MUSC Health Rheumatology at West Ashley Medical Pavilion
2060 Sam Rittenberg Blvd, 2nd Floor,Charleston, SC 29407
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Aiken McDowell McNair, PA-C
Rheumatology
About
Aiken McNair, PA-C is a board certified Physician Assistant Assistant with a special interest in the diagnosis and management of inflammatory arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis. With a strong foundation in evidence-based care and a patient-centered approach, she is dedicated to helping patients manage chronic joint conditions and improve their quality of life. . Aiken trained at the Medical University of South Carolina and has been with the division of Rheuamtology for over 10 years.
New Patient Visits
175 ratings, comments
Richard Michael Silver, M.D.
Rheumatology
About
Dr. Rick Silver is a professor of medicine and pediatrics and has served as director of the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology since 1995. In 2007, he was named distinguished university professor, the highest academic rank bestowed at MUSC. The division has seen remarkable growth in all facets, including extramural research funding, clinical services, and fellowship training during his tenure as division director. Under his direction, the Division of Rheumatology has been consistently ranked among the top 20 programs by U.S. News and World Report.Dr. Silver's research interests center on scleroderma and, in particular, scleroderma lung disease, now a major cause of death among patients with scleroderma. He and his colleagues were the first to utilize bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) to characterize scleroderma lung disease. He played an instrumental role in the design and development of the Scleroderma Lung Study I and II. Dr. Silver helped to initiate and develop MUSC's pulmonary hypertension center and sarcoidosis center. Dr. Silver serves as associate director of a multidisciplinary clinical research center (MCRC) for the study of rheumatic diseases in African-Americans funded by NIAMS. Dr. Silver's clinical interests include scleroderma and scleroderma-related conditions, as well as childhood rheumatic diseases. MUSC Health is one of the world's leaders in clinical care and investigation of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) and scleroderma-like conditions, e.g. eosinophilic fasciitis and the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. MUSC Health also serves as the state of South Carolina's only referral center for childhood rheumatic diseases. Dr. Silver has led the efforts to coordinate care for children in South Carolina with rheumatic diseases for the past 32 years,FALSE, and he continues to provide clinical care and conduct clinical research with Dr. Tasha Ruth, whose primary appointment is in the Department of Pediatrics.
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Katherine Culp Silver, M.D.
Pediatric Rheumatology
About
Dr. Katherine Silver specializes in the fields of adult and pediatric rheumatology. She attended medical school at the Medical University of South Carolina and graduated in 2009. She went on to complete residencies in both internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 2013, she returned to MUSC for additional training in rheumatology. Dr. Silver completed a combined fellowship in adult and pediatric rheumatology in 2017. During this time, she also obtained a masters degree in the area of clinical research. After completing her training, she joined the faculty at MUSC.Dr. Silver's clinical interests include scleroderma and connective tissue diseases, juvenile scleroderma, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Scleroderma is a rare and often poorly understood disease. Dr. Silver is passionate about providing comprehensive care to patients with this condition as well as having the opportunity to participate in clinical research in an effort to learn more about this disease.Another one of Dr. Silver's interests is transition medicine. Being trained in both adult and pediatric rheumatology, she is uniquely suited to help young adults with rheumatologic conditions transition from the world of pediatric rheumatology to that of adult rheumatology.
New Patient Visits
Diane Kamen, M.D., MSCR
Rheumatology
About
Dr. Diane Kamen is an assistant professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology. She completed her undergraduate training at Northwestern University. She graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1999 and completed her internal medicine residency and a three-year rheumatology fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina in June 2005. In 2004, she completed a two-year Master of Science in Clinical Research program, funded through an NIH K30 clinical research curriculum award. She joined the faculty in July 2005. Dr. Kamen has had a longstanding interest in the clinical treatment of and research in understanding the natural history of autoimmune disorders. Her clinical and research interests remain focused on systemic lupus erythematosus and she is an active member of the M.U.S.C.L.E. Research Group. She has headed several large observational investigations, including studies of the prevalence, characteristics, and genetics of SLE within the Sea Island African American Gullah population (the S.L.E.I.G.H. Study) and has a K23 award from the NIH to investigate the role of vitamin D in lupus under the mentorship of Dr. Gilkeson. She also has an R21 award from the NIH to explore potential environmental triggers of autoimmunity. She is involved in multiple interventional clinical trials in lupus, both industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated. She serves as the clinical director for the lupus clinical trials consortium at MUSC. Dr. Kamen promotes clinical research at a national level as chair of the southern section American Federation for Medical Research, a member of the Lupus Foundation of America medical-scientific advisory council, and on the international level as a member of the Systemic Lupus Collaborating Clinics (SLICC).Dr. Kamen's career goals include gaining insight into the pathogenic mechanisms responsible for autoimmune diseases and improving the quality of life for patients.
