Scientific Environment

MUSC was founded in 1824 and is the oldest medical school in the southern United States. It has six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. MUSC is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award bachelor, master, doctoral and professional degrees. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and numerous national, professional, and specialized accrediting bodies provide additional accreditations. Approximately 1,400 full-time faculty members engage in educating nearly 3,200 students annually. MUSC awards ~1000 degrees annually with an enrollment of >2,500 degree-seeking students. In addition, the university coordinates the training of more than 950 residents and fellows in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. For more information on academic programs or clinical services, visit the Medical University of South Carolina. For more information on hospital patient services, visit MUSC Health.

MUSC is a state-assisted institution. The majority of financial resources are generated through patient care fees, extramural grants, tuition and private contributions. The South Carolina General Assembly and Governor appoint the Board of Trustees, who in turn appoints the President. The Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs serves as Provost and Chief Academic Officer. The Vice President for Research is the Chief Research Officer. These dual appointments ensure that strategic planning, implementation and oversight are closely and continuously coordinated to provide excellent education, research and patient care in a first-rate academic health center.

The MUSC University Compliance Program is a proactive program designed to promote full compliance with all applicable policies, procedures, laws, and regulations. This involves a confidential Compliance Helpline to encourage all members of the MUSC community to ask questions or voice concerns about laws and regulations on such topics as coding and billing, research integrity, professional ethics, human subject/animal research, biological safety, conflict of interests and patient/subject confidentiality. The Compliance Office proactively trains employees, monitors high-risk activities and facilitates discovery of concerns, followed by appropriate investigation and corrective action where appropriate. This program directly assists MUSC’s management at all levels in maintaining and enhancing an environment where ethics are paramount considerations in strategic and operational decisions throughout the organization. Institutional research compliances include a training and certification process for all key personnel engaged in research involving human subjects, vertebrate animals or biohazardous substances, as well as integration into curricula of appropriate instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR).

MUSC is committed to providing culturally competent care and ensuring that organizational priorities and goals pertaining to equity, inclusion, and excellence are institutionalized, sustained, and measured in order to “create an inclusive experience for the lives we touch.”

The MUSC Office of Equity is tasked with integrating the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the academic and health care enterprises to strengthen and elevate DEI resources across the MUSC community. Led by Chief Equity Officer, Michael de Arellano, PhD, the Office addresses racism, elevates diversity, equity, and respect, and helps to assure that the MUSC workforce, students and leadership reflect the communities that are served. Every college has a designated faculty liaison for diversity, and all leaders are required to complete diversity education and training to combat unconscious bias on an annual basis. All new employee orientations include an introduction to MUSC’s diversity goals and values.

For seven consecutive years (2017-2023) MUSC has received the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT in Diversity, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. The organization has also designated MUSC a Diversity Champion for six consecutive years (2018-2023). MUSC was among 15 recipients selected in 2023 for this honor, which is the only national diversity award in higher education. For two consecutive years (2018 & 2019), Forbes listed MUSC as one of America’s Best Employers for Diversity; MUSC ranked 13 out of 500 organizations. Moreover, MUSC ranked 3rd out of 30 institutions listed in the education category. In December 2017, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce named MUSC the recipient of the Excellence in Workplace Diversity in the category for medium and large business. In 2016, MUSC Health was named a leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equity by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey of health care facilities on policies and practices dedicated to the equitable treatment and inclusion of their LGBTQ+ patients, visitors, and employees. To further strengthen and extend LGBTQ+ services and resources throughout the enterprise, MUSC appointed a director of LGBTQ+ Health Services and Enterprise Resources in 2021. The director oversees and coordinates the delivery of select resources, programs, and services across the MUSC enterprise as well as the development and implementation of policy, programs, and services for MUSC LGBTQ+ community members. In 2022, MUSC attained the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Top Performer status for LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality. In 2015, MUSC received the national Leadership Award of the Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS) of the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). In addition, MUSC’s College of Medicine received an ADVANCE grant from the National Science Foundation for the Advancement, Recruitment and Retention of Women in Science (ARROWS), the only such NSF grant awarded to an academic medical center. Furthermore, the AAMC ranks MUSC in the 97th percentile among medical schools preparing physicians to care for patients of different backgrounds. In 2024, MUSC Health was named an AHA Quest for Quality Prize finalist for efforts to use telehealth to extend quality care across South Carolina, most notably in historically underserved rural areas.

MUSC leads the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (AHEC), linking the academic health sciences center in Charleston to community-based health care centers statewide with an emphasis on health disparities, rural health issues, and access to health care. South Carolina was among the first 11 states to receive federal funding to establish a model statewide AHEC program in 1972. South Carolina AHEC received the prestigious Eugene S. Mayer Award in 2006, presented every two years to the best model statewide AHEC system in the nation. MUSC has received national recognition from the Association of American Medical Colleges and other professional associations for outstanding community service and leadership in innovative health services delivery, outreach, and emergency preparedness.

MUSC is the leading biomedical research institution in Health Sciences South Carolina, a statewide consortium created to facilitate and accelerate the development, testing, and dissemination of new, more effective health interventions and therapies to improve the health and well-being of all residents of the state. Through HSSC, the state’s three research universities and four largest health care systems have created a statewide integration of scientists, clinicians, and data systems. HSSC has active working groups in science, clinical care, information technology and data interoperability, a statewide Institutional Review Board (IRB), and an integrated Center for Clinical Safety and Effectiveness that develops and coordinates state-of-the-art patient simulation technologies across the state.

In August 2018, MUSC and Siemens Healthineers announced a first-of-its-kind strategic partnership that will create a blueprint for the rest of the world for a transformed health care system that provides safe, equitable, timely, effective, efficient and patient-centered care. This partnership will act as an incubator, exposing learners to cutting-edge technology, fostering research inquiry to show whether the clinical changes that MUSC makes have an effect on patient outcomes and stimulating new transformational ideas to change health.

