Benjamin Stone, MD

William G. Hawkins, M.D. is a surgical oncologist with 20 years of experience treating patients with some of the most challenging abdominal cancers. His clinical practice focuses on surgery for abdominal cancers, including pancreas cancer, liver cancer, gallbladder cancer, and sarcoma. Dr. Hawkins also cares for patients with complex benign abdominal cases, such as those in need of surgical intervention for bile duct injuries. With a longstanding commitment to leadership, patient care, education and research, Dr. Hawkins has spent 20 years at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and its Siteman Cancer Center, where he obtained and directed a prestigious Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant to conduct multiple projects investigating pancreatic cancer. While there, he served as the chief of Hepatobiliary Pancreatic and Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery. In his administrative leadership role, Dr. Hawkins is the deputy director of the Hollings Cancer Center, where he focuses on strengthening translational research, increasing clinical trials across South Carolina, and assisting Jason Newman, M.D., FACS, chief of the Oncology Integrated Center of Clinical Excellence, with making clinical operations more efficient. He also serves as the Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs in the MUSC Department of Surgery. Dr. Hawkins completed fellowships in surgical oncology and research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York; served as chief during his surgical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; and received both his medical and bachelor's degrees at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Dr. Denise Carneiro-Pla is a board-certified general surgeon who is focused in endocrine surgery. She was educated in Brazil including medical school and residency in general surgery. In 1998, shortly after her residency, she was invited to the United States to be a researcher in endocrine surgery which started her interest and commitment to this specialty. The research fellowship at the University of Miami School of Medicine lasted for a period of three-and-a-half years and then extended to another year and a half as a clinical fellow of endocrine surgery under Dr. George Irvin's mentorship. Following these five years of specialized endocrine surgery training in this center of excellence, Dr. Carneiro-Pla was ready to start her career as an academic surgeon in the U.S. and she repeated the residency in general surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Dr. Carneiro-Pla has been a faculty of the Department of Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina since 2007, with a practice exclusively dedicated to endocrine surgery treating thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal surgical diseases. She remains academically productive writing papers and book chapters in endocrine surgery, mainly in parathyroid disease and cervical ultrasonography, which are her special interests. Dr. Carneiro-Pla currently sees patients in downtown Charleston at Hollings Cancer Center and at North Charleston Specialty Care, where ultrasonography is available as part of cervical physical examination and to guide necessary procedures. The indicated surgeries are performed at our state-of-the-art hospital, Ashley River Tower.

The dynamic clinical team of the MUSC Division of Hematology & Oncology is committed to providing exceptional patient care in oncology, malignant and benign hematology, and bone marrow transplant. Our clinical faculty sees patients at the Hollings Cancer Center, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Medical University Hospital and Ashley River Tower.