January 14, 2021, Chris Horn
It’s estimated that the Palmetto State needs more than 800 additional primary care providers in the next 10 years just to keep pace with the needs of its growing and aging population. The College of Nursing is helping to fill the gap by training a new wave of family nurse practitioners for underserved communities.
December 19, 2020
It’s been a year — but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty to celebrate, recognize and honor at the University of South Carolina in 2020. UofSC rose to each and every challenge this year and raised the bar for the year to come.
December 15, 2020, Chris Horn
To earn a nursing degree, Thien Nguyen had to overcome a language barrier and financial hardship — a familiar tale for many young immigrants to the United States. But there’s much more to Nguyen’s story, and it began 20 years ago in Vietnam when he was 5 years old.
December 03, 2020, Craig Brandhorst
If you think the visual arts and the hard sciences don’t mix, think again. Or maybe just talk to Eliza Stierle. The Dayton, Ohio, native and 2020 University of South Carolina graduate double-majored in studio art and biology (with a minor in art history) and aspires to become a medical illustrator.
November 17, 2020, Alyssa Yancey
A center based at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia is working to put boots on the ground to improve access to health care for South Carolinians in rural communities.
November 09, 2020, Margaret Gregory
Two members of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia Class of 2024 are bringing unique perspectives as they train for their future careers in medicine. Before entering medical school, Ian MacLeod and Shane Weatherford served their country in the U.S. armed services. Both are able to pursue their education thanks to the Veterans Healing Veterans Scholarship.
November 03, 2020, Megan Sexton
When Dr. Andrew Sides was a student at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, he always valued the instruction he received from the students in classes ahead of him. And he enjoyed sharing his knowledge, too.
October 30, 2020, Chris Horn
Patricia Wilson Witherspoon and her siblings might never have made it to college had it not been for their father’s resolve that his children would get a better education than he did, no matter what. Patricia didn't stop until she had earned a medical degree.
October 21, 2020, Jeff Stensland
The University of South Carolina will expand rapid saliva-based COVID-19 testing to other colleges and universities across the state.
October 15, 2020, Chris Horn
In this age of COVID-19 concerns, what’s the safest indoor environment? One without humans, of course. In a practical world the answer lies partly in understanding how the virus moves and where it lands in indoor spaces because air ow and surfaces are important routes for transmission of COVID-19.
October 06, 2020, Tenell Felder
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The University of South Carolina has a number of faculty members who are available to offer their expertise in breast cancer stories. To coordinate an interview, contact the staff member listed with each expert entry.
September 25, 2020, Bryan Gentry
Marius Valdes, a University of South Carolina studio art professor and Charleston native, created murals that reflect the wildlife of his hometown and brighten the day for children and families at MUSC's new children's hospital.
August 24, 2020, Chris Horn
Development of a saliva COVID-19 test might never have happened if not for the efforts of a spontaneous coalition of scientists in South Carolina and across the country who worked nearly nonstop and shared results and materials with one another in the weeks before and after the initial lockdown in March.
August 11, 2020, Craig Brandhorst
This spring, as COVID-19 spiked in New York City, the nation’s largest metropolitan area became the face of the U.S. pandemic. Nurses from across the U.S. — including UofSC alumni — descended on the region, enduring personal hardship and risking their own health to help stem the tide.
August 08, 2020, Craig Brandhorst
Amelia Wilks describes her high school self as a “follower,” but the University of South Carolina provided the 2020 graduate with a stage, a microphone and the confidence to finish college as a leader.
July 27, 2020, Page Ivey
Millions of American children have serious mental health and behavioral challenges that could be improved with psychological counseling and support. Samuel McQuillin wants to provide people who work with these children every day — parents, teachers, community- and church-based volunteers — with science-based resources and tools to help.
June 30, 2020, Megan Sexton
A new cardiothoracic assessment tool pioneered at the University of South Carolina combines a hand-held ultrasound device, an electronic stethoscope, and an EKG, all tied together with artificial intelligence.