Medtronic and MUSC have partnered to develop value-based health care solutions designed to improve the health outcomes, care experience and cost of health care for patients with chronic diseases and conditions in South Carolina and beyond. The partnership combines Medtronic therapy and technology experience with MUSC’s clinical and academic expertise to create a more connected and coordinated care model with shared accountability – focusing on the quality of care and putting patients first.

MUSC has more than 35 state-of-the-art shared research cores & facilities physically housed in and administered by its departments, centers and institutes. Clinical research faculty, basic scientists, and students all benefit from the shared access to and cost of these research laboratories. Through these diverse resources, MUSC provides access to equipment and instrumentation, technical expertise and training, and education all designed to support innovative, cutting-edge research. To learn more, visit the research cores website.

The newly renovated MUSC Library (re-opened January 4, 2023), located in the James W. Colbert Education Center building, provides a multitude of services and resources for MUSC Medical Students and faculty members. The MUSC Library has 34 group study rooms outfitted with whiteboards, many areas of mixed use open space for meeting and individual study, over 120 computers for faculty, staff, and Student use, and wireless access throughout the building. The Colbert Education Center building also has a dedicated writing center on the 4thfloor, and on the 2nd and 3rd floors, an additional 20 study rooms for Medical Students.

The MUSC Libraries serve as a resource and knowledge center, academic computing support unit, electronic education center, and leader in information planning. Resources include major biomedical databases (e.g., Scopus, CINAHL Complete, PsycINFO, SciFinder-n, Healthcare Administration, and PubMed) and over 160 more. Resources include drug information (Lexicomp, AccessPharmacy, the J-H ABX Guide, the Electronic Orange Book), consumer health (Hands-on Health, , MedlinePlus), clinical decision support systems (DynaMed, UpToDate), Clinical Practice Guidelines, clinical trials, evidence-based practice (Cochrane, the TRIP-Pro database), government resources, Copyright, Multimedia Sources/Use, Tools for Research and Publication, Current Lab Protocols and >868,000 e-books (Procedures Consult, Harrison's Online, AccessMedicine, ClinicalKey) and e-journal packages with >70,000 individual journals), statewide shared academic databases (Collegiate DISCUS), and other resources that provide a wealth of global information. Service-oriented faculty and staff assist in the use of a variety of informational systems. An active program of individual, class, and group instruction supports teaching, clinical care, research and community outreach. The Waring Historical Library is a world-renowned resource. The Library includes the Informatics Lab with more than 100 microcomputers and peripheral equipment and several 3D printers. In addition to off-campus remote access to collections and information, the Library maintains over 889,000 eBooks, over 65,000 eJournals and over 34,700 visual materials. Library Faculty provide remote off-campus access to all resources, troubleshooting and virtual consults as well as in-person classes/meetings in other MUSC spaces. Study space is available on the 4th floor, with computer workstations, study rooms, printing/copying and tech equipment lending. The library serves as the Regional Medical Library for Region 2 (Southeast US/Islands), National Network of Libraries of Medicine and is a major health science resource library for the state and the Southeast.

The Library also supports the historical record of medicine through the MUSC University Archives and the Waring Historical Library Digital Collection (which is free and open access), the latter of which documents the history of the health sciences in the Southeast through the 18th century Atlantic World. Records are available in paper, electronic, audiovisual or digital format.

Finally, full time Library staff are on site to support literature searches, retrieval of diverse types of biomedical literature, and to support the advancement of research and the creation of new knowledge

The MUSC research infrastructure includes pre- and post-award functions reporting to the Vice President for Research. The Office of Research Development (ORD) focuses on program and proposal development, identifies funding opportunities, develops proposal concepts, networks faculty members with complementary interests, provides grant-writing consultation and workshops, offers pre-submission critiques, compiles institutional data, and prepares competitive proposals for research infrastructure, and research training. The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) handles certifications and assurances, ensures that policies and procedures are followed, helps prepare budgets, negotiates terms and conditions, maintains proposal and awards data, and oversees re-budgeting and close-out activities. ORSP is the institutional interface with Grants.gov and coordinates all aspects of electronic research administration. The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) provides oversight and staffing for activities focused on compliance with regulations for research involving humans, vertebrate animals, and biohazardous agents. It also coordinates the management of conflicts of interest, financial disclosure, and scientific integrity issues. The Office of Clinical Research (OCR) supports physician-scientists by developing strategic partnerships with industry sponsors, supporting feasibility and site selection processes, and employing metric tracking and reporting to ensure efficient study activation timelines, improved participant accrual, and optimal financial performance.

MUSC has a significant research enterprise. In FY2023, MUSC faculty received 1,242 extramural awards totaling slightly over $300 million. State funding significantly increased by 105.2% from the prior year, up to the $20.1M level. The number of state awards (28) also increased during FY 2023 (up 7) from last year. NIH constitutes 81.25% of the direct federal funding in FY2023. With $127.8 million from the NIH, MUSC’s extramural research encompasses basic research, clinical research, training, and clinical trials. MUSC continues to rank in the top 100 in R&D expenditures at higher education institutions [NSF 24 – 308, November 2023]. In the 2023 edition of Best Graduate Schools, US News and World Report ranked the MUSC College of Medicine No.56 in the nation for research, out of more than 190 schools.

