Black History Month 2023

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Featured MUSC profiles across South Carolina

Kira Adkins, Pharm.D. – Adkins was making history at MUSC before she ever walked into a classroom. At age 16, Adkins became the youngest person ever accepted into the MUSC College of Pharmacy’s Pharm.D. program. At 21, she made history again by becoming the youngest graduate. She is currently a resident at Prisma Health Upstate. In the upcoming months, she will be pursuing a second year of residency in pediatrics. Learn more about Adkins here.  

Kevin Boyd, MA, CHPA – Boyd is the chief security officer for MUSC Health. He is responsible for directing and providing oversight for security operations, including staffing, resource utilization, related financial department outcomes, patient satisfaction performance and employee engagement. He collaborates daily with MUSC Public Safety, MUSC Facilities, MUSC Grounds, as well as our local, state and federal Law enforcement partners to ensure the safety and security of our care team members, patients, families and visitors at MUSC Health. Prior to joining MUSC, he served as the deputy director of Security and Emergency Management for the Charleston County School District and retired from the Charleston Police Department at the rank of Captain. He served four years in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service.

Kevin received his Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University and his Master’s degree in Management from Webster University and is a graduate of the 114th Administrative Officers Course from the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville.  Boyd also graduated from the David J. and Kathryn Cole BRIHTE Leadership Academy at MUSC.

Willette Burnham-Williams, Ph.D. – Burnham-Williams serves as the chief equity officer for the MUSC enterprise. She leads a team of professionals responsible for the leadership and management of MUSC’s strategic diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) intentions, initiatives and multifaceted programs. These priorities are addressed across three domains and DEI operations, including Inclusive Excellence, Health Equity and Access and Equity and Civil Rights Compliance (e.g., ADA, Title IX, Title IX and EEOC). Recently, Burnham-Williams was honored alongside other Tri-county individuals and organizations for their dedication and efforts championing DEI initiatives, at the inaugural Lowcountry Diversity Leadership Awards presented by the Charleston Regional Business Journal and Furman University’s Riley Institute. Burnham-Williams was recognized with the first Lowcountry Diversity Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award for her sustained commitment and devotion to advancing DEI efforts and dedication to others throughout a career that includes leadership and service at three state institutions – The Citadel, College of Charleston and MUSC – and spans over 30 years of service.

Susan Burroughs, MHA, FACHE – Burroughs serves as the chief executive officer at MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Northeast and the Fairfield Emergency Department and Imaging. She is changing what’s possible at MUSC by creating and expanding access to quality care and patient-centered services that were previously unavailable for some communities. Burroughs is a sought-after speaker on the topics of leadership, health care and hospital administration. She is a board-certified fellow of American College of Healthcare Executives, immediate past president of the South Carolina chapter of the National Association of Health Services Executives and serves on numerous boards, including the American Hospital Association Roundtable for Black Women Presidents and CEO’s of Hospitals and Health Systems. The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) awarded Burroughs their prestigious Service Award for exemplary career accomplishments, service and mentoring in health care. ACHE also awarded her the Early Career Healthcare Executive Award in recognition of her promise early on in her career. 

Desmond “Mel” Capers – Capers, R.N. currently serves as the nurse manager for 5 West Hepatology within the MUSC Transplant ICCE of the Charleston Division. In his current role, he leads a large, dynamically staffed acute care unit team that pride itself on providing excellent patient-centered care. He has experience with a wide variety of patient populations and physiological disease processes requiring well-honed analytical and problem-solving skills to achieve organizational goals. 

Desmond began his health care career at MUSC in 2011 as a patient care technician after graduating from The Citadel with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. He would later graduate from MUSC’s College of Nursing in 2013 and received his Master’s in Nursing Management and Leadership from Western Governor University in 2021. He currently is an active member of the MUSC Nursing Diversity and Strategic Planning Committee and the David J. and Kathryn Cole BRIHTE Leadership Academy at MUSC.