June 23, 2020, Megan Sexton
Caryn Outten, the Guy F. Lipscomb Professor of Chemistry, researches iron metabolism and uses biochemical methods to understand how cells maintain iron levels that are not too high or too low
June 15, 2020, Page Ivey
When Brooks Herring decided to give college a try after serving in the U.S. Navy and Army, he had one goal in mind: Creating a physical therapy program that would help wounded service members get back to the level of strength and activity they had before their injury.
June 08, 2020, Megan Sexton
Ashley Fellers is finishing her first year at the School of Medicine, a program she entered a year early through the South Carolina Honors College's BARSC-MD program.
June 08, 2020, Chris Horn
Shan Qiao, an assistant professor in the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, is engaged in HIV-related research on three continents with a focus on promoting the linkage to care among people living with HIV and improving their clinical outcomes and quality of life.
May 28, 2020, Dr. Jennifer Meredith
States are working hard to take the necessary steps to reopen safely. When Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, explained that task to the U.S. Senate recently, he pointed to South Carolina as a model for the country, one that he would “almost like to clone.” So, what is South Carolina getting right?
May 28, 2020, Page Ivey
Jeremy LaPointe has been interested in learning more about why people behave in certain ways since he was in high school. He has been able to pursue that interest at the University of South Carolina in the classroom and in research labs as an undergraduate majoring in experimental psychology with a minor in neuroscience.
May 27, 2020, Tenell Felder
UofSC Today reached out to University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia alumni Dr. David Ford and Dr. Cedric Rivers for insight into how COVID-19 has impacted health care in South Carolina, as well as how the state might move forward in upcoming months. Both Ford and Rivers work at hospitals in Columbia, treating patients with COVID-19.
May 14, 2020, Megan Sexton
Madhura Pande, who graduated in May from the South Carolina Honors College with degrees in biological sciences and Spanish, has been working on research since she arrived on campus as a freshman.
May 11, 2020
A national study sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Mayo Clinic is examining the use of plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients, known as convalescent plasma, to treat patients who are currently suffering from the virus. Physicians hope the antibodies in the donor plasma will neutralize the virus in these ill patients and improve outcomes.
May 11, 2020, Craig Brandhorst
When the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy and the Center for Colon Cancer Research recruited Lorne Hofseth as one of the center’s first faculty hires in 2004, they knew they had a rising star on their hands.
May 09, 2020, Chris Horn
Though the U.S. is far from being able to quickly test its entire population for COVID-19, scientists in the university’s Arnold School of Public Health might have a faster and better alternative — monitoring sewage for traces of the virus that causes the disease.
May 05, 2020, Tenell Felder
It’s a challenging time to be a nurse. Serving on the front lines of a pandemic, nurses are not only tasked with helping COVID-19 patients — they’re also tasked with doing it in full protective gear and while simultaneously managing non-COVID patients.
May 05, 2020, Cheedy Jaja
Since the beginning of the profession, nurses have played pivotal roles during outbreaks of disease, delivering care throughout even the bleakest of public health emergencies. College of Nursing professor Cheedy Jaja recalls for The Conversation his experience being on the front lines of Ebola.
April 30, 2020, Chris Horn
COVID-19 is affecting more than physical health. Many hospitals are struggling financially because of strains brought on by the pandemic. Health services policy and management faculty member Banky Olatosi explains what is happening and why.
April 30, 2020, Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti
In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, who is the “fittest”? This is a challenging question. But as immunology researchers at the University of South Carolina, we can say one thing is clear: With no effective treatment options, survival against the coronavirus infection depends completely on the patient’s immune response. School of Medicine Columbia professors Prakash Nagarkatti and Mitzi Nagarkatti write for The Conversation about immune response to COVID-19.
April 29, 2020, Tenell Felder
Like many University of South Carolina students, Heather Hembree recently saw her post-graduation plans take an unexpected turn. The College of Pharmacy graduate student, who graduated in May, learned that her board tests might be canceled because of the COVID-19 threat. Despite the setback, Hembree plans to eventually practice pharmacy in a rural community similar to her hometown of Ware Shoals, South Carolina
April 28, 2020, Page Ivey
Melissa C. Reitmeier is an associate clinical professor and director of field education in the College of Social Work. She addresses how COVID-19 is impacting both the need for and the delivery of social services.