MUSC offers an outstanding environment for training and career development. The university ranks in the top quartile of domestic educational institutions in the number of NIH grants for research training and education. NIH FY2023 award data include 22 NIH institutional training or research education grants (T32, TL1, T15 and R25 types), 30 NRSA individual fellowships (F-types), 41 individual and 3 institutional career development awards (K12 & KL2 awards), and 12 center grants (NIH-defined research centers) with many including training and career development components for postdoctoral and/or junior faculty. MUSC has three dual degree programs: the NIGMS-funded Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD), the NIDCR-funded Dental Scientist Training Program (DMD/PhD), and PharmD/PhD, plus a well-subscribed Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) program that was initiated with K30 support. A Masters of Public Health in three different fields are available. Seven MUSC training programs focus specifically on diversity: an NIGMS-funded Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) to support doctoral training for minorities (R25 GM072643), an NHLBI R25 grant for short-term research training for minority students (R25 HL092611), a Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) that supports minorities in preparation for biomedical research careers (R25 GM113278), a Teen Science Ambassador program for Charleston high school students underrepresented in STEM (R25 GM142048), a program to Enhance Diversity in Alcohol Research (EDAR) for underrepresented doctoral psychology trainees (R25 AA028464), the Diversity in Addiction Research Training (DART) program for clinical psychology graduate students, interns, and postdoctoral fellows (R25 DA020537), and the Raise Awareness In Students (RAISE) Host and Microbe Program to increase the number of individuals from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and clinical workforce who pursue a graduate STEM degree and career that bridges microbiology and immunology (R25 AI175047).

In 2024, MUSC adopted the use of LabArchives Electronic Lab Notebook within the laboratory research infrastructure, offering a secure, cloud-based platform designed to enhance collaboration and data management. This platform enables researchers to securely store, search, and share their data with team members and external collaborators, thereby safeguarding intellectual property and ensuring compliance with regulatory and institutional standards. Required for all MUSC basic science laboratories and provided at no cost, LabArchives streamlines data recording, organization, analysis, and sharing, promoting seamless workflows and data accessibility across different locations while enhancing research transparency. It supports compliance with data management policies for federally funded research, empowering investigators to maintain data integrity and mitigate security risks. As an integral part of laboratory operations, LabArchives underscores MUSC's commitment to progressive research practices and robust support for its scientific community.

It's been more than a decade since the South Carolina SmartState Program was established by the state's General Assembly in 2002 with $180 million of non-tax revenue generated from the South Carolina Education Lottery. The SmartStateProgram® brings together the brightest minds and innovative technology to advance the quality of life for South Carolinians and the economy of our state. SmartState Centers work to develop patents and products, commercialize technology, create new companies and jobs, and increase our state's per-capita income.

The Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization is responsible for evaluating all intellectual assets the enterprise owns and generates, cultivating value and forging industry and other relationships resulting in products and services that provide real-life solutions to the world’s medical needs. Acting as a component of the Office of Innovation, Zucker Institute leads the commercialization of IP-backed innovations from the Medical University of South Carolina. In 2022, on behalf of MUSC and its investigators, there were 40 (15 US; 25 International) patents issued and 60 (38 US; 22 International) patent applications filed. To date, Zucker Institute has filed over 2000 patent applications on behalf of more than 2000 MUSC Inventors/Creators. In addition, Zucker Institute has entered into more than 160 license agreements for MUSC innovations with over 70 products on the market. Nearly 60 start-up companies have been founded to commercialize MUSC intellectual property. Companies developing products from the Zucker Institute have raised over $774M in capital. Further, Zucker Institute has distributed over $6.45 million to MUSC to support research. These accomplishments illustrate the quality and practical relevance of MUSC expertise and research findings, setting the pace for future progress.

The Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) at MUSC is an NCI-designated cancer center. Founded in 1993, HCC serves the state as a leader in cancer research, patient care and public and professional education. In 2007, MUSC completed the renovation of the original building and a 7-story tower addition. The HCC Building has 3 ½ floors dedicated to research laboratories and a floor dedicated to animal research facilities. Last year, HCC had >80,000 outpatient visits, $20M in cancer research extramural funding, and >1,100 patients enrolled in cancer research studies. Strong leadership and extensive institutional investments led to the award of a P30 Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) in April 2009 that was competitively renewed in 2014 and 2019. HCC research members include >100 faculty representing 20 departments. Cancer research programs include Cancer Biology & Immunology, Developmental Cancer Therapeutics, and Cancer Control. HCC supports a range of core resources, e.g., Biostatistics, Clinical Trials, Flow Cytometry/Cell Sorting, Lipidomics, Cell & Molecular Imaging, Biorepository & Tissue Analysis, Genomics, shRNA Technology, Cell Evaluation & Therapy and Small Animal Imaging. HCC members also occupy 3½ floors of research space in the Drug Discovery and Bioengineering Buildings.

MUSC established the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute (SCTR) in 2006 in response to the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program, which aims to accelerate the translation of discoveries into improved therapies and clinical practice by catalyzing the development of interdisciplinary translational science and research initiatives and breaking down programmatic boundaries. The only CTSA program in South Carolina, the SCTR Institute has robust statewide collaborations with Clemson University, South Carolina State University, the University of South Carolina, Health Sciences South Carolina, South Carolina Research Authority, South Carolina Office of Rural Health, South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium, and the Charleston VA Medical Center.

SUCCESS Center

The Support Center for Clinical & Translational Science (SUCCESS Center) is the “Front Door” of the SCTR Institute, providing comprehensive navigation to all SCTR research support resources, the institution, and the National CTSA Network. Support spans the entire research spectrum, from inception of ideas through technology transfer and dissemination of best practice models. The SUCCESS Center is also an access point for investigators to connect with experts in community engaged research and participant engagement to inform research design, participant recruitment, and dissemination strategies. SCTR also supports consultative resources in biostatistical, epidemiologic, and research design, dissemination & implementation science, and mobile and digital health methodologies.

