Distinguished Endowed Chairs hold tremendous prestige in the medical community. To hold a Distinguished Endowed Chair means that you have achieved recognized excellence in your work as a clinician and/or researcher. Endowed chairs are the premier recruiting tool used to secure senior level leaders with national reputations. It is highly competitive to recruit these leading clinicians and scientists. The ability to offer an endowed chair to a qualified individual puts us one step ahead of the competition. The ability to secure that individual opens the door to substantial benefits for the institution and the patients that we serve. 

Faculty members value the flexibility a chair gives them to pursue innovative clinical, educational, and research activities for which no other funding is available. Funding for endowed chairs has helped recruit several renowned physician-researchers to lead new initiatives and retain some of the most distinguished and sought-after professors. Endowed chairs also allow scientists and physicians to continue their research collaborations, attract knowledgeable and experienced faculty to their teams, build the appropriate infrastructure for further discovery, and promote more extensive collaborations within the university and the Southeast region. Additionally, the funds generated from this endowment will further enable the department to attract and retain distinguished faculty allowing them the time necessary to coordinate and lead these investigative efforts. 

A minimum contribution of $1,000,000 is required to endow a chair. With an endowment fund, only the investment income may be used. By policy set forth by the Medical University of South Carolina Foundation (MUSC) Board, only a portion of investment income is expended (currently 5%), so that the Foundation’s endowment funds will grow over time. The corpus is never invaded, thereby ensuring existence of the endowment fund in perpetuity. The MUSC Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization, contributions to which are tax deductible. All philanthropic gifts are received through the MUSC Foundation. 

Hollings Cancer Center is on an ambitious campaign to double the number of Distinguished Endowed Chairs currently available. Additionally, with new endowed chairs at the $2,000,000 level, Hollings Cancer Center has the opportunity to compete for matching funds from the South Carolina Centers of Economic Excellence program funded by the education lottery. Securing endowed chairs will directly impact our future success. The areas we hope to see endowed chairs are listed here. We do hope you will support our efforts.

Distinguished Endowed Chair in Gastrointestinal Malignancy
Cancers of the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, colon, rectum, and anus all fall under gastrointestinal malignancies. In South Carolina, colon/rectum cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death in South Carolina. Pancreas ranks 4th in mortality rates; esophagus ranks 5th; and, larynx ranks 10th. We have a desperate problem in this area and need to recruit and retain leaders who will be able to make an impact through their clinical work and their research. 

Distinguished Endowed Chair in Hematologic Malignancies
Hollings Cancer Center is seeking to establish an Endowed Chair in Hematologic Malignancies (Bone Marrow Transplants, Leukemia, Lymphoma, etc.). Support for this endowed chair would allow Hollings Cancer Center and MUSC the opportunity to recruit a nationally-known director with an active research laboratory to lead our BMT program to national prominence. 

Distinguished Endowed Chair in Melanoma and Cutaneous Oncology
Melanoma affects 1 in every 70 Americans. Early disease is curable if surgically removed but if allowed to progress is uniformly fatal. This Chair will support the efforts of a distinguished physician who will bring the latest in melanoma care to the State of South Carolina. This individual will device new therapies and bridge the gap between laboratory developments and the patient’s treatment. This outstanding physician will put significant effort into educating the public on the prevention and recognition of melanoma in the hope of decreasing the incidence of this disease.    

Distinguished Endowed Chair in Nutrition and Cancer
It is no secret that there is a link between nutrition and diet and cancer. It is estimated that more than 17,375 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in South Carolina in the next year. How many of those cases could have been prevented by a change in diet? This is a “hot topic” that could make a huge impact on the prevention of cancer. More public cancer prevention education and research is needed to properly chart results of studies on nutrition and cancer and ultimately change the way we eat.

Distinguished Endowed Chair in Breast Cancer Oncology
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in South Carolina, regardless of race, with more than 2,680 new cases diagnosed each year. It is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death in South Carolina females. Black and other non-white females in South Carolina are more likely to die from breast cancer than white females. This problem needs to be addressed by a dedicated physician/scientist who is not only focused on the current therapies available but also pursuing new forms of prevention and treatment.

Distinguished Endowed Chair in Prostate and other Genitourinary Cancers
About 81,400 Americans will die of genitourinary cancer during 2003, according to the American Cancer Society. The Society further projects that roughly 405,300 new cases of these cancers will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year. Despite these grim statistics, the fact is, patients with genitourinary cancer are experiencing lower mortality/morbidity rates and a higher quality of life than was possible just a few years ago, thanks to progress made in the field of medical research. Still, the statistics remain. As long as patients continue to suffer from these cancers, we are compelled to search for new ways to prevent, detect, diagnose and treat them. This chair will allow us to enhance our basic and clinical science research efforts, continue ongoing clinical trials, and develop new and novel projects in combination with the basic research departments at MUSC, eventually leading to breakthrough therapies in urologic oncology. 

Distinguished Endowed Chair in Phase I New Cancer Drug Development
Developing new therapies for treating all types of cancer is crucial. Once a new cancer drug has been discovered, taking it from the laboratory to the patient is a crucial step. Hollings Cancer Center hopes to build on its already strong clinical trials program by adding a dedicated physician/scientist to initiate and lead Phase I Clinical Trials and build partnerships with the medical community. 

Distinguished Endowed Chair in Radiation Oncology
Dr. Keene M. Wallace arrived at MUSC in 1967 and was the first board certified radiation oncologist in South Carolina. Wallace is credited with not only building the first modern radiation oncology department in South Carolina, at MUSC, but also giving legitimacy to and expanding the profession in the state. Our radiation oncology program continues to grow and we hope to establish a chair in radiation oncology that will propel us to the next level of research, education, and care.