April 27, 2020, Amit Sheth
Social media posts and news reports are rich sources of data about people’s attitudes and behaviors. Performing this analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing the damage the pandemic is doing to the social and psychological well-being of the U.S. Amit Sheth, Founding Director, Artificial Intelligence Institute and Computer Science & Engineering professor writes for The Conversation on examining online conversation about COVID-19.
April 21, 2020, Tenell Felder
Swann Arp Adams researches disparities in cancer prevention and screening. She has practiced in diabetes care, bone marrow transplant, mammography and oncology. Adams provides insight into how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect current or recovering cancer patients and their families.
April 15, 2020, Kevin Bennett
Director of Research & Evaluation for the Center for Rural & Primary Healthcare Kevin Bennett, School of Medicine Columbia, writes for The Conversation on how COVID-19 could impact rural health care.
April 14, 2020, Laura Kammerer
Cheedy Jaja, associate professor of nursing, in 2014 and 2015 treated patients during the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone. He says health care workers caring for coronavirus patients are at risk for psychological trauma.
April 13, 2020, Chris Horn
Dawn Wilson-King has devoted her career to helping people pursue active and healthy lifestyles, and what a career it’s been. Since 2001, the psychology professor has collaborated on more than 30 grant-funded projects that brought some $40 million in grant funding to the University of South Carolina and she served as president of two prominent national organizations.
April 07, 2020, Chris Horn
Twitter data could be a useful tool in tracking human movement in this and future disease outbreaks, says a UofSC geography scientist who used Twitter data to track historic flooding in 2015 in South Carolina.
April 06, 2020, Chris Horn
Some aspects of nursing education involve face-to-face interaction with patients, but virtual simulation is the next best thing during COVID-19 restrictions.
April 03, 2020, Tenell Felder
Alicia Ribar, clinical associate professor at the College of Nursing, provides insight into how the COVID-19 pandemic has and will affect the field of nursing. Ribar has practiced nursing for 26 years and has had active clinical practices in acute and primary care pediatric and family practice.
April 01, 2020, Craig Brandhorst
In the new world of distance learning, faculty are getting a crash course in online education — and the learning curve can be steep. But it’s not insurmountable, says Lucy Ingram, assistant dean for academic affairs and online education at the university’s Arnold School of Public Health.
March 27, 2020, Chris Horn
Faculty members from the School of Medicine Greenville and the College of Engineering and Computing worked quickly to get FDA approval for a device that could help address the potential shortage of ventilators at COVID-19 hotspots.
March 26, 2020, David Lee
A collaborative effort involving Prisma Health and the University of South Carolina has resulted in emergency use authorization for a ventilator expansion device to support multiple patients during times of acute equipment shortages such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.
March 24, 2020, Tenell Felder
Kevin Bennett, School of Medicine Columbia faculty member and director of research and evaluation at the Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare, discusses issues rural communities will face during the coronavirus pandemic as well as future steps that can be taken to strengthen rural health care systems.
March 20, 2020, Alyssa Yancey
Vida Yousefian, a School of Medicine Columbia student, has navigated a rollercoaster ride to reach Match Day, where she will find out her residency placement.
February 14, 2020, Margaret Gregory
Alumni of the genetic counseling program at University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia are making a major impact on their field. More than 25 percent of the nation's genetic counseling training programs have had School of Medicine alumni in leadership roles and five programs were founded by South Carolina graduates.
February 12, 2020, Megan Sexton
All of the university’s undergraduate chemistry labs moved this semester into the newly renovated building at Greene and Main streets, offering state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.
February 11, 2020
Students who are taught by more than one teacher in the same classroom benefit from their exposure to different teaching styles, additional expertise and lower student-teacher ratios. But the first step is making sure the partners click, like public health professors Lee Pearson and Megan Weis.
February 03, 2020, Tenell Felder
Innovative technology in the classroom results in better patient care. University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville uses this approach to produce exceptional future physicians.
