Each year, faculty, staff, and trainees are nominated for the Department of Medicine Annual Awards in recognition of their outstanding contributions to their divisions, the department, the College of Medicine, and MUSC. Honorees were recognized on Thursday, June 4, during the 2026 Department of Medicine Awards Ceremony.
We extend our gratitude to the faculty and staff members who attended in person, as well as the enthusiastic virtual audience who joined via Zoom to celebrate this year’s recipients. We are proud to honor this year’s recipients across fellow, division, faculty, resident, trainee, and employee award categories.
Fellow of the Year: Connor Craig, M.D., Fellow, Cardiology
Division of the Year: Division of Infectious Diseases - Cassandra Salgado, M.D., MS, Professor & Division Director
Michael E. Assey Department of Medicine Attending Teaching Award: Caitlyn Gallagher, M.D., MS, Assistant Professor, Hospital Medicine
Ambulatory Teacher of the Year (Outpatient Attending): Thompson Barr, M.D., Assistant Professor, General Internal Medicine
Consult Teacher of the Year: Scott Curry, M.D., Associate Professor, Infectious Diseases
Excellence in Medical Student Teaching:
Faculty Awardees: Pam Pride, M.D., Professor, Hospital Medicine; Nancy Hagood, M.D., Assistant Professor, Hospital Medicine
Fellow Awardee: Robert Easterling, M.D., Pulmonary & Critical Care
Resident Awardees: Barbara Badovinac, M.D., PGY-2; Michael Vinzani, M.D., PGY-2
Education Mentoring Award: Courtney Harris, M.D., Assistant Professor, Infectious Diseases
Outstanding Junior Faculty Clinician Educator of the Year Award: Nancy Hagood, M.D., Assistant Professor, Hospital Medicine
Outstanding Mid-Career Clinician Educator of the Year Award: Charles Teixeira, D.O., Assistant Professor, Infectious Diseases
Outstanding Established Clinician Educator of the Year Award: Susan Dorman, M.D., Professor, Infectious Diseases
The Doctor’s Doctor Award: Ruth Campbell, M.D., MSPH, Professor, Nephrology
Professionalism Award: Alice Boylan, M.D., Professor, Pulmonary & Critical Care; Zipporah Krishnasami, M.D., Professor, Nephrology
Hidden Gem Award: Ryan Beyer, M.D., Assistant Professor, Gastroenterology & Hepatology; Abbie Zeffery, D.O., Assistant Professor, Hospital Medicine
Department of Medicine Lifetime Clinician Educator Achievement Award: Frank Brescia M.D., MA, Professor, Hematology and Oncology
Research Faculty Mentoring Award: Andrew Schreiner, M.D., MSCR, Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine
Outstanding Scientific Publication Award:
Daniel Judge, M.D., Professor, Cardiology “Long-Term Efficacy and Safety of Acoramidis in ATTR-CM: Initial Report From the Open-Label Extension of the ATTRibute-CM Trial” Circulation. March 2025.
Carol Feghali-Bostwick, Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor, Rheumatology “Sex- and gender-based personalized medicine in rheumatology” Nat Rev Rheumatol. May 2025.
MilliPub Club Award: The MilliPub Club honors and recognizes current faculty who have published one or more individual papers throughout their careers that have each garnered more than 1,000 citations. Such a paper is commonly considered a “citation classic” and represents high impact scholarship.
Awardees: Daniel Judge, M.D., Don Rockey, M.D., Russell Jenkins, M.D., Ph.D., Charlie Strange, M.D.
Best Mentored Paper Award:
Mentee: Stephanie Kirk, PharmD, Associate Professor, Infectious Diseases
Mentor: Eric Meissner, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Infectious Diseases
Kirk SE, Young C, Berry H, Hanson R, Moreland A, Fonner V, Gebregziabher M, Williams J, Meissner EG. “Comparison of At-Home Versus In-Clinic Receipt of Long-Acting Injectable Cabotegravir/Rilpivirine” Clin Infect Dis. 2025 Mar 17;80(3):613-617. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciae472.
Outstanding Achievement in Early Career Research Award: Andrew Schreiner, M.D., MSCR, Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine
Top 10 Publishers Club Award: Recognizes the top 10 faculty members in the Department of Medicine with the most original science publications in past calendar year (CY24).
Awardees: Don Rockey, M.D., Michael Zile, M.D., Ryan Tedford, M.D., Gerard Silvestri, M.D., Daniel Judge, M.D., Patrick Flume, M.D., Sheldon Litwin, M.D., Charlie Strange, M.D., Michael Gold, M.D., and Oleg Palygin, Ph.D.
Outstanding Research Staff Member Award: Stephanie Dezzutti, Research Program Coordinator II, Rheumatology
Community Service Award : Puja Elias M.D., MPH, Professor, Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Resident Awards
General Internal Medicine Outpatient Resident of the Year: Megan Minchak, M.D., PGY-2, Internal Medicine Resident
General Internal Medicine Inpatient Resident of the Year: Zachary Patel, M.D., PGY-2, Internal Medicine Resident
General Internal Medicine Outpatient Intern of the Year: Eli Bettiga, M.D., Intern, Internal Medicine Resident
General Internal Medicine Inpatient Intern of the Year: Shea Evans, D.O., Intern, Internal Medicine Resident
Resident Research Award: Sara Armstrong, M.D., PGY-3, Internal Medicine Resident
Teaching and Education Award: Emerson Buck, M.D., PGY-3, IM Resident
Triple Threat Award: Qi Jin Guo, M.D., PGY-3 Internal Medicine Resident
Doctor’s Doctor Award: Elizabeth Belford, M.D., PGY-3, Internal Medicine Resident
Professionalism Award: Victoria Sanderford, M.D., PGY-3, Internal Medicine Resident
Intern of the Year: Katie Atkinson, D.O., PGY-1 Intern, Internal Medicine Resident
Resident of the Year: Vincent Bolus, M.D., PGY-3, Internal Medicine Resident
Employee Awards
APP of the Year Award: Deborah H. Brooks, MSN, ANP-BC, Nephrology
Peer Recognition for Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) Excellence Award: Samantha Silsbee, MMSc, PA-C, Physician Assistant, Pulmonary & Critical Care
Employee of the Year Award - Excellence in Research Award: Audra Eastman, Clinical Research Coordinator, Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine
Employee of the Year Award - Leadership Excellence Award: Karen Osgood, MBA, Accounting/Fiscal Manager I, Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy & Sleep Medicine
Compassion and Respect Award: Seniorita Lucas, Administrative Coordinator II, Pulmonary & Critical Care
Innovation and Collaboration Award: Natalie Wilson, Program Manager I, Medicine Administration
Integrity Award: Brittany Pinckney, Administrative Coordinator II, Medicine Administration
Department of Medicine Awards Day
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