Puja Sukhwani Elias, MD, MPH

Dr. Pinckney Maxwell earned his medical degree here at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. He completed his residency in general surgery at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. He subsequently completed his fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia to obtain specialized training in colon and rectal surgery. He was invited to remain at Thomas Jefferson on the faculty for several years before returning to his alma mater here at MUSC in 2011. Dr. Maxwell specializes in the surgical treatment of diseases of the colon, rectum and anus. His areas of expertise include colon and rectal cancer; inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohns disease; benign colonic diseases such as diverticulitis and rectal prolapse; fecal incontinence; benign anorectal diseases such hemorrhoids and anal fissures; and colonoscopy for screening, surveillance, diagnosis, and therapeutics. He is a specialist in advanced laparoscopic colorectal surgery, using minimally invasive techniques to treat many of these diseases. He also works in close collaboration with gastroenterologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, urologists and interventional radiologists to develop multidisciplinary and individualized management strategies for his patients.

Dr. Jean Marie Ruddy is a vascular surgeon with clinical interests in lower extremity venous insufficiency and atherosclerotic disease of the abdominal aorta, carotid artery, and extremity vessels. In addition, Dr. Ruddy dedicates time to scientific research with particular interest in hypertensive vascular remodeling and infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. Dr. Ruddy received her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and completed her general surgery residency at the Medical University of South Carolina and a vascular surgery fellowship at Emory University.

Dr. Adrian Van Bakel graduated from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in 1981, completing a Ph.D. in pharmacology from that institution in 1983. He completed internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship training at the Medical University of South Carolina and has been on the faculty at MUSC since 1991. Dr. Van Bakel served as the Medical Director of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Program from 1991-2017. He has been an integral part of a multi-disciplinary clinical team that has achieved excellent results in the areas of clinical heart failure management and cardiac transplantation. He is a member of a number of professional societies including: The American College of Physicians; the American Heart Association; the American College of Cardiology; the Heart Failure Society of America; and, the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation. He has served as a manuscript reviewer for several journals, such as: The Journal of Cardiac Failure; The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation; and, The American Journal of Transplantation. Dr. Van Bakel has been the principal investigator of many multi-center clinical trials in congestive heart failure and cardiac transplantation. His research interests include congestive heart failure management, novel immunosuppression strategies and the pharmacogenomics of drug absorption and metabolism.