the opportunity to address a chronic challenge in rural and medically underserved communities.

After a nationwide search, the MUSC Board of Trustees voted Friday to approve Catherine O. Durham, DNP, R.N., assistant dean for Graduate Practice Programs and U.S. Navy captain, as the new dean for the College of Nursing, effective Oct. 23.

Kate Azizi, vice president of Institutional Advancement, told the board that to date in FY 2024, MUSC has received over $42 million in philanthropic support, with a record number of new donors engaged; 14 gifts exceeded $500,000.

The MUSC/MUHA Board of Trustees serve as separate bodies to govern the University and hospital, normally holding two days of committee and board meetings six times a year. For more information about the MUSC Board of Trustees, visit this page.

###

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. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.

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 No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

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.