Research Nexus

The Research Nexus, is a specialized, JCAHO-accredited clinical research unit that facilitates patient-oriented research for federal, foundation, department and industry-funded studies and provides medical scientists and trainees with critical resources to advance the understanding of human diseases and enhance therapeutic interventions. The Research Nexus – a 9,200 sq. ft. facility on the 2nd floor of MUSC's Clinical Sciences Building – houses 5 examination rooms, 7 procedure rooms, a 3-chair infusion suite, pulmonary function testing suite and Airborne Infection Isolation Room (AIIR). The clinic offers skilled and mobile nursing, nutritional consults, and is capable of billing third-party payers for standard of care (SOC) services. The Nexus is strategically located adjacent to MUSC Hospital, allowing support for all phases of clinical trials. For inpatient studies, the Research Nexus facilitates the use of “scatter-beds” in areas best suited to the needs of the study.

A specialized, secure, limited access research laboratory serves as technical support for SCTR-approved clinical research investigators. The lab includes twelve benches of working space, six -80°C freezers, six refrigerated centrifuges, two biological safety cabinets, two liquid nitrogen freezers and one fume hood. Staff are well trained to facilitate the implementation of protocols required by investigators. These facilities and expertise promote the research and development of new methods to support clinical research. Services include investigator consultation, sample processing, banking, and shipping, immunoassays, nucleic acid extraction and custom service development as requested by investigators. An automated, continuous temperature monitoring system is in use for all critical, temperature-controlled equipment in the lab.

The Research Nexus also provides a wide range of research coordination and management services for MUSC investigators and affiliated sites. The research coordinator staff includes highly experienced, trained, and VA-credentialed personnel, as well as licensed nurse coordinators. For investigators seeking assistance with the management of multi-site trials or day-to-day oversight of research programs, project management and quality assurance services are available.

Research Opportunities & Collaborations is dedicated to pairing new study opportunities with world-class faculty and supporting optimized study activation (e.g., site assessment, budget negotiation, regulatory review), the Research Opportunities & Collaborations (ROC) team offers a comprehensive array of support services (Phases I to IV) in every major therapeutic specialty. ROC also manages MUSC’s strategic contract research organizations (CRO) relationships with IQVIA, PPD, and PAREXEL and pharmaceutical sponsor relationships, including Novartis. Established in October 2012, ROC averages ~65 study opportunity contracts executed annually, resulting in roughly $20 million in awards each fiscal year. As an IQVIA Prime Site, the MUSC enrollment factor has consistently exceeded 100 percent (more participants enrolled, on average, than other sites). Additionally, study implementation is 3 weeks faster compared to other academic medical centers.

A remote and virtual trials program was formally established in 2019. This program capitalizes on recent advances in mobile health and digital technologies by MUSC investigators and others to address traditional hurdles such as sizable and costly infrastructure as well as recruitment and regulatory challenges. Investigators may request consultations on the design of remote clinical trials and utilization of various methods and tools in their research protocols including but not limited to remote recruitment and screening, tele-consent. remote assessment, including use of digital platforms to capture data in real time, biomarker collection and biosensor data integration, medication adherence monitoring, adverse event monitoring, and participant remuneration.

SPARCRequest

SCTR created and launched SPARCRequest (Services, Pricing, & Application for Research Centers) in 2012.This web-based research transaction management system that provides a central portal to researchers and their study teams to browse for SCTR consultations and services as well as other research services and resources, submit service and pricing requests. The system enables billing compliance with Epic integrations and proposal/budget development. Satisfaction surveys provide data for continues quality improvement of SCTR resources and services. SPARCRequest © was shared via OSS (Open-Source Software) and has been adopted by more than a dozen CTSA and CTR programs representing nearly three dozen institutions.

Participation of human subjects in research is under the jurisdiction of federal regulations (45 CFR 46 and 21 CFR 50 and 56). MUSC investigators are granted the privilege of working with human subjects under normal assurance to the government that such research complies with regulations protecting human subjects. The university has a federal-wide assurance for research with human subjects (FWA 00001888, expires 05/12/2026), and is in compliance with the federal policy governing the use of human subjects. Individuals involved in human subjects research at MUSC are required to complete the Collaborative IRB Training Initiative (CITI) offered online by the University of Miami. All human subject protocols are reviewed through an academic Institutional Review Board (IRB) process that has been accredited by the Association for Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP). The MUSC Office of Research Integrity (ORI) coordinates the activities of three IRB committees, involving faculty members as well as representatives of the business, legal, ethical, religious, and civic communities. The MUSC IRB serves as the university affiliate for the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, which is accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

The Division of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR) centrally manages the University’s animal care program utilizing 96,562 sqft of animal research space. All facilities are specific-pathogen-free (SPF). MUSC has been fully accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International since 1987 (institution #695) and has an unbroken record of compliance with regulatory inspections by the USDA. The USDA has approved MUSC's license and registration (56-R-0001) for compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. MUSC’s Animal Welfare Assurance number is D16-00268 (expires April 30, 2028). The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is independently chartered and appointed by the President and is fully independent of DLAR. The IACUC reports to the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost. The IACUC is responsible for the review of all proposals using lab animals at the university as well as oversight of the programs and policies associated with animal use. The committee meets monthly to review and approve animal protocols and address other issues. It performs semiannual inspections and reviews of the DLAR programs and facilities for compliance with PHS, USDA and AAALAC regulations. The IACUC reviews all plans for animal facilities, programs and major equipment. To help the IACUC in monitoring the conduct of animal-based research and proactively assist investigators in establishing and maintaining good practices, MUSC also has a program for Post-Approval Monitoring of Animal Use (PAMA) to help the IACUC monitor the conduct of animal-based research and proactively assist investigators in establishing and maintaining good practices. A designated Animal Research Compliance Liaison works with the MUSC investigators and the individuals who handle animals in their laboratories to ensure that the highest level of animal care is maintained and that all research involving animals is conducted with appropriate IACUC review and approval. MUSC’s animal facilities are located above the flood plain or are flood-proofed, a significant factor due to MUSC’s location in a low-lying, severe weather region.

