Division Of General Pediatrics Team

William Basco, M.D., MS
Division Chief - General Pediatrics
Dr. William Basco, Professor and Director, Division of Pediatrics, has been a faculty member at MUSC since 1997. He is a former Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar, completing four years of research in the area of medical education, particularly the medical school admission process. Dr. Basco is co-director of Frontiers in Pediatrics, MUSC Pediatric Department's yearly CME program aimed at general pediatricians and other practitioners caring for children. Dr. Basco currently serves as the Pediatric Director of the MUSC Academic Generalist/Heath Services Research Fellowship Program and is the Principal Investigator on a HRSA-funded Academic Administrative Units (Title VII) Grant. Dr. Basco currently has funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to evaluate outpatient pediatric prescribing errors.

Michelle Amaya, M.D., MPH
Dr. Michelle Amaya, M.D. is a Pediatric Psychiatry Specialist in Charleston, SC and has over 32 years of experience in the medical field. She graduated from University Of North Carolina School Of Medicine.

 

Erin Balog, M.D.
Dr. Erin K. Balog is a general pediatrician. She grew up on the coast, just south of Boston, MA. After attending Bowdoin College in Maine, she worked in a hospital-based lab focused on cancer genetics for three years before attending medical school at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. During medical school, she accepted a Navy scholarship, and completed her training in Pediatrics at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. Her initial duty station after residency was at the Naval Hospital in Charleston, SC where she took care of service member dependents, active duty and retired, for three years. She then accepted a teaching assignment at the military medical school, USUHS, in Bethesda, MD where she was stationed for eight years. Upon leaving the military, she returned to Charleston with her family, and has been working in private practice before joining the General Pediatrics team at MUSC. Her professional interests include evaluating and treating pediatric mental health conditions, newborn medicine and breastfeeding, and medical education.

Kristina K. Gustafson, M.D., MSCR, FAAP
Dr. Kristina Gustafson, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, is the Medical Director of the MUSC Pediatric Primary Care (PPC) clinic and an Associate Program Director for the Pediatric Residency Program. She earned her M.D. from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, affiliated with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She completed the Academic Generalist fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina, earning a Master of Science in Clinical Research. She works as an outpatient pediatrician. She received special recognition as a Master Educator by the pediatric residents and was selected as one of the first members of the MUSC Pediatric Education Scholars Academy. She currently serves as the Academic Pediatric Association Region VIII Co-Chair and is a member of the South Carolina Pediatric Practice Research Network. She is the site investigator for the SC DHHS CHIPRA Quality Demonstration Grant: Quality through Technology and Innovation in Pediatrics (QTIP). Her research interests include quality improvement and education, resident education, preventive medicine, and PCMH.

Kathleen Head, M.D., MS, MPH

 

 

Timothy Horgan, D.O.
Dr. Tim Horgan is a board-certified general pediatrician who treats children of all ages, from newborns to age 18. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Horgan earned his Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Suwanee, Georgia. His clinical interests include general outpatient pediatrics, ADHD, sports medicine, and complex care. Before returning to school to earn his medical degree, Dr. Horgan spent three years in the financial sector, but he always knew he wanted to pursue a career in healthcare. After completing several volunteering opportunities, he was confident that pediatrics was his specialty. From 2018 – 2022, Dr. Horgan served as the Flight Commander and a pediatrician on active duty in the air force. He says it was truly an honor to care for the children of active duty parents and/or retirees.

Kathryn King Cristaldi, M.D., MHS

 

 

 

Claire MacGeorge, M.D., MSCR

 

 

 

James McElligott, M.D., MS
Dr. James McElligott joined the Pediatric faculty in 2009. He completed both his pediatric residency and his Academic Generalist fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina. He received a Masters in Science of Clinical Research through the Generalist Fellowship in 2009. His clinical and research interests include health disparities, vaccine delivery and international medicine. He is the Medical Director for MUSC's Center for Telehealth.

J. Routt Reigart, M.D.
Dr. Reigart, Professor Emeritus and former Director of the Division of General Pediatrics, has conducted university affiliated clinical trials since 1971. His research interests include children's environmental health issues, general pediatrics, and toxicology (lead poisoning prevention and education activities since 1972; state wide screening initiatives since 1975; CDC chair for the Childhood Lead Poisoning Advisory Committee, and the USEPA chair for the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee; member of USEPA/USDA/Tolerance Reassessment Advisory Committee and the FIFRA Science Advisory Panel). He is an active participant in the Prioritization Committee for the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children program.