B. DaNine J. Fleming, Ed.D. – Fleming is the associate chief officer for Inclusive Excellence at the MUSC. She is a tenured associate professor and one of two inaugural unconscious bias faculty scholars in the Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She created several diversity and inclusion programs at MUSC, including the David J. and Kathryn Cole BRIHTE Leadership Academy, the Center for Transformation and Change Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program and the Recruitment and Retention of students from a Historically Black College/University (HBCU): A Targeted Approach. Fleming is a founding member serving on the advisory council of Taking Back OUR Village, a youth anti-violence collaborative community organization. As a community coalition builder Fleming works to bring systemic change and unity among communities and law enforcement as well as work with those impacted by violence. Fleming has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Claflin University, a Master’s of Education in Early Childhood Education from the University of Charleston graduate school of the College of Charleston, an educational specialist degree in Educational Leadership and Administration from South Carolina State University and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Youngstown State University.

Marvella Ford, Ph.D. – Ford is a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at MUSC and the associate director of Population Sciences and Cancer Disparities at the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. Ford is also the SmartState Endowed Chair in Prostate Cancer Disparities. An overarching goal of Ford's current research is to identify and address the disparities in cancer diagnosis and treatment success due to race, geography and other contextual and/or socioeconomic factors. To that end, she is the leader on several projects examining behavioral and community engagement factors affecting resource utilization, access to care and clinical trial recruitment and retention of members of underserved populations in the state. Learn more about Ford and her work here.

Keia Hewitt, M.D. – Keia V.R. Hewitt, MD, MBA, MPH, FACEP is the director of Emergency Services and chief of Emergency MUSC Health-Lancaster Division in Lancaster, South Carolina.  She establishes clinical policies, implements guidelines and manages operations for the Emergency Departments within the Lancaster Division.  In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Hewitt focuses on patient safety and patient experience for Emergency Services within the division.   Dr. Hewitt received a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University of Louisiana and medical degree from University of Illinois.  She received a Master of Public Health and Master of Business Administration from Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois.  Dr. Hewitt is currently a fellow in the American College of Emergency Physicians.  

Jessica Johnson, MHA – Johnson joined MUSC in 2022 as chief operating officer for the Charleston Division. She is a New York native but a Tar Heel at heart. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning her BA before obtaining a Master of Healthcare Administration. She began her career in health care consulting before transitioning into academic medical center operations at NYU Langone Medical Center. She later joined Duke Health as an operational leader for Medical, Surgical, and Critical Care Services, where she supported the finance, revenue cycle, quality and safety and performance improvement priorities for the service lines. She continued this work with Denver Health, supporting the operations of the Department of Surgery and overarching priorities of patient access, strategy and growth.

In addition to operations, her passions include eliminating health disparities and addressing barriers to health and wellness for patients, employees and the community at large. In her free time, her interests include hikes with her dog Nola, golf and international travel.

Craig Lockhart, M.D. –Lockhart serves as chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology in the Department of Medicine at MUSC and associate director for clinical science at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. With over 20 years of experience conducting clinical trials, a key part of his role is facilitating efforts to bring scientific discoveries from Hollings' laboratories into clinical application. His specialty area of research is gastrointestinal cancers. In treating these cancers, he aims to incorporate novel agents or molecular-/genetic-based treatment into therapeutic trials in the pursuit of personalized cancer care. Learn more about Lockhart here.

Beth Reeves, MS,OTR/L  – Reeves serves as director of Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Services at the MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown and Northeast campuses. She attended Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for her undergraduate studies and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia where she studied Occupational Therapy and earned her Master’s in Healthcare Quality and Safety. Reeves’ career as an Occupational Therapist for more than 30 years has spanned the spectrum of care from outpatient, home health, rehabilitation hospitals, in-/outpatient acute care as well as long term acute care hospitals. Reeves relocated from New Jersey five years ago to join Providence Health as the director of Rehabilitation and subsequently transitioned to the MUSC family. This journey, built on solid clinical foundations, emerging to leadership, has prepared and positioned her for this current health care arena.

