Return to Main Menu

USC president to speak at Faculty Convocation Ten faculty members will be honored Aug. 26 during the 2003 MUSC Faculty Convocation. Awards for teaching excellence, developing scholars, outstanding clinicians and distinguished faculty service will be presented during the annual event, which begins at 4 p.m. at the Harper Student Center. Andrew Sorensen, president of the University of South Carolina, is scheduled to be the keynote speaker. Teaching Excellence awards will be presented to: Developing Teacher Colleen M. Moran, M.D.; Educator-Lecturer Robert E. Notari, Ph.D.; and Educator-Mentor Bonnie Martin-Harris, Ph.D. Developing Scholar awards will be presented to Christopher Davies, Ph.D., and James C. Oates, M.D. Outstanding Clinician awards will be presented to Frank J. Brescia, M.D., Timothy D. Carter, M.D., and Mark H. DeLegge, M.D. The two honorees for Distinguished Faculty Service are Barbara K, Haight, Dr. P.H., and Rosalie K. Crouch, Ph.D. Teaching Excellence Developing Teacher Colleen Moran is an assistant professor and medical director in the Department of Pediatrics. Since joining the faculty in 1999, she has played an integral part in strengthening and developing educational programs for pediatric residents, including the resident journal club and a weekly small group conference to enhance residents’ primary care experience. Twice she has won the Medical Student Teaching Award, a student-nominated honor. Educator-Mentor  Bonnie Martin-Harris is the director of MUSC’s Evelyn Trammel Institute for Voice and Swallowing Disorders. She is recognized nationally as a leader in the specialty area of dysphagia and has published in the field’s most prominent journals. She received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in speech pathology from Bowling Green State and Purdue universities, respectively, and her doctorate in communications sciences and disorders from Northwestern University. Students and colleagues alike have praised her devotion, compassion and sense of excitement when she teaches. Educator-Lecturer Robert Notari’s nomination was supported in part by 46 members of the Doctorate of Pharmacy Class of 2004 although he teaches extremely difficult material: biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Earning his doctorate at the University of Florida, he completed his postdoctoral studies at The Ohio State University. He joined MUSC’s faculty in 1988. In 1971, he published the world’s first textbook on pharmacokinetics, “Biopharmaceutics and Clinical Pharmacokinetics, An Introduction,” which is now in its fourth edition. Developing Scholar Christopher Davies is an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Since arriving in Charleston two years ago, he has compiled an impressive list of accomplishments, including a major role in the establishment of a structural biology laboratory. Prior to joining MUSC, Davies was at Duke University, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the University of Sussex. In his chosen specialty of crystallography, he is considered one of the best young scientists in the world. James Oates is an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology/Immunology and an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology. He joined the faculty in 1997 following a yearlong research fellowship in rheumatology and immunology. His colleagues say he excels in all three areas of academic medicine—research, teaching and patient care—and is one of the most talented young rheumatologists in practice today.  Outstanding Clinician Frank Brescia, an oncologist by training, has been lauded by his colleagues primarily for an attribute that cannot be taught:  his humanity. For nearly 20 years he had been in an academically-affiliated private practice in New York City. He then moved to Atlanta where he directed a busy oncology service at Grady Memorial Hospital before coming to Charleston in 1998. Brescia has devoted his career to ministering to a broad segment of patients, many of whom face difficult end-of-life decisions, and he has done so with compassion, integrity and a warm sense of humor. He is considered a trailblazer in the area of palliative medicine. Timothy Carter is a neurologist with a subspecialty interest in stroke. In fact, he is the only academic neurologist in South Carolina with such expertise, putting him in great demand with regard to clinical trials and patient care. Before joining the faculty in 1992, he served as MUSC’s chief resident in neurology and had a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology.  His colleagues praise his clinical judgment, his compassion with patients and the courtesy he extends to other physicians with whom he consults. He's also considered an excellent teacher. Mark DeLegge envisioned a multidisciplinary nutrition support team for patients when he joined MUSC in 1999 as a member of the Digestive Disease Center. Within a year, it became a reality. He is regarded nationally as an expert on nutrition support. In addition, he is a popular lecturer nationwide and  served as a consultant for several major companies. DeLegge maintains a busy clinical practice, yet finds the time to develop comprehensive and flexible nutritional plans for patients during the duration of their hospital stays. He's regarded as an excellent educator, so much so that the Medicine house staff has voted him “Teacher of the Year.” Distinguished Faculty Service Award For almost 18 years, Barbara K. Haight has devoted herself to the Medical University of South Carolina and her work in gerontology. As the associate dean for research in the College of Nursing, she has helped numerous faculty members and students with their grant submissions. Her expertise in the field is recognized not only here in the United States, but internationally as well, in such locales as Japan and Ireland. Widely praised for her research, she has put her expertise to beneficial use, especially in the implementation of a nurse-managed clinic at the Joseph Floyd Manor. Accordingly, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment has recognized Haight for her efforts. Rosalie Crouch has been one of MUSC’s key leaders during its virtually boundless growth in the past two decades. In August 1975, she was appointed as assistant professor in the departments of Ophthalmology and Biochemistry.  During her tenure, she has held many high-ranking positions, most recently vice president for academic affairs and provost, from which she has retired; other offices included dean of the College of Graduate Studies and associate provost for research.  She has demonstrated total commitment to her students, serving on thesis advisory committees for 55 masters and doctoral students, 11 as chair. It is the research component of her career, however, that tends to attract the most praise, and for good reason. During her tenure as associate provost, research funding increased dramatically, from $30 million in 1995 to $125 million in 2002.            Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.