Sara Ritchie, M.D.
Dr. Sara Ritchie is a board-certified general pediatrician who treats children of all ages, from newborns to age 18. Dr. Ritchie earned her medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. After graduating, she stayed at MUSC to complete her residency as well. Dr. Ritchie's clinical interests include breastfeeding medicine, complex medical conditions, and treatment of ADHD. Dr. Ritchie's approach to patient care is to meet patients where they are and to apply the latest updates and guidelines in evidence-based medicine to their treatment for the most successful patient outcomes. Dr. Ritchie is also an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and is happy to help new mothers and their newborns with breastfeeding issues. Dr. Ritchie is fluent in English, speaks conversational Spanish, and is working diligently on improving her medical Spanish.

James R. Roberts, M.D., MPH
Dr. James Roberts, Professor of Pediatrics, is the Director of the South Carolina Pediatric Practice Research Network (SCPPRN). He joined the MUSC faculty in 1997 and has been conducting clinical research since 1996. He completed a General Academic Pediatric fellowship and earned a Master of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He currently serves as the Director of Frontiers in Pediatrics, MUSC Department of Pediatrics' annual CME program. His research interests include children's environmental health hazards, environmental triggers of asthma, pesticide toxicity, and the management of lead toxicity in children. Additional research activities in the SCPPRN include vaccine delivery, quality improvement, environmental tobacco smoke exposure, obesity, and vitamin D deficiency.

Christine San Giovanni, M.D.

 

 

 

General Pediatrics Extended Faculty

David Bundy, M.D., MPH
Dr. David Bundy, Professor of Pediatrics, joined the MUSC Department of Pediatrics faculty as the Vice Chair for Quality and Safety in 2012.  He received his MD from the University of Michigan Medical School, his MPH from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, and he trained in pediatrics at the Seattle Children’s Hospital at the University of Washington.  In his current role, Dr. Bundy leads quality and safety initiatives across the MUSC Children’s Hospital, involving teams from numerous pediatric medical and surgical subspecialties.  His research focuses on the quality and safety of pediatric healthcare, with an emphasis on Medicaid-insured children and those with chronic conditions, with a particular emphasis on the care of children with sickle cell disease.

Ellen Maher, M.D.
Ellen, originally from Cleveland, OH, obtained her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology and Chemistry from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Prior to medical school she pursued basic science research in South Carolina and published work on vaccines for Ebola, Dengue and Marburg. She then transitioned to the Department of Pharmacology at The Medical University of South Carolina where she worked with g-protein coupled receptor proteins of the immune system. She became a 200-hour certified yoga teacher in 2008 and taught regularly in Charleston. In 2011, she entered medical school at MUSC with the hope of integrating science and her passion for preventive health practices. During Medical school she completed research in STIs and cervical dysplasia in HIV positive women, as well as kinship care in children with high adverse childhood experience (ACE) scores.

Nathalie Simone Malcom, M.D.
Dr. Nathalie Malcolm is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she received both her undergraduate and medical degrees at Louisiana State University. She completed her residency training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in the combined specialty of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics (Med-Peds).After her residency, Dr. Malcolm joined the Dantzler Internal Medicine and Pediatrics clinic affiliated with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in North Charleston, SC. As a dual-board certified pediatrician and internist, she cares for patients of all ages and backgrounds- from newborns to senior citizens. Dr. Malcolm takes pride in her role as a preceptor to the medical residents at MUSC who are lucky enough to learn from her. She is a member of the American College of Physicians and is board-certified in internal medicine and pediatrics. Special medical interests include pediatric and adult hypertension, obesity medicine, and fitness. She also counsels patients on various forms of birth control, including administration of Nexplanon. (Note, intrauterine devices are not inserted at this practice.) Dr. Malcolm enjoys reading, discussing pop-culture factoids, and travel in her spare time.

Rachael T. Zweigoron-Sabbagh, M.D.

 

 

Research Staff

Erin Dawley

Danyel Dantzler, BS, MS

Elizabeth O'Brien, RN
Beth O'Brien joined the General Pediatrics team in 2007 as the General Pediatrics clinical research coordinator. She has been a nurse for over 32 years and has extensive experience in working with clinical trials