Bruce W. Usher, MD

Garth R. Swanson, MD, MS, AGAF, is a Professor of Medicine and currently serves as the Division Director of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is a practicing gastroenterologist and physician-scientist with a specialty in managing complex patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Dr. Swanson's overall translational research program is primarily focused on the impact of environmental factors, like alcohol or circadian misalignment, on the gastrointestinal barrier homeostasis, gut-derived inflammation, and the microbiome. He completed a K23 grant in which the focus was the interaction between alcohol consumption and circadian disruption on intestinal barrier function in alcoholics and night shift workers. Dr. Swanson currently has two R01s examining the impact of circadian misalignment and chronotherapy in Inflammatory bowel disease. Dr. Swanson is an active mentor to residents, fellows, masters, and Ph.D. students who rotate in his lab. Dr. Swanson was instrumental in establishing the Rush Crohn's and Colitis Center at RUMC in 2018, which includes the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Multidisciplinary (IBD) Clinic, which he used to Co-Direct with Surgery and multidisciplinary (combined medical and surgical) inpatient consults in IBD service. The establishment of this multidisciplinary clinic in Inflammatory Bowel Disease has helped advance state-of-the-art and cutting-edge treatments in a coordinated care center for patients facing a complex medical and surgical disease. He completed a Master's in Clinical Research at Rush University, was formally the Director of the Rush Crohn's & Colitis Center, the Director of the Clinical Chronobiology Unit and the Associate Director of the Rush Center for Integrated Microbiome and Chronobiology Research at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL.

Virgilio V. George, M.D. is a colorectal surgeon in Charleston, S.C. His primary academic and clinical focus is in the field of colorectal surgery including benign and malignant disease. Dr. George is recognized for his excellence in colorectal surgery both nationally and internationally. His clinical interests cover the range of inflammatory bowel disease: Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticular disease, colon and rectal cancer, benign anorectal disease with special interest in minimal invasive colon and rectal procedures, and transanal endoscopy microsurgery for rectal tumors. Dr. George leads the multidisciplinary team at the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, which recently earned a three-year accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC), recognizing the center’s commitment to providing the best possible care for patients with the disease. Hollings is one of only 22 centers in the country to earn the accreditation and is the first in South Carolina, further highlighting the center as a national leader in treating cancers of the digestive system. Dr. George is developing successful programs in minimally invasive colorectal surgery. This includes collaborations with the division of gastroenterology in the Department of Medicine for inflammatory bowel disease and with the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center to provide specialty surgery services in colorectal surgeries to include robotic surgical techniques. Not only has Dr. George been a very active and creative surgeon, but his research accomplishments have been many. His research interests include a very strong focus in the area of oncology, with scientific interests including work in the basic sciences, specifically in the areas of signal transduction through the application in translational research in certain cancers, including therapy and pharmacogenetics work that has led to multiple publications in the topic of single-site colectomies demonstrating the safety and benefits to the patient. He has studied and performed the most single-site colectomies in the country. He participates in multiple genetic cancer studies as well as American College of Surgeon Oncology Group (ACOSOG) studies focused on laparoscopic versus open colon resection for cancer patients. Dr. George trained as a medical doctor in Venezuela where he attended the Universidad Centroccidental "Lisandro Alvarado" School of Medicine. In 2001, Dr. George moved to the United States to complete a residency program in general surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine. During that time, he developed a special interest in the treatment of colorectal diseases through surgical intervention and in 2006 he completed a fellowship in colon and rectal surgery under Dr. James Fleshman at Washington University in St. Louis Missouri.