Jim Oates, M.D., appointed endowed chair

Jim Oates, M.D., professor and director of the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, has been appointed as the inaugural holder of the Richard M. Silver, M.D., Endowed Chair in Rheumatology & Immunology.

Oates was honored during an online investiture ceremony in the virtual presence of more than 85 family members, friends, colleagues, and donors on Nov. 19, 2020.

The Department of Medicine established the $1 million endowed chair campaign in 2013 to support world-class autoimmune research and scholarship. The Silver Chair is a tribute to the renowned career and contributions of former Rheumatology and Immunology Division Director Richard Silver, M.D., distinguished university professor and active division member.

“To have my name, in some way, associated with Jim's is a tremendous honor and I'm very humbled by it,” said Silver, who is also the vice chair for development for the Department of Medicine. “He is an outstanding clinician and researcher in the fields of systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis, and his work has been characterized by excellence and distinction as a physician, scientist and teacher.”

Department of Medicine Interim Chair Ben Clyburn, M.D., noted that Oates carries on work begun years ago by Silver. “He exemplifies Dr. Silver’s research attributes, his compassion for patients, and his unwavering dedication and commitment to training the next generation of physician-scientists,” said Clyburn. “Dr. Oates will further Dr. Silver’s work to unravel the complicated autoimmune diseases that affect our patients.”

“Holding the Silver chair is a great honor,” said Oates. “Dr. Silver is a distinguished university professor for a reason. He embodies what we call the triple threat, where he excels in all three of the academic missions in a way that we don't see anymore. And he's been an incredible role model in that way. He has created the culture in this division that has made my job easy as a new division director, a culture of dignity and respect that he has worked hard on.”

Oates is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center and an additional year of research fellowship training at MUSC. In 1997, he joined the MUSC rheumatology faculty where he has had an illustrious career as a physician-scientist. Oates succeeded Silver as director of the Division of Rheumatology & Immunology in 2018, and he also serves as vice chair for research in the Department of Medicine.  

In addition to running the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Oates also leads a strong research lab focused on lupus nephritis and lupus atherosclerosis. In work funded through a VA Merit Award, the Oates lab is studying how endothelial dysfunction may link the accelerated atherosclerosis seen in lupus patients with the process of immune cells becoming attracted to and migrating into kidney tissues to cause local inflammation. Nitric oxide, a potent vasodilator, is highly expressed in the kidney and may be a key mediator and modulator of disease.

To help guide therapy, the Oates lab is also looking at biomarkers at baseline that predict one-year outcomes. Furthermore, they are using a type of machine learning, random forest analysis, to assess variables that are already in the electronic health record in an attempt to model patients who are at risk for poor outcomes.

Oates has supported clinical research at a regional and national level by serving as the president of the American Federation for Medical Research and president of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, where he now serves as an associate editor of its journal, the American Journal of Medical Sciences. He has been honored with numerous awards from institutions, including Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the American College of Rheumatology, the Research Education Foundation, the MUSC Health Sciences Foundation, and others.

An endowed chair is the highest academic award that the university can bestow on a faculty member, and it lasts as long as the university exists. Thus, it is an honor to the recipient, a legacy for those for whom the chair is named, and an enduring tribute to the donors who help establish it.

The Department of Medicine is deeply appreciative of the generosity of our many loyal donors who contributed $1 million over the past seven years to make this endowed chair a reality. Your support enables MUSC to grow and retain the highest caliber of talent and leadership necessary to propel the department and university to even greater heights.