The Developing Scholar Award

One would never guess that it has been only six years since Eric G. Meissner, M.D., Ph.D., was recruited to MUSC. Meissner is an outstanding researcher, educator, and clinician who has successfully bridged clinical practice, clinical research, and bench research, the kind of translational work that is vital to MUSC’s mission. A senior colleague describes him as “one of our best early-career physician scientists.”

Before joining the MUSC faculty ranks in 2014, Meissner earned his M.D./Ph.D. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Washington and a fellowship in infectious diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). During his tenure at MUSC, Meissner has established a viral hepatitis clinic and has been named director of the HIV and Hepatitis Patient Care and Research Clinic. He has secured substantial funding, including a K08 grant from the NIAID during his first year at MUSC, and funding from the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute (SCTR) in 2018 to develop a patient-reported outcomes tool used in the HIV clinic. His research on this tool represents a promising new path for assessing outcomes.

Notably, Meissner has played an integral role in combatting COVID-19 in addition to his regular research portfolio. He is the lead investigator in the effort to develop and validate the serologic antibody test for the virus. In collaboration with the faculty director of the MUSC Center for Global Health, he is conducting a community surveillance study to identify the prevalence of asymptomatic infection, and he is a central member of the COVID-19 Mathematical Modeling
Committee.

But it is not just Meissner’s research that causes him to stand out. He is an excellent educator and mentor. He actively teaches in several graduate courses and has worked with students on research projects, many of which have resulted in peer-reviewed publications. In collaboration with the HIV pharmacist and other junior faculty, Meissner developed the HIV and hepatitis curriculum for the infectious diseases fellowship at MUSC.

Meissner has published consistently, competed successfully for extramural funding, and has demonstrated his leadership capability. His significant contributions to MUSC in such a short time promise a bright future for further exploration and expansion. As such, the Medical University of South Carolina Foundation proudly presents Eric G. Meissner, M.D., Ph.D., with the Developing Scholar Award on August 18, 2020.

For a full list of the 2020 Faculty Awards & Recognition Award Recipients please visit here.