On Oct. 1, SCTR and the MUSC College of Medicine will proudly welcome Chun Li, M.D., as the newest member of the College of Medicine Clinician Scientist K12 Scholars Program. She joins current scholar Charles Terry, M.D., continuing the program’s tradition of supporting exceptional early-career investigators.
Every new scholar brings fresh perspectives and energy to the K12 program. As part of our tradition, we invited Dr. Li to answer a few questions so our community can get to know her better. Enjoy her insights below, and please join us in warmly welcoming her to the COM K12 team.
New Scholar Q&A
Chun Li, M.D., MPH, RPVI
Chun Li, M.D., is a fellowship trained vascular surgeon with clinical expertise in vein disorders, including carotid, periferal arterial disease, aortic, and venous diseases. Academically, she is a healther services researcher and has a strong interest in quality improvement practices to understand why disparities exist and to optimize patient outcomes.
Q. What is something that your mentor or other K scholars would be surprised to know about you?
A. I used to be a competitive ballroom dancer and danced/competed in 19 different styles of dance, both international and American styles.
Q. What drew you to the K12 program?
A. The K12 program offers a structured environment for me to develop into an independent investigator. It provides an opportunity to build the scientific expertise, methodological skills, collaborations, and professional network needed to establish a focused and sustainable research program.
Q. How does the K12 fit into your prospective career trajectory?
A. I want to perform high-impact research with implementable outcomes that directly impact my patients and the community. The K12 program will allow me to build the leadership and professional skills necessary to be successful and serve as a bridge toward independence and sustainability for a long-term career as an investigator.
Q. If you could have any superpower to help you in research, what would it be and why?
A. I would love to be able to stop time or have Hermione’s Time-Turner so I can do all the things I need and want to do. I need time to juggle my responsibilities as a vascular surgeon, researcher, mom to three young kids and a dog and wife to a busy working spouse.
I am excited to begin this journey and am optimistic that others will find my research as meaningful as I do.
About the COM K12
The COM K12 Program is led by program directors Aimee McRae-Clark, Pharm.D., and Susan Dorman, M.D., with program administrator Diana Lee-Chavarria guiding day-to-day operations.The COM K12 provides salary support at 40% FTE, $20,000 in project funds for research supplies, structured mentorship and a supportive training environment designed to help promising investigators to launch independent careers in translational science. The program emphasizes moving discoveries from the lab, clinic and community into real world solutions that improve health across South Carolina and beyond.
What K12 scholars receive
Scholars appointed to the K12 program benefit from:
- Didactic training to support their continued career progression.
- Dedicated mentorship to support the development of a competitive extramural grant application.
- Professional development opportunities that prepare scholars for independent research careers.
- Annual research funding and salary support to enable protected time for career growth.
Current Scholar
Charles Terry, M.D., MSCR, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine. His research interests involve developing pragmatic methods for identifying and studying sub-phenotypes of critical illness syndromes using readily available clinical data. His current research uses machine learning and natural language processing to identify acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and sub-phenotypes of acute ventilator-dependent respiratory syndrome (VDRF). He is a member of MUSC’s federal Telehealth Center of Excellence where he has curated the educational content for several training modules for basic and advanced management of ARDS and sepsis. His research is supported by internal awards from the South Carolina Translational Research Institute and extramural awards.
Charles Terry, M.D., MSCR
Assistant
Professor
Sophia Barry Gordon
Sophia Barry Gordon is the science writing and communications program coordinator at the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research (SCTR) Institute. She holds a Master of Science degree from New York University and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Birmingham (UK).
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