Three faculty members named Distinguished University Professors

This fall, three faculty members in the MUSC Department Medicine have been awarded distinguished university professorships. This is the highest honorary academic rank in the College of Medicine, requiring both international prominence and sustained, meritorious service to MUSC. The College of Medicine and MUSC Board of Trustees approved the appointments effective Oct. 8.

The 2021 recipients are:

Dr. Carol Feghali-Bostwick was recruited to the MUSC Division of Rheumatology and Immunology in 2013 as the SmartState® and Kitty Trask Holt Endowed Chair for Scleroderma Research and professor of medicine. She also currently holds a dual appointment with the MUSC Department of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology.

Since joining the faculty at MUSC, Dr. Feghali-Bostwick has maintained continuous external support for her research efforts over many years. Dr. Feghali-Bostwick has made major contributions in the field of fibrosis, especially as related to scleroderma (systemic sclerosis), and her work is transformational in the field. To date, she has published 153 peer-reviewed papers, 20 invited editorials and reviews, three book chapters, and she holds 11 patents. Dr. Feghali-Bostwick’s laboratory work has been supported by grants from the NIH, NIAMS and NHLBI, the SmartState® SC Centers of Economic Excellence, the Kitty Trask Holt fund, and the Merdie Shoemaker Scleroderma Research Fund. She currently holds eight grants and has completed 26 others. She also has participated in numerous study sections and previously served as the chair of research for the Scleroderma Foundation.

Dr. Feghali-Bostwick has an impressive record as a mentor for fellows and junior faculty and her mentoring has been recognized by her receipt of national and institutional awards. Most recently, Dr. Feghali-Bostwick was awarded the NIH Mid-career Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24) in June 2021. In 2014, she was appointed as the Director of the MUSC Center for Arrows (Advancement, Recruitment, and Retention of Women Scientists) which provides programs and support specifically for female Ph.D. scientists or similar female faculty focused on research. In 2016, she was appointed Chair of the MUSC Women Scholars Initiative. She also currently serves as the associate director for the CTSA TL1 Program and the program director for the CTSA Workforce Development.


Dr. Patrick Flume joined the faculty of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division at MUSC in 1993. He is now a professor of medicine and pediatrics, and director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at MUSC. Though he continues to practice general pulmonary and critical care medicine, his primary interests are in cystic fibrosis (CF) and bronchiectasis, and chronic lung infections, including nontuberculous mycobacteria.

Since joining the faculty at MUSC, Dr. Flume has made major contributions in the field of cystic fibrosis. He has played a major role in developing the Cystic Fibrosis Center at MUSC, including ensuring that the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation named it as a center of excellence. Dr. Flume’s record of accomplishments here at MUSC and nationally are remarkable. He is an established national leader in the field of cystic fibrosis.

Dr. Flume has an active clinical research program and heads the MUSC Research Nexus. To date, he has been awarded 149 grants. He is currently the principal investigator on 17 active research grants. To date, he has authored 130 peer-reviewed publications in prominent journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Chest, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, and many others. He has also authored 10 book chapters, 152 abstracts, and 13 peer-reviewed editorial pieces.

Dr. Flume also serves as the MUSC associate provost for research compliance and regulatory affairs. In March 2020, he and Dr. Kathleen Brady, MUSC vice president for research, were named co-principal investigators for a grant renewal from the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research (SCTR) Institute for a five-year renewal of more than $24 million from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.


Dr. Gerard Silvestri is a professor of medicine and a lung cancer pulmonologist at MUSC with a career dedicated to the evaluation, management and improvement of outcomes of patients with this most common of malignancies. For nearly 30 years, Dr. Silvestri has served MUSC and the Department of Medicine with great distinction as a clinician, researcher, educator, and leader.

Dr. Silvestri joined the Pulmonary and Critical Care faculty at MUSC in1993. Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to associate professor in 1998, and in 2006, was promoted to his current position as professor. In 2013, Dr. Silvestri was appointed as the George C. and Margaret M. Hillenbrand Endowed Chair. Most recently he was named senior vice chair of faculty development in the Department of Medicine in May 2021, a role he previously served from 2012 to 2018.

Dr. Silvestri began the first multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic in South Carolina, and now evaluates between five and seven new lung cancers per week. His clinical research is patient-oriented and directed towards nearly every aspect of lung cancer care. He has experience in evaluating new technologies for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer and was part of the first group to publish the utility of endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle aspiration of mediastinal lymph nodes to stage lung cancer patients.

Dr. Silvestri has been a section editor and author of the American College of Chest Physicians evidence-based guidelines on the diagnosis and management of lung cancer. To date, he has over 200 peer-reviewed journal publications, abstracts, book chapters and invited commentaries in clinical care and research of lung cancer. He has lectured as a master clinician in lung cancer for both the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) and the American Thoracic Society (ATS), and has served as chair of the Thoracic Oncology Network of the ACCP.


Drs. Feghali-Bostwick, Flume and Silvestri join the following Department of Medicine Distinguished University Professors: John Feussner, M.D., MPH, Gary Gilkeson, M.D., Lawrence Mohr, M.D., William Moran, M.D., David Ploth, M.D., Don Rockey, M.D., Richard Silver, M.D., Robert Stuart, M.D., and Michael Zile, M.D.