January 30, 2020, Chris Horn
It’s been called the Silver Tsunami — the coming wave of older adults — and it’s already leading to an increase in Alzheimer’s and related dementia diagnoses. Naturally, there is also an increase in the associated burden on caregivers.
January 29, 2020, Page Ivey
Public Health professor Katrina Walsmann’s plan for a new research center at the University of South Carolina is all about collaboration. In fact, creating an umbrella for a variety of disciplines to study health, inequalities and the population is the goal.
January 14, 2020, Tenell Felder & Amanda Hernandez
The University of South Carolina ranks No. 1 in the nation among public universities (No. 2 overall) for its online graduate nursing program, according to U.S. News and World Report’s annual online rankings.
December 16, 2019
Nabil Natafgi, a new professor in the Arnold School of Public Health, studies the quality of care in small, rural hospitals and whether telemedicine can improve that care.
December 11, 2019, Margaret Gregory
In 2002, 8-year-old Wanda Gibbs died after being hit by a car at her bus stop. After her tragic passing, the community came together and launched a fundraising initiative to ensure Wanda’s memory would live on. Their efforts established the Wanda Gibbs Scholarship at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia, which was awarded for the first time earlier this year.
December 09, 2019, Page Ivey
Julie Sease has rejoined the College of Pharmacy as senior associate dean and clinical professor. A graduate of the college in 2003, Sease also previously was a faculty member for five years.
November 20, 2019, Margaret Gregory
In South Carolina, a majority of the 46 counties are considered to be medically underserved. The South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare is working to improve access to quality care through training programs that are helping grow the health care workforce.
November 18, 2019, Tenell Felder
Researchers from the University of South Carolina are unlocking how botanicals could defeat chronic inflammation, how to prevent literary failure in students with hearing loss and how childhood obesity can be eliminated.
November 04, 2019, Craig Brandhorst
John Doering-White became interested in immigration issues as an undergraduate and followed his research interests to Mexico as a graduate student. Now an associate professor at the University of South Carolina with a joint appointment in social work and anthropology, he hopes his research will contribute to the development of a more humane immigration system in the both the United States and Mexico.
October 07, 2019, Chris Horn
Gaining insight into a patient’s concerns and feelings is essential for positive clinical interactions between patients and physicians and better health outcomes. To help foster empathy in medical students, researchers at the School of Medicine Greenville are testing virtual reality videos.
September 27, 2019, Alyssa Yancey
The new Simulation and Interactive Learning Center is giving medical and advanced practice students at the School of Medicine Columbia a unique opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom with the goal of further strengthening patient care for South Carolina and beyond.
August 22, 2019, Page Ivey
Four University of South Carolina projects to improve the health and well-being of South Carolinians are getting a boost from $2.4 million in grants from the Duke Endowment.
August 13, 2019, David Lee
Kizer Stovall is a part of the first University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville class to complete residency.
August 06, 2019, Megan Sexton
University of South Carolina researchers are working to study and improve the way patients are examined and treated in the aftermath of a chemical mass casualty event, such as the 2005 train collision in Graniteville, South Carolina.
July 29, 2019, Megan Sexton
From a thousand-year flood to deadly hurricanes, South Carolina is no stranger to disasters. That’s why University of South Carolina researchers are working to better understand why dams fail, how to quickly map disaster areas and ways to improve how people with disabilities navigate natural disasters.
July 19, 2019, Alyssa Yancey
Alexandra Vezzetti was in the first class of physician assistant students at the School of Medicine and the first PA student to rotate through the neurology department at Prisma Health. Department Chair Souvik Sen, M.D., was so impressed with Vezzetti that he hired her, and next month, she’ll become the department’s first physician assistant.
June 18, 2019, Alyssa Yancey
Tarak Patel, a second-year medical student at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia, had witnessed the devastation of addiction while volunteering at hospitals and free clinics, but he only had a surface-level understanding of the complexities of the issue. That changed earlier this summer when Patel participated in the Summer Institute for Medical Students (SIMS) at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Center City, Minnesota.