The MUSC Medical Center has managed care contracts with all major commercial payers in its area. The tri-county Charleston area is the state’s fastest growing region with a population of 830,000 in the Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and another 500,000 in neighboring areas. As South Carolina's premier health care center, MUSC receives statewide and regional referrals through consortium hospitals, satellite clinics, and an extensive network of referring physicians including the outlying hospitals that are part of the MUSC system. Initiated in late 2018, MUSC Health began purchasing community hospitals located in rural South Carolina counties, further extending MUSC’s reach into rural and underserved areas where health care access is significantly limited.

The South Carolina Research Studies Directory, SCresearch.org, enables South Carolinians to participate in research opportunities and novel treatment options available at MUSC as well as many of the other state hospitals. Participation in these treatment options (i.e., clinical trials) allows individuals to play an active role in their own health care and access new treatments before they become widely available. It also allows individuals to help others that may benefit in the future from their contribution to medical research.

MUSC has implemented Epic software as the enterprise-wide integrated healthcare information system that integrates inpatient and ambulatory patient data, clinical access and revenue functions and integrates information systems to exchange data to support patient engagement and care coordination as well as secondary analyses in research, quality measurement and population health. This integrated EHR optimizes process efficiency and improves quality at each step of the continuum of care across the entire health-care system. In addition to providing in-house applications, the EHR has an active patient portal and a portal for referring physicians. The system also provides additional levels of security and authentication for users and follows the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for privacy and compliance.

MUSC Children's Health is South Carolina's most comprehensive system of preventive and clinical care devoted exclusively to the well-being of children. The system delivers the most advanced, evidence-based pediatric health services from the fetal stage through the teen years. Six pediatric specialties - cardiology & heart surgery, cancer, orthopedics, neonatology, nephrology, gastroenterology & gastrointestinal surgery - are ranked in the top 50 in the country. The state's only nationally recognized children's hospital is located on the MUSC campus in downtown Charleston. MUSC Children's Health is expanding access to specialized pediatric care through a growing network of outreach locations across the state and through the South Carolina Telehealth Alliance.

The MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital (SJCH), consists of 250 beds and opened in February 2020, provides the most advanced pediatric care possible in more than 26 specialty areas, in person or through a robust telehealth network, SJCH includes a Level 1 trauma center and Emergency Department, the state’s only pediatric burn center and solid-organ and bone marrow transplant programs, the state’s largest Level 4 neonatal intensive care unit, an advanced maternal-fetal medicine center, and a top-2 ranked U.S. News & World Report children’s cardiology & cardiac surgery program, which functions through a nationally unique statewide collaboration of pediatric heart surgeons and cardiologists. Finally, the MUSC Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center remains No. 1 in outcomes in the country, marking the second time in three years that the center has achieved this ranking. The Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion, located on the fourth floor of the new hospital, will handle the toughest, most complex pregnancies and neonatal care. The Pavilion will bring together a team of specialists and cutting-edge technology while providing the necessary space to ensure that mothers and babies—and their families—can remain together throughout their hospital stays.

The Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) iat MUSC is an National Cancer Institute (NCI) - designated cancer center. Founded in 1993, HCC serves the state as a leader in cancer research, patient care and public and professional education. In 2007, MUSC completed the renovation of the original building and a 7-story tower addition. The HCC Building has 3 ½ floors dedicated to research laboratories and a floor dedicated to animal research facilities. Last year, HCC had >80,000 outpatient visits, $20M in cancer research extramural funding, and >1,100 patients enrolled in cancer research studies. Strong leadership and extensive institutional investments led to the award of a P30 Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) in April 2009 that was competitively renewed in 2014, 2019, and 2024. HCC research members include >100 faculty representing 18 departments. Cancer research programs include Cancer Biology & Immunology, Developmental Cancer Therapeutics, and Cancer Control. HCC supports a range of core resources, e.g., Biostatistics, Clinical Trials, Flow Cytometry/Cell Sorting, Lipidomics, Cell & Molecular Imaging, Biorepository & Tissue Analysis, Genomics, shRNA Technology, Cell Evaluation & Therapy and Small Animal Imaging. HCC members also occupy 3½ floors of research space in the Drug Discovery and Bioengineering Buildings.

The Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center (VAMC), opened in 1966, is a leading primary, secondary, and tertiary care facility located in Charleston, SC, serving more than 55,000 Veterans along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. The 152-bed medical center provides a full range of inpatient and outpatient care including Medical and Surgical Intensive Care. The VAMC provides comprehensive health care in areas of medicine, surgery, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, women's health and dentistry. Each year, Veterans require more than 659,000 outpatient visits and ~4,300 inpatient stays. The Charleston VAMC is very closely affiliated with MUSC. The VA Research Program contributes significantly to the recruitment and retention of highly specialized clinical staff, many of whom are involved in basic, clinical and translational research studies. The VAMC has an annual budget of over $500 million and research funding of more than $35 million. The VAMC Research and Development Service has a rich, sustained portfolio of innovative basic and clinical projects with an emphasis on translating research findings into cutting-­edge clinical practices. Currently, 100+ VA research investigators are involved in >300 biomedical research projects. Outpatient clinical/translational research activities are housed in a dedicated 2,800 ft2 Clinical Research Unit (CRU) on the 2nd floor of the VAMC, comprising 10 examination rooms, 4-­station transfusion room, 3-­station physician workroom, waiting room and a general laboratory with centrifuge, several refrigerators and a microscope. The CRU includes a sterile specimen storage facility, staff offices and break-­ and workrooms. The VA Research Program contributes significantly to the recruitment and retention of expert professional staff, many of whom lead research studies, and hold joint-appointments with the affiliate university, MUSC.

