Edwin Allan Smith, MD

Dr. Melissa Cunningham was raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania. She received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and a Masters degree in molecular medicine from Boston University. After receiving her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Pennsylvania State University, she entered the ABIM's clinician-scientist track at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she completed her residency and fellowship training in June 2012, and subsequently joined the faculty as an assistant professor in the division of rheumatology and immunology.Dr. Cunningham's group has a particular interest in inflammation, autoimmunity, and sex bias. Her research is focused on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the role of estrogen receptor alpha (ERa) in modulating the inflammatory response in this disease, which is predominately diagnosed in females (9:1 vs. males). Her work has been supported by MUSC's specialized center of research on sex and gender factors affecting women's health, a grant from MUSC's center for genomic medicine and a three-year CTSA KL2 award. She is currently funded on a five-year NIH career development award (K08).

Dr. Diane Kamen is an assistant professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology. She completed her undergraduate training at Northwestern University. She graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1999 and completed her internal medicine residency and a three-year rheumatology fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina in June 2005. In 2004, she completed a two-year Master of Science in Clinical Research program, funded through an NIH K30 clinical research curriculum award. She joined the faculty in July 2005. Dr. Kamen has had a longstanding interest in the clinical treatment of and research in understanding the natural history of autoimmune disorders. Her clinical and research interests remain focused on systemic lupus erythematosus and she is an active member of the M.U.S.C.L.E. Research Group. She has headed several large observational investigations, including studies of the prevalence, characteristics, and genetics of SLE within the Sea Island African American Gullah population (the S.L.E.I.G.H. Study) and has a K23 award from the NIH to investigate the role of vitamin D in lupus under the mentorship of Dr. Gilkeson. She also has an R21 award from the NIH to explore potential environmental triggers of autoimmunity. She is involved in multiple interventional clinical trials in lupus, both industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated. She serves as the clinical director for the lupus clinical trials consortium at MUSC. Dr. Kamen promotes clinical research at a national level as chair of the southern section American Federation for Medical Research, a member of the Lupus Foundation of America medical-scientific advisory council, and on the international level as a member of the Systemic Lupus Collaborating Clinics (SLICC).Dr. Kamen’s career goals include gaining insight into the pathogenic mechanisms responsible for autoimmune diseases and improving the quality of life for patients.

Dr. Emily Campbell grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio and received her BS from Miami University of Ohio where she majored in Zoology. She received her MD at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and went on to complete her residency in Pediatrics at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago/McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University. During her residency, Dr. Campbell developed a particular interest in food allergy. She completed her fellowship training in Allergy and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her research during fellowship was primarily focused on mammalian meat allergy, or alpha gal allergy. Dr. Campbell sees patients of all ages. Her clinical interests include pediatric food allergy and pediatric eczema.