MUSC Neuroscience & Brain Health Institute 

As a long-established and collaborative health and research organization, the Medical University of South Carolina is proud of the hub of excellence in education, research and care of patients with neurological conditions that comprises MUSC Neuroscience & Brain Health Institute (NBHI). Consisting of experts across 12 different neuroscience programs and home to the 120-bed MUSC Health Neuroscience & Brain Hospital in Charleston, the institute gives scientists and physicians the opportunity to work alongside each other to better care for the South Carolina community.

With neuroscience research dating back to 1881 and the opening of a dedicated neuroscience intensive care unit in 1972, MUSC has shown commitment to the field of neuroscience from the beginning. Its program only continues to grow as the field develops.

Key Areas of Expertise:

• Epilepsy - SC's first and only Level 4 Comprehensive Adult and Pediatric Epilepsy Center since 2008
• Stroke - the state's first comprehensive stroke center since 2015
• Brain Tumors - state-wide interdisciplinary team reviews and develops treatment for complex cases
• Depression - the first hospital in the world to treat depression with a new, noninvasive brain stimulation technology known as SAINT TMS, co-developed with MUSC faculty and trainees. This is the only simultaneous TMS/MRI system in SC and one of only a handful worldwide, which enables personalized brain stimulation therapeutics.
• Nationally accredited centers of excellence in:
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Huntington’s disease
  • Multi-system atrophy
  • Dementia with Lewy bodies

Our Teleneuroscience Program

With robust telehealth programs in stroke, neurology and dementia, the NBHI is committed to reaching all those in SC, including those in rural and underserved areas. 

NBHI leadership in tele-stroke has led to all South Carolinians now living within an hour of specialized stroke care.

The MUSC Center of Telehealth is one of only two National Telehealth Centers of Excellence in the country and and is the headquarters of the South Carolina Telehealth Alliance. And with a program that began in 2008, it has only continued to grow and expand its availability to patients.

The Spine Health Program at MUSC

The MUSC Spine Center is a premier multi-disciplinary program that brings together expert orthopedic spine surgeons, neurosurgeons, pain specialists, and rehabilitation teams to deliver comprehensive, patient-centered care.

We are dedicated to advancing spinal care through cutting-edge treatments, including

• Minimally invasive spine surgery
• Complex spine reconstruction
• Adult and pediatric deformity correction
• Advanced navigation and robotic-assisted spine surgery
• Routine and complex spinal conditions, including deformity, congenital, traumatic, degenerative, vascular, infectious, iatrogenic, and neoplastic pathologies

In addition to our clinical expertise, the MUSC Spine Center is dedicated to research and innovation. Our faculty have authored and published hundreds of peer-reviewed papers, significantly contributing to the body of spinal research and advancing the field.

MUSC Research Highlights

• The Stroke Thrombectomy & Aneurysm Registry, the largest patient outcomes registry for stroke and brain aneurysms in the world, is based at MUSC and led by MUSC physicians and researchers. It has received data from 100 hospitals across five continents and comprises data from more than 20,000 patients, resulting in more than 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
• MUSC recently led a large CMS-funded study of cervical vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for depression that will likely result in Medicare approval of VNS for depression. The first depressed patient ever was implanted with VNS at MUSC in 1997.
• MUSC offers mobile TMS systems in vans to deliver minimally invasive treatment to patients with depression who cannot travel to Charleston.
• The Neuroscience & Brain Hospital has been the primary site for numerous large clinical trials that have changed how stroke is managed nationally and internationally.

Select Accolades

• The only CAST-Certified Spine Fellowship Program in South Carolina
• Blue Cross/Blue Shield Distinction for Spine Surgery
• Top-level designation from the National Association of Epilepsy Centers

MUSC has been dedicated to the field of neuroscience for almost 150 years. Patients confidently turn to MUSC to provide top-notch neuroscience care and conduct groundbreaking neuroscience research.

With state-of-the-art technology and a commitment to excellence, we continue to lead in transforming care for patients across the region.