June 11, 2019, John Brunelli
When colon cancer spreads, it often ends up in the liver, where surgery can be complicated, even impossible. That’s why research in the University of South Carolina’s College of Pharmacy proving the efficacy of a new class of cancer drugs is so significant.
May 23, 2019, Alyssa Yancey
Second-year Ph.D. candidate Katy Pilarzyk was one of three University of South Carolina students awarded a prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship this year. She will use her funding to continue her work in Michy Kelly’s lab at the School of Medicine Columbia. The lab studies the inner workings of the brain to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying social and cognitive deficits.
May 22, 2019, Page Ivey
Social work and public health researchers Sue Levkoff and Daniela Friedman are teaming up to open a new front line in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, particularly among the African American population, which has a greater incidence of the disease and related dementias.
April 26, 2019, Alyssa Yancey
Graduating medical students Laine Way and Parker Edison have done their clinical education in Florence at the UofSC School of Medicine's Florence Regional Campus, and now they'll be completing their residencies in Florence at McLeod Health.
April 25, 2019, Thom Harman
South Carolina — the state’s leader in health science education and research — is sponsoring “The Art of Healthy Living,” a fun, educational and interactive exhibit in the heart of Artisphere, the sprawling downtown Greenville festival.
April 16, 2019, John Brunelli
The immediate past president of the National Medical Association will deliver the keynote address at the 12th annual James E. Clyburn Health Disparities Lecture on April 23.
April 15, 2019, Chris Horn
A four-year study tracking high-school seniors with fragile X syndrome could yield new insights into how well these students transition into adulthood, says an Arnold School of Public Health researcher heading a portion of the study.
April 03, 2019, Chris Horn
When Wendy Rothermel’s son Cade was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, her family life was upside down, punctuated by his frequent temper tantrums. But when the family connected with Project HOPE and Cade’s therapy began, positive changes followed. The nonprofit foundation, launched by two university alumnae, is bringing hope to families across the state.
March 22, 2019, Page Ivey
In the fight against breast cancer, there are two distinct lines of research: treatment and prevention. Breakthrough Star Tisha Felder, an assistant professor and researcher in the College of Nursing and Cancer Prevention and Control Program in the Arnold School of Public Health, finds herself at the crossroads of those two lines.
March 13, 2019, John Brunelli
Fourth-year School of Medicine Columbia student Ashley McCaskill hopes confidence will be key when it comes to her Match Day fate. She is one of 30,000 med students in the United States who will find out March 15 which residency program selected them.
February 28, 2019, John Brunelli
The Behavioral-Biomedical Interface Program, funded by a prestigious National Institutes of Health research training grant, has been such a success that the NIH renewed it for a third five-year cycle.
February 12, 2019, Chris Horn
Antibiotic resistance, a public health threat that already endangers millions worldwide, is on track to become a much deadlier problem in the years ahead. Part of the challenge, says a University of South Carolina public health scientist, is that bacterial resistance to antibiotic medications is fostered not only in clinical settings but also in the environment.
February 08, 2019, Laura Kammerer
At the height of the Ebola epidemic in 2014, Cheedy Jaja traded the relative comforts of American health care practice for Tyvek bodysuits and chlorine baths. Now the Sierra Leonean native is committed to a new mission: to bolster the early diagnosis and treatment of sickle cell disease in children.
December 15, 2018, Alyssa Yancey
The BARSC-MD program, a joint initiative between the University of South Carolina Honors College and the USC School of Medicine, allows a select group of students to complete an undergraduate degree and their medical degree in just seven years. The students receive conditional acceptance to medical school as freshmen, and then enter medical school after their third year of undergraduate coursework.
November 20, 2018, Chris Horn
Alzheimer’s, autism and schizophrenia are very different neural disorders but they have this in common — scientists are learning more about each condition by studying the neural development of a fish that's barely the size of a small minnow.
