Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy & Sleep Medicine Faculty & Leadership

Dee W. Ford, M.D., MSCR, is a Professor of Medicine & Division Director for MUSC's Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Sleep Medicine. She is a physician scientist and physician leader with expertise in health services research, health professional education, and quality improvement. Dr. Ford was awarded the 2019 Department of Medicine Faculty Mentoring Award and the 2020 Population Health Award from the MUSC Foundation for her outstanding contributions to improving the health of the state of South Carolina. Nationally, she has served on a number of leadership committees for both the American Thoracic Society and the American College of Chest Physicians.

Dr. Andrew Goodwin is a pulmonary intensivist committed to improving the health and well-being of critically ill patients through patient-centered care and clinical and translational research. His clinical interests include the hemodynamic management of septic shock and ventilation strategies for ARDS as well as strategies to mitigate ICU delirium. He also performs translational research focused on the potential role that micro RNA play in the endothelial dysfunction of sepsis and ARDS. In particular, he and his collaborators are focused on identifying the role that circulating miRNA have on endothelial cell gene expression and function and their potential use as a therapeutic in these syndromes. Additionally, he investigates the impact of patient factors such as race and comorbidities as well as hospital factors such as location and size on the outcomes of critical illness. His long-range goal is to improve the outcomes of critically ill patients through new therapeutics and optimal bedside care.

Dr. Ennis James became interested in sarcoidosis as a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University and joined the pulmonary faculty at MUSC in 2015. Dr James currently serves as the Program Director for the Susan Pearlstine Sarcoidosis Center of Excellence, and strongly believes in its vision to improve the lives of sarcoidosis patients by providing coordinated, patient-focused multidisciplinary care and cutting edge sarcoidosis research. He is happy to see sarcoidosis patients with any type of organ involvement.

Rahul Argula, M.D., MPH, is board certified in pulmonary diseases and critical care. He works together with multiple providers within the MUSC system to provide inter-disciplinary care for patients with pulmonary hypertension and other advanced lung diseases. He is the director of the MUSC pulmonary vascular disease program, where patients with a multitude of pulmonary vascular diseases such as pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary vasculitides, pulmonary arterio-venous malformations, etc. are cared for. The MUSC pulmonary vascular disease program is the only one in the state of South Carolina that is designated as a comprehensive care center for patients with pulmonary hypertension by the PHA (Pulmonary Hypertension Association). 

Dr. Argula's research interests include pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary vascular disease in the setting of connective tissue disease, interstitial lung disease, end-stage renal disease and sarcoidosis. His clinical interests include pulmonary arterial hypertension(PAH), chronic thrombo-embolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), pulmonary vascular disease in the setting of advanced liver disease, end stage renal disease, COPD, and interstitial lung disease. 

Fellowship: Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine, MUSC
Residency: Medical University of South Carolina
Medical School: Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine

Dr. Derlis C. Fleitas is an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Sleep. He focuses his clinical and research efforts in the areas of lung transplantation, sarcoidosis, pulmonary embolism, and advance lung disease.

Clinical Sciences Research Pathway Leader: Patrick Flume, M.D., is a Professor and Endowed Chair in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics. Dr. Flume has a long history of success in performing and leading large clinical trials in cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, and non-tuberculous mycobacteria pulmonary infections. He is Director of the MUSC CF Center, Director of the MUSC Therapeutic Development Network (TDN) research site (consistently in the top three performing centers in the network), and has served as a site Principal Investigator in >100 multi-center clinical trials and as the overall PI in >10 trials including the Standardized Treatment of Pulmonary Exacerbations in CF (STOP Program) funded by the CF Foundation. He has led the Pulmonary Clinical Trials Program for the last 10 years, providing supervision to a program that manages an average of 50 active studies at any given time. Many of his prior trainees have continued onto successful research careers in CF.