The MUSC Health Center for Telehealth is supported by state appropriations as well as several grant resources. Its mission is to improve the delivery of exceptional healthcare to those in need by leveraging technology to extend the reach and improve the quality of MUSC’s health services. The center currently supports telehealth activities in diverse applications including programs applied in the home, outpatient clinic, emergency room, inpatient service, and intensive care unit. MUSC’s telehealth network offers over 100 unique telehealth services to nearly 350 sites across South Carolina. Care settings include over 40 hospitals, over 90 schools, and over 100 community clinics and other facilities. Most sites are in partially or fully medically underserved regions. In 2020, MUSC and SC Telehealth Alliance (SCTA) programs, resulted in over 1,400,00 real-time video interactions, over 250,000 asynchronous telehealth interactions, over 200,000 remote monitoring interactions, and over 3,000 remote specialty interpretations. The total of over two million interactions, or an estimated 364% increase from the year prior, demonstrates that telehealth was and continues to be vital for maintaining patient care during the pandemic and beyond. The breadth, depth, and commitment to underserved and vulnerable populations led Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) to designate MUSC as one of two Telehealth Centers of Excellence in 2017 with the overarching objective of advancing the telehealth scientific knowledge base. Telehealth programs align with strategic initiatives, enhancing available support and likelihood of rapid implementation and sustainability. The Center supports provider and presenting site training as well as ongoing quality maintenance. The Center also provides a common point of contact for collaborating entities and stakeholders external to MUSC and plays a lead role in maintaining an open-access statewide telehealth network created with the shared goal of addressing South Carolina’s healthcare priorities. In 2024, MUSC Health was named an AHA Quest for Quality Prize finalist for efforts to use telehealth to extend quality care across South Carolina, most notably in historically underserved rural areas.

Located in Williamsburg County, the Black River Medical Center. offers 64,000 square feet, 25 inpatient beds, four observation beds, two operating rooms and 16 emergency treatment rooms to serve residents of this rural community with advanced medical care.

Chester Medical Center is a 82 licensed bed hospital that serves the residents of Chester County.

Florence Medical Center is comprised of 396 patient beds, more than 1,500 employees and over 425 physicians representing all major specialties. The center combines advanced technology, medical innovation, and proven treatment methods to benefit patients. The extensive range of services include heart and vascular care, cancer treatment, minimally invasive orthopaedic and general surgery, diagnostics, women’s health, and rehabilitation services. The hospital’s Chest Pain Center is the first in the region to have been accredited by the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (SCPC) and its advanced Primary Stroke Center is recognized by the Joint Commission.

The specialty care clinic includes kidney transplant, lung transplant, liver transplant, Greenwood Genetics, GYN oncology, telehealth services for palliative, inpatient psychiatry, neurology, and acute rehab care.

The MUSC Florence Research Center is a 2,500 square foot research clinic providing a registration area and waiting room, three patient exam rooms, shared study team desk/computer access, on-site study monitor workspace, supply/document storage, all in one printer, investigational drug storage and a lab for processing and storing research samples. The laboratory space has -80°C freezers and refrigerated centrifuges. On-site staff includes a certified clinical research coordinator and a program assistant.

Lancaster Medical Center is a 225-bed, all-private room facility, with more than 120 physicians and care team members. The center offers acute care, diagnostic services, women’s health, orthopaedic services, cardiac services, general and laparoscopic surgery, rehabilitation, emergency treatment, wound care, and more. Lancaster Medical Center is an Accredited Chest Pain Center as designated by the American College of Cardiology, as well as a Primary Stroke Center as designated by the Joint Commission.

The MUSC Lancaster Research Center is a 1,400 square foot research clinic providing a registration area and waiting room, 2 patient exam rooms, private office, venipuncture kiosk, shared study team desk/computer access, supply/document storage, all in one printer, investigational drug storage, and a lab for processing and storing research samples. The laboratory space has -80°C freezers and refrigerated centrifuges. On-site staff includes a certified clinical research coordinator and a program assistant.

Marion Medical Center is a 124-bed, acute care facility that provides complete inpatient, outpatient, diagnostic, medical, surgical, and emergency care. Marion Medical Center is Joint Commission accredited and includes Mullins Nursing Center — a 92-bed, long term care facility.

The Midlands Division encompasses three community hospitals, a freestanding emergency department (FSED), and affiliated physician practice locations serving communities in the Midlands.

MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown, known as South Carolina’s heart hospital, is a full-service medical center with 338-beds serving Columbia and the surrounding region. Along with emergency services, the center offers heart & vascular care, cardiac rehabilitation. Imaging Services, and Palliative Care.

The MUSC Columbia Research Center is conveniently located on the campus of MUSC Health Columbia and offers more than 20 years of experience in biomedical research through its history as the South Carolina Heart Center. The center has supported multiple trial types, including vascular, electrophysiology, drug, and structural heart. The research Center includes a 2,200 square foot research clinic and features one patient exam room, study team desk/computer access, supply/document storage, lab draw, private office, specimen mailing, coordinator services, regulatory services, and data collection.

MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Northeast, is a 74-bed full-service hospital near Farrow Road and I-77 in Richland County. Specialties of the center include heart & vascular care, heart surgery, cardiac rehabilitation, lung care, orthopedics, primary care, a sleep disorders program, urology, palliative care, and wound care.

MUSC Health Fairfield Emergency & Imaging is a freestanding emergency care clinic in Winnsboro providing quality emergency care and outpatient imaging and lab services for the community of Fairfield County.

MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center, located in Camden, is a full-service medical center with 139-beds. The center provides a wide range of diagnostic, medical, surgical, emergency and urgent care, rehabilitation, and home health and hospice care, as well as general and specialty physician services.

The Regional Medical Center (tRMC) is located in Orangeburg. In February of 2023, MUSC was invited by the state legislature and elected officials of Orangeburg and Calhoun counties to enter a new relationship with The Regional Medical Center to carryout research and improve access to care for rural and underserved communities experiencing chronic disease.

MUSC provides infrastructure for remote, virtual, and hybrid meetings. The enterprise supports internal use of Microsoft Teams, which can hold up to 1,000 interactive users. For external events, MUSC utilizes Zoom, with a capacity of 300 attendees.

MUSC Information Solutions provides information technology, informatics, and analytics services for the academic health center. It manages the campus-wide data and voice communication network as well as other core infrastructure systems and applications, with high-speed ethernet network and internet support with wireless access throughout the campus. Main infrastructure systems include Microsoft Exchange email, file storage, web servers, calendars, network identification and account maintenance, network time protocol, domain name system, and directory services. Core academic applications include the MUSC Library System, OVID, WebCT, SYBYL (molecular modeling), and GCG (gene sequence research). MUSC uses InfoReady, an online platform that streamlines the grant application and review processes. Access to Overton allows MUSC to see the impact of research on policy internationally. Core financial and administrative applications for human resources are consolidated under the WorkDay system.

The Biomedical Informatics Center (BMIC) High Performance Computing (HPC) Cluster contains 4 Dell PowerEdge R750 servers, 4 NVIDIA A100 80GB GPU Video Cards, 2TB RAM, 100TB (raw) SSD/flash work storage, and 288TB (raw) Directly Attached SAS array storage. It is designed for multi-user/job shared time management using SLURM workload manager, which enables researchers to schedule full access of the cluster for high computational workloads. It also contains pre-loaded data science and deep learning software packages that are most often used by researchers, including but not limited to RStudio, Jupyter, Tensorboard, and PyTorch. The core operating system is Ubuntu.

Access outside the MUSC firewall requires a VPN with two-factor verification. Free encryption service is provided for all laptops. Other data security elements include enterprise Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) service, advanced intrusion detection systems (IDS), Security Information and Event Management system (SIEM), and virtual machines (VMs) for research data management and analysis. Enterprise-wide process improvements include network access control, technical vulnerability management program and Data Center physical security. The MUSC Data Center is manned 24x7 by operations staff who monitor all servers, environmental conditions, and notify appropriate personnel as needed. The entire Data Center is protected by a card access system and 24-hr security cameras at each door entering and within the center. Weekly full-verified backup, daily differential verified backup, and every-6-hr transaction log backup are captured by IBM® TSM system, Microsoft® Volume Shadow Copy service, and Microsoft® SQL server, so that a new system can be restored using the backup tapes/files with minimal data loss in case of a catastrophic failure to a web or database server. The university system is backed up on a nightly basis, data files are written initially to disk and staged to tape. Copies of the tapes are rotated offsite to vital records (3 months of taped backups are available at any given time). In the event of hurricanes or other natural disasters, two forms of backups will be performed to ensure that data are not lost: 1) the information system will keep timely backups available at the remote site, and 2) project personnel will be instructed to bring updated copies of their data on external hard-drives if evacuated.

The Department of Public Health Services (DPHS) has a Local Area Network (LAN) with a dedicated manager and desktop support technician, encompassing personal computers, file servers, printer servers, and other shared peripherals. Individual computers are managed centrally for software updates and network security. In addition, DPHS has in-house resources for high-performance computing in two clusters. The first cluster consists of 15 dual processor servers with 64bit 3.1GHz processors, each with 32 Gb RAM processors. The second cluster is an 8-blade server that increases the total number of high-performance units to 23. The scientific software licensed by the department includes MATLAB, Splus, MathCAD, SAS, Statistica, NQuery and STATA. DPHS also hosts two webservers for interfacing with applications developed in the department – the Marine Genomics Consortium bioinformatics infrastructure and a recently configured infrastructure for miscellaneous bioinformatics resources. To provide a stable, scalable infrastructure, the latter applications run under Linux UNIX with Apache webserver configured for Secure Socket Layer with 128-bit encryption. The department has fulltime staff responsible for the procurement, installation, operation and basic maintenance of hardware and software.

The Biomedical Informatics Center (BMIC) was established as a program in 2008 as part of research infrastructure development and investment by MUSC. BMIC includes a dedicated team of more than 40 Informatics experts and software engineers under the leadership of the Chief Research Information Officer and provides several informatics research services. BMIC draws on expertise from several faculty members in biomedical informatics, with expertise in translational research informatics, data science and natural language processing, to name a few. The team has an established track record and has been heavily immersed in the development and installation of several research infrastructural systems including a dedicated Research Data Warehouse (RDW); REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture); an extensive portfolio of EHR (Epic) Research services; i2b2 (Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside); SPARCRequest© (Services, Pricing, & Application for Research Centers), a web-based research transaction management system that provides a central portal to researchers and their study teams to browse for research services and resources, as well as submit service and pricing requests with a focus on billing compliance and proposal/budget development; other SCTR administrative systems; Palmetto Profiles (based on the open source Profiles Research Networking software) for sharing expertise; eIRB; the statewide SCResearch.org, a statewide clinical trial registry designed for patients. The RDW was developed and is maintained by BMIC to support longitudinal research, MUSC’s i2b2, TriNetX®, and several national research networks (the PCORnet Common Data Model, Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership [OMOP], the National COVID Cohort Collaborative [N3C], ENACT’s i2b2-SHRINE, etc.). The RDW has well-established processes and governance for the release of data to researchers. The RDW encompasses the EHR data from Epic and is enriched by other research data sources including research study enrollment, social determinants of health (both geocoded and health system collected), and genomic data.