Marva Williams-Lowe, PharmD, MHA, FACHE serves as chief pharmacy officer for MUSC Health and senior associate dean of Clinical Affairs in the MUSC College of Pharmacy, the college and the Medical University of South Carolina Hospital Authority. She is responsible for overseeing all pharmacy services in the MUSC Health System. She is a 2017 Carol Emmott Fellow and in 2021, Williams-Lowe was named a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Dr. Williams-Lowe has more than 30 years of health care experience leading and transforming clinical and operational teams and developing and implementing new programs and practice models. She is originally from Barbados and has achieved several firsts as a pharmacist and executive leader. Dr. Williams-Lowe coordinated the first training of Barbadian Pharmacists in the United States for IV chemotherapy medication preparation and is also the first female hospital pharmacy leader of color in New Hampshire. She also paved the way for the establishment of the first affinity support group for families of color in one school district in Vermont.Her professional service includes serving as a former board member of the New Hampshire Society of Health-System Pharmacists and as a trustee on the Board for Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital. She serves as a mentor for several professional organizations and is committed to community outreach serving as a health ambassador and advocate for health equity.

Shametra Swaringer Myers, MSN, R.N., CCRN – Swaringer is the executive director of the MUSC Health Marion Medical Center  and has been employed with this health care system for more than 16 years. A native of Florence, she received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Columbia College, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Francis Marion University and has also obtained a Master’s in Nursing degree.  As a critical care trained nurse, Swaringer has spent most of her career addressing the needs of the sickest members of our community. This continues to be her passion. Awarded Carolinas Hospital Systems Nurse of the Year in 2012 and a Palmetto Gold recipient in 2013, she is committed to advancing the profession of nursing. She enjoys teaching young nurses and, most importantly, helping people in need receive compassionate, quality health care. Swaringer is most excited that her new role will allow her to extend her reach outside of nursing to continue to improve health care delivery.

Anthony Poole, DMSc, PA-C – Poole has served as the new system director for Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement Programs at MUSC since May 2022. In this role, he leads a team of quality and safety managers to implement quality initiatives across all clinical and nonclinical service lines for MUSC systemwide. Poole also practices clinically as a physician assistant in Family Medicine. Prior to transitioning to MUSC, he served as the chief clinical and quality officer at Fetter Health Care Network.  Poole is a graduate of the MUSC physician assistant program, Class of 2009. He was recognized as the South Carolina Provider of the Year in 2020 by the S.C.  Primary Health Care Association and also one of Charleston’s Forty Under 40 Professionals in 2020. He earned his Doctor of Medical Science degree in September 2022 from the University of Lynchburg, with additional graduate certificates in Clinical Administrative Leadership and Executive Leadership. 

2023 Events

Feb. 6, 6:00 p.m. – "Healing, Mobility & Fugitive Logic: Revisiting Harriet Tubman as Both Healer & Intellectual" ft. Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens. This event is open to the public. This event will be a hybrid event with in-person and virtual components. Seating is limited and registration is required by Saturday, February 5, 2023, at 6 PM to reserve your seat and/or receive login information. The in-person event will be held at MUSC's Drug Discovery Auditorium. Light refreshments will be served. The virtual event will take place on Zoom. This event is co-sponsored by the MUSC Office of Humanities. It is presented by the Waring Library and the MUSC Office of Humanities. Learn more and register.

Feb. 15, 12:00 p.m. – There is a long, rich history in the United States of Black contributions, individually and collectively. In keeping with MUSCs proud tradition of celebrating Black History, panelists from across the MUSC Community will share their unique voices and experiences (past, present and future).This is a virtual event, open to MUSC employees and students only. It is presented by the Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Attendees will be eligible for 1 hour of DEI credit. Registration is required. 

Feb. 17, 5:00 p.m. – 9th annual Black History Awards Program : Lifting As We Rise, ft. Natalie Johnson, DHA, Associate Dean for Diversity Affairs, College of Medicine. This event is open to the public. This event will take place in the Drug Discovery Auditorium. Contact the College of Medicine Group on Diversity Affairs to RSVP.  

Feb. 23, 12:00 p.m. – MUSC College of Pharmacy Black History Month Seminar featuring Dr. Marva Williams Lowe of MUSC Health Pharmacy Services, Dr.Katina Richmond of Careteam Plus, and Dr. Maurice Lee of Moe Productions.  Ziporrah Williams and Makenzie Boyd will serve as hosts for this exciting event.The program will be available live in QF 302B of the College of Pharmacy as well as by Teams.  Lunch will be provided to the first 50 to register to be in QF 302B by contacting Mr. Josh Dakin (dakin@musc.edu).