Dee W. Ford, M.D., MSCR, is a Professor of Medicine & Division Director for MUSC's Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, and Sleep Medicine. She is a physician scientist and physician leader with expertise in health services research, health professional education, and quality improvement. Dr. Ford was awarded the 2019 Department of Medicine Faculty Mentoring Award and the 2020 Population Health Award from the MUSC Foundation for her outstanding contributions to improving the health of the state of South Carolina. Nationally, she has served on a number of leadership committees for both the American Thoracic Society and the American College of Chest Physicians.

Adam Fox, M.D., is a pulmonologist and clinician scientist with a research focus in health services research for patients with lung cancer at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). His long-term research goal is to improve care delivery for patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer, especially as it relates to precision medicine therapies. His clinical time is spent evaluating patients suspected to have lung cancer in a multi-disciplinary thoracic oncology clinic, performing bronchoscopy for diagnostic or staging purposes, and collaborating on cases through our multi-disciplinary thoracic tumor board. Biomarker testing performed on patient's lung cancer tissue continues to grow in importance in driving precision medicine treatment decisions, especially as new therapies and indications emerge for both targeted and immune therapies.

He serves as co-principal investigator on a grant from the American Cancer Society (ACS) to assess biomarker testing and treatment patterns in nationally representative databases. He is the co-lead faculty for the ACS Extension for Community Health Outcomes (ECHO) for biomarker testing in South Carolina, and a member of the ACS National Lung Cancer Roundtable (NLCRT) Triage for Appropriate Treatment Task Group.

Dr. Andrew Goodwin is a pulmonary intensivist committed to improving the health and well-being of critically ill patients through patient-centered care and clinical and translational research. His clinical interests include the hemodynamic management of septic shock and ventilation strategies for ARDS as well as strategies to mitigate ICU delirium. He also performs translational research focused on the potential role that micro RNA play in the endothelial dysfunction of sepsis and ARDS. In particular, he and his collaborators are focused on identifying the role that circulating miRNA have on endothelial cell gene expression and function and their potential use as a therapeutic in these syndromes. Additionally, he investigates the impact of patient factors such as race and comorbidities as well as hospital factors such as location and size on the outcomes of critical illness. His long-range goal is to improve the outcomes of critically ill patients through new therapeutics and optimal bedside care.

Dr. Ennis James became interested in sarcoidosis as a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University and joined the pulmonary faculty at MUSC in 2015. Dr James currently serves as the Program Director for the Susan Pearlstine Sarcoidosis Center of Excellence, and strongly believes in its vision to improve the lives of sarcoidosis patients by providing coordinated, patient-focused multidisciplinary care and cutting edge sarcoidosis research. He is happy to see sarcoidosis patients with any type of organ involvement.

Assistant
Professor

Professor

Professor

Professor

I am a lung cancer pulmonologist with expertise in the evaluation, management, and improvement of outcomes of patients with lung cancer. I conduct patient-oriented clinical research studies that encompass nearly every aspect of lung cancer care, including lung cancer screening, disparities in cancer care, shared decision-making, and the evaluation and management of pulmonary nodules. I have a graduate degree in the evaluative clinical sciences, and I apply the health services research techniques I learned to many aspects of lung cancer care.

Clinical Assistant Professor

Medical School: Medical University of South Carolina
Undergraduate: Davidson College
Hometown: Annapolis, MD
Fun Fact: I used to captain a pirate ship.

I am a lung cancer pulmonologist and clinician scientist at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Hospital where I have led the lung cancer screening program since 2012. I have a joint appointment as Professor of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) where I co-direct the NCI-designated Hollings Cancer Center lung cancer screening program. I am a member of Hollings Cancer Center Cancer Control Program and have worked to implement lung cancer screening programs across the state of South Carolina at recently acquired MUSC regional health hospitals. My research and clinical interest focus on all aspects of lung cancer screening, disparities, pulmonary nodule evaluation, and the staging and diagnosis of lung cancer.

Assistant
Professor

Thoracic Oncology Research Program Manager
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Rare Lung Disease Research Program Manager
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