New Patient Visits
Virtual Visits
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Joseph C. McTavish, PA
Rheumatology
About
Mr. McTavish is a board certified physician assistant with over twelve years of direct patient experience. He earned his Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree in 2009 from the Medical University of South Carolina. Additionally, Mr. McTavish was an attendee of the Medical University of South Carolina Doctor of Physical Therapy Program between May 2005 - January 2007 prior to transitioning over to the PA program.
Before joining the MUSC Rheumatology department, his primary specialty has been working in Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation \& Pain Management. The unique medical education background experience Mr. McTavish has involving both, the MUSC Physician Assistant Program and the MUSC Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, has enabled him to provide broad patient care in the domain of spinal disorders, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and musculoskeletal rehabilitation.
Mr. McTavish firmly believes in treating every individual with exceptional care, compassion, and providing a sincere sense of empathy to help better understand the specific needs of his patients.
New Patient Visits
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Jennifer Schmidt, M.D.
Rheumatology
About
Dr. Jen Schmidt is a board-certified rheumatologist. She earned her medical degree from University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2016 and went on to complete her 3-year internal medicine residency as well as a chief year at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Dr. Schmidt completed a fellowship in rheumatology at MUSC in 2022.
After fellowship, Dr. Schmidt was an Instructor in Division of Rheumatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 2022-2023 prior to returning back to MUSC. Her expertise is managing patients with systemic connective tissue diseases, including lupus, scleroderma, myositis, and inflammatory arthritis.
New Patient Visits
Melissa Anne Cunningham, M.D., Ph.D., MA
Rheumatology
About
Dr. Melissa Cunningham was raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania. She received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and a Masters degree in molecular medicine from Boston University. After receiving her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Pennsylvania State University, she entered the ABIM's clinician-scientist track at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she completed her residency and fellowship training in June 2012, and subsequently joined the faculty as an assistant professor in the division of rheumatology and immunology.Dr. Cunningham's group has a particular interest in inflammation, autoimmunity, and sex bias. Her research is focused on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the role of estrogen receptor alpha (ERa) in modulating the inflammatory response in this disease, which is predominately diagnosed in females (9:1 vs. males). Her work has been supported by MUSC's specialized center of research on sex and gender factors affecting women's health, a grant from MUSC's center for genomic medicine and a three-year CTSA KL2 award. She is currently funded on a five-year NIH career development award (K08).
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Gary Steven Gilkeson, M.D.
Rheumatology
About
Dr. Gary Gilkeson is a Distinguished University Professor of medicine/microbiology and immunology. He is also an Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development. He received his undergraduate degree from Baylor University and his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He subsequently completed his internal medicine training at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Following four years as a Medical Officer in the Air Force, he completed a rheumatology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center in 1989. He joined the faculty of Duke at that time and achieved the position of Associate Professor of Medicine prior to moving to MUSC in 1996.
Dr. Gilkeson is the author of over 250 publications and has received numerous honors including summa cum laude graduate of Baylor University and was a third-year Alpha Omega Alpha initiate at UT Southwestern. He has served on numerous NIH study sections and journal editorial boards. He has served on the national board of directors for both the Arthritis Foundation and the Lupus Foundation of America. He has served on numerous national committees for both the Arthritis Foundation, the American College of Rheumatology, and the Research and Education Foundation of the ACR. Dr. Gilkeson is past chair of the medical and scientific advisory board for the Lupus Foundation of America. His honors include receiving the MUSC Health Outstanding Clinician Award for 2007, a National Volunteer Service Award from the Arthritis Foundation, 2013 Peggy Schachte Research Mentor Award, 2016 American College of Rheumatology Award for Outstanding Investigational Mentoring, and was named 2017 Physician in Chief Pro-Tempore at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. In 2018 he was named a Master of the American College of Rheumatology and as a Distinguished University Professor at MUSC.
Dr. Gilkeson's research and clinical interests are both in lupus, particularly lupus nephritis. He also maintains a clinical interest in the disease retroperitoneal fibrosis. His clinical focus in lupus nephritis is the factors resulting in the ethnic disparity in outcomes in lupus comparing African Americans to Caucasians. He, along with Dr. Diane Kamen, has established the SLEIGH study, SLE in Gullah Health, to identify genetic and environmental factors that result in this disparity.
Dr. Gilkeson's current major effort is in defining the safety and efficacy of umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of refractory lupus in a multi center clinical trial of which MUSC is the directing center. Members of the M.U.S.C.L.E. Research Group at MUSC are studying transcriptional regulators in lupus, the role of the complement system in lupus and the role of estrogen receptors in lupus. The lupus research group is also identifying and validating new biomarkers in lupus and participants are active in the lupus genetics consortium defining genetic causes of lupus. The lupus research group is also involved in a number of clinical trials, both investigator-initiated and industry sponsored.
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MUSC Health Rheumatology at West Ashley Medical Pavilion
2060 Sam Rittenberg Blvd, 2nd Floor,Charleston, SC 29407