Ruth Wilson Nicholson, RN served in teaching and leadership roles at both Greenville Hospital System (now Prisma Health) and Greenville Technical College. She co-founded both the United Way of Greenville County and The Community Foundation of Greenville, and she served on countless boards and commissions in South Carolina.  

Ruth Alexander was born in 1918 in Pineville, N.C. Her mother taught most subjects in school. Her father was a physician who founded the Mecklenburg Medical Society and The Farmer Labor Party. He was nominated but not selected to be vice president with Al Smith in 1928. She graduated from Duke as a registered nurse and married Dr. David Wilson there. They moved to Greenville where she had four children who all went to graduate schools. She taught OB-GYN nurses at GHS nursing school and was an elder at First Presbyterian Church. When Dr. Wilson died suddenly, she remarried Thurston Nicholson a textile executive. She co-founded the Community Chest of Greater Greenville, which later expanded and became the United Way of Greenville County, co-founded The Community Foundation of Greenville, and served on countless boards and commissions in South Carolina. In 1964, she was the first Republican woman to run for the SC House. She was vice-chair of Greenville Tech and established the associate degree in nursing there. She worked at GHS for almost 30 years as director of strategic planning, medical education, and public affairs.  

From playground benchmarks to lifelong mobility—exercise you can adapt, enjoy, and sustain.
This session will highlight practical approaches to exercise that support joint health and osteoporosis prevention, explore the value of adapting movement at every stage of life, and revisit what benchmarks for physical fitness should look like beyond school age. We’ll also discuss programs like Exercise is Medicine Greenville and others through the Greenville YMCA, potentially with testimony from a patient success story.

Panelists: Dr. Jennifer Trilk, Dr. Meenu Jindal, Dr. Amy Trammel
Moderator: Adrien Mann, PA-C

Exploring the science of social media, family dynamics, and protecting your mental wellbeing. Nutrition and how it pertains to mental health
This conversation will dig into why social media captivates us, what science reveals about the brain’s response to digital content, and how family dynamics are being reshaped by online culture. We hope to bring together experts from family therapy, public health, and research to examine the impact and share tools for resilience.

Panelists: Dr. Cassidy Hood, Dr. Kerry Sease, Dr. Kirsten Porter-Stransky
Moderator: Carrie Baldwin, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

Navigating supplements, food as medicine, and how to stay balanced throughout every stage of life.
With a focus on women over 40 but relevant for all ages, this session will explore hormone supplements and over-the-counter products—what’s safe, what’s hype, and what’s changing in the landscape of care. We’ll also dive into the role of whole foods and culinary medicine and trends from colostrum to microgreens to GLP-1s, with an emphasis on empowering participants to make informed, evidence-based decisions.

Panelists: Dr. Magen Heide, Dr. Erin Eckard, Dr. McGregor
Moderator: TBD

From prevention to recovery—what everyone should know about protecting the heart
This discussion will touch on practical prevention strategies such as stress testing for those with family history, coronary calcium screening, and the impact of diet and caffeine use. We’ll also cover lifestyle-based prevention, the ABCs of heart attack recognition, and what recovery looks like—for both patients and the friends or family members supporting them.

Panelists: Dr. Devin Haddad
Moderator: Jaméz M. Fletcher, MSN, APRN, ACNP-BC, CHFN

The Ruth Wilson Nicholson Women’s Health Endowed Keynote Speaker: 

Meliah Bowers Jefferson is a non-profit executive, award-winning attorney, and cause advocate whose story has been featured in Women’s Day, Ebony, and USA Today. After suffering a widow maker heart attack at the age of 33, she became a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign. While faced with multiple challenges in her life, it was this life-altering event that helped Meliah understand what it truly means to be resilient. Since then, she has been on a mission to teach others by example that we can ALL thrive in the face of adversity and that a good life is a life crafted with intention. She has learned to use her experiences with tragedy as the very foundation on which she has built a rewarding life – and legacy – of purpose.  Now, Meliah is using the power of her own story as a platform for empowering people to build the lives they want for themselves regardless of the cards they were dealt. 
 
She has been a health equity advocate for more than a decade, particularly focusing on outreach to women and minority communities regarding heart health awareness. She also routinely advocates for positive community health policies and legislation on Capitol Hill and at the South Carolina Statehouse. She has spoken at multiple events on issues related to women’s health and health equity and has appeared in national and local media to raise public awareness for the importance of heart health, mental health, and self-care. 
  

Learn About Ruth Wilson Nicholson and Meliah Bowers Jefferson

Agenda

Thank You to Our Panelists

Hema Brazell, MD – Urogynecology
Maya Dassanayake, MD – Cardiology  
Magen Heide, MD – Internal Medicine  
Cassidy Hood, MD – Internal Medicine  
Neha Hudapohl, MD – Psychiatry  
Meenu Jindal, MD – Internal Medicine 
Karen Lommel, MD – Psychiatry  
Alyson McGregor, MD – Emergency Medicine 
Beth Motley, MD – Family Medicine  
LMed Interest Group Students – Bricen Ghent, Emilie Russell, Sarah Brown  
Kerry Sims, MD – OB/Gyn