BMIC staff are co-located in a dedicated office building at MUSC and work collaboratively on many informatics projects. This collaborative development process allows sharing of best practices, expertise, and reusable code. Team members have attended and presented work at several national meetings.

Services Provided

• Epic EHR Research support: Epic Research team facilitates research within the Health Record (EHR). Requests for research study specific Epic builds include: Research Flowsheets; Research Record generation within Epic; Customizable Smartforms used to capture research-specific information, collect data for a study, or extend Epic's available features; Best Practice Advisories as recruitment tools or alerts that can be customized to direct contact a provider, study team member, or patient regarding study information; Questionnaires/Patient Reported Outcome to provide access via an in clinic interface, patient portal or REDCap; Custom Study Dashboards; and other specialized services. This team also provides access to the Epic API for research projects. This includes the use of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) tools for data capture and reporting in conjunction with REDCap.
• Brokered Research Data Requests: these include consultation with RDW data analysts and requests to query clinical data for research purposes to assist in recruitment, chart review, complex feasibility analysis (data preparatory for research) and machine learning projects. Data pulls are performed by an Honest Broker with appropriate governance oversight.
• Self-service data requests: BMIC supports investigators ability to access to data directly through several means: through a dedicated institutional i2b2 implementation, with e-phenotypes, including downloading of anonymized data sets; through participation in the TriNetX research network and access to the TriNetX’s appliance for feasibility assessment for trials and analytics; and through research access to Epic’s Slicer Dicer trial feasibility tool.
• Informatics consultations: these include consultation in a wide range of biomedical informatics services in the areas of data management, complex REDCap projects, EHR research tools, and advanced data analysis such as natural language processing; as well as collaborations on grants and informatics staffing on grants or other projects.
• Natural language processing (NLP): BMIC provides state of the art NLP services using best-of-breed NLP pipelines. Services include access to clinical text notes, anonymization of text data, development of parsers and statistical classifiers.
• REDCap consultations and services: these include custom databases, use of the application programming interface (API); data pulls from the EHR and other customized features, and integration with Epic via the FHIR API.
• Mobile Health application development: BMIC in collaboration with TACHL supports the development of mobile applications for research studies. Investigators option for the accelerated development of research related mobile applications using App builder: a cross platform tool focused on development of interventions for promotion of healthy lifestyles and behavioral health changes.
• Teleconsent and Remote Research services: BMIC uses the Doxy.me platform to support investigators who need to conduct remote research using telehealth methods, including remote elicitation of informed consent.
• Cloud analytical service configuration: BMIC helps investigators configure cloud and hybrid cloud systems for research including configuration of secure AWS installations and secure, HIPAA compliant Azure configurations.
• The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Shared Resource (SHARE) was established in collaboration with the Hollings Cancer Center with the mission to execute and maintain a multi-level infrastructure with expertise from BMIC for integrating SDOH data from multiple sources in our health system to support new health equity-related translational research across MUSC.

REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a software toolset and workflow methodology for electronic collection and management of research and clinical trial data. This toolset was developed by Vanderbilt University in collaboration with a consortium of institutional partners including the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute (SCTR). BMIC provides REDCap services to all MUSC researchers. Data collection projects using this system rely on a thorough study-specific data dictionary defined in an iterative self-documenting process by members of the research team with assistance from the BMIC Team. The REDCap toolset includes a survey component for building and managing online surveys using institutionally sanctioned secure servers. Research teams can create and design surveys in a web browser and engage potential respondents using a variety of notification methods. Users can download validated data dictionaries for immediate use via the REDCap Consortium’s shared data collection instruments library, in which MUSC is an active participant. REDCap provides a secure, web-based environment for managing research data using an intuitive interface for data entry and case report form design. The system includes mechanisms for real-time validation rules for data entry with automated data type and range checks. Other features include audit logs, and reporting tools, monitoring and querying patient records, and an automated export mechanism to common statistical packages (SPSS, SAS, Stata, R/S-Plus). The underlying database is hosted at the MUSC Data Center. The system is protected behind a login and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption and undergoes regular backups and security checks as do other systems in the Data Center at MUSC. REDCap at MUSC has been upgraded to the latest version, which supports electronic signatures and electronic consents.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hub is a research alliance jointly funded by Clemson University and MUSC formed to build research capacity and collaboration in AI applied to biomedical research. The AI Hub’s mission is to expand and promote the use, understanding, and research of AI and related technologies at both institutions. The goal is to weave AI into MUSC’s tripartite mission to optimize human health through patient care, research, and education.

The AI Hub promotes and supports the following initiatives to accomplish this mission:

1. catalyze AI research at MUSC, Clemson and other regional partners in pursuit of funding and leadership in the field, both regionally and nationally;
2. develop and support AI technologies to improve population health, empower providers, enhance value, and reduce cost in a manner that keeps ethics, diversity and inclusion at the forefront;
3. create productive relationships that produce high-quality research and solidify MUSC and Clemson as leaders in this field; and
4. provide a portal for industry, philanthropy, and investors from the community and the region to support and collaborate with MUSC within this expanding area of innovation.

The AI Hub sponsors biweekly seminars on campus by AI and/or clinical experts, prominent speakers, or industry to promote the dissemination of new methods and collaboration on campus and beyond. With support from BMIC, the AI hub provides an AI Consultation Service. Services include machine learning and deep learning for a variety of data types, including EHR data, clinical text, images, and other data types. The consultations are ideal for investigators seeking to apply AI-based methods to current or future biomedical research.