November 16, 2018, Alyssa Yancey
Inspired by the University of South Carolina's inclusive environment, donors Clark West and Elliott Mitchell agreed to establish a $500,000 endowment to support scholarships for USC School of Medicine students. West and Mitchell also established a $500,000 endowment to support scholarships for students attending associate degree-granting institutions in South Carolina who wish to transfer to one of the Palmetto State’s baccalaureate-granting colleges or universities, including USC.
November 14, 2018, Megan Sexton
South Carolina’s high stroke rate is not good news for the state, but it makes researcher Julius Fridriksson’s work particularly relevant.
November 09, 2018, John Brunelli
More than 40 middle school students visited the College of Pharmacy to envision what their future could be. Most of the students were female and African-American, part of the college’s efforts to attract underrepresented minorities to the profession.
November 07, 2018, Chris Horn
In the nearly 30 years since the first Gulf War in Kuwait and Iraq, medical professionals have struggled to identify the cause for symptoms collectively referred to as Gulf War illness that have persisted among a quarter-million military veterans. Saurabh Chatterjee can’t identify the cause, but he thinks his research team at USC’s Arnold School of Public Health has found the locus of medical dysfunction.
October 30, 2018, Chris Horn
A team of scientists at USC's Arnold School of Public Health have zeroed in on the diet-inflammation link, identifying 45 food and food components associated with biomarkers of inflammation in studies of humans, laboratory animals and even cells in culture.
October 15, 2018, Alyssa Yancey
As a youth transition specialist for Able South Carolina, a disability nonprofit that provides an array of independent living services, University of South Carolina graduate student Michael Hanna draws from his own experiences growing up with ADHD.
September 26, 2018, Chris Horn
A diagnosis of scoliosis put the brakes on 12-year-old Abbie Digby’s aspirations as a ballet dancer, but her subsequent surgery and recovery sparked a desire to pursue a career in medicine. She's now a freshman pre-med student at Carolina.
September 24, 2018, Chris Horn
The university has recruited many new faculty members this semester. Meet Jessica Bradshaw, an assistant professor of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences.
August 27, 2018, Annika Dahlgren
School of Medicine student Alison “Allie” Augsburger has wanted to be a doctor for as long as she can remember, but working with her mentor and completing a prestigious summer program has helped focus her sights on the rigorous field of cardiothoracic surgery.
August 08, 2018, Chris Horn
Alan Decho’s research sometimes takes him to the tropics to study thick, slimy mats of bacteria that survive in extreme heat and drought. Turns out, the conditions those hardy bacterial colonies call home might provide clues in the search for life on other planets.
July 31, 2018, Megan Sexton
Brie Turner-McGrievy’s research focuses on obesity prevention and treatment. She examines the use of plant-based diets in place of calorie restrictions to promote weight loss, and uses technology and mobile health to deliver interventions and facilitate social support and self-monitoring.
July 20, 2018, Page Ivey
We’ve all heard the health warnings about stress, but just how, exactly, does stress damage a healthy person? And what is it that allows some people to be resilient while others exhibit a vexing trail of cytokines, inflammation and other biochemical responses to trauma and other stressors? School of Medicine researcher Susan Wood is trying to figure out just that.
July 19, 2018, Alyssa Yancey
Research from University of South Carolina School of Medicine researchers Drs. Mitzi Nagarkatti and Prakash Nagarkatti has led to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychotropic compound found in cannabis, as a treatment for autoimmune hepatitis.
July 18, 2018, Megan Sexton
FoodShare South Carolina, a University of South Carolina program that works to expand access to fresh produce and nutrition education for low-income families in the Columbia area.
July 12, 2018, Annika Dahlgren
Researchers with the College of Engineering and Computing have created a new way to destroy cancer cells in two days. The research team — made up of electrical engineering professor Seongtae Bae, postdoc fellow Jung-tak Jang and undergrad (Eric) Sang Hoon Ju — uses a nanomaterial and an alternating current (AC) magnetic field generator to super heat the cells.
July 03, 2018, Chris Horn
Biomedical scientists at USC’s School of Medicine are studying the extent to which emodin, a natural compound found in rhubarb, could help relieve some side effects of a common chemotherapy drug.