Pinckney Johnstone Maxwell, IV, MD

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.

Habib G. Rizk, M.D., MSc grew up in Beirut-Lebanon. He attended the French Faculty of Medicine-Saint Joseph University in Beirut Lebanon and pursued an Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery residency at Hôtel-Dieu de France Hospital in Beirut followed by a one-year Otologic Medicine and Surgery Fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Teixido and a two-year Neurotology fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Rizk's interests pertain to all areas of otology and neurotology with a specific focus on medical and surgical management of vestibular disorders. He is an associate professor in the MUSC department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, and is the Director of the Multidisciplinary Vestibular Program. Dr. Rizk is currently on the board of directors and is vice-president of the Vestibular Disorders Association. He is a member of the Bárány society and a fellow of the American Neurotology Society. He is also a member of the American Balance Society and of the Otology and Neurotology Education Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

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.