Richard Michael Marchell, MD

Claiming South Carolina as home since his youth, it would seem all roads bring Dr. Mathew Wooster back to the charming Lowcountry. Leaving home originally for college at Duke University he returned briefly to complete medical school at MUSC, venturing off again to the University of South Florida where he completed his integrated vascular surgery residency. He now returns to work alongside the very mentors who introduced him to vascular surgery while a medical student at MUSC. Throughout his training, Dr. Wooster has been involved in complex endovascular aortic repair research, as well as participating routinely in the areas of prosthetic graft infections, multi-time redo peripheral bypasses, endovascular limb salvage, and last chance dialysis access creation. In addition to clinical pursuits, Dr. Wooster has been rigorously involved in education serving as a resident member of multiple sub-committees with the Association of Program Directors of Vascular Surgery.Dr. Wooster's clinical interests and training include the breadth of vascular surgical techniques with a special passion for aortic pathology, cerebrovascular disease, and lower extremity limb salvage. Academically, he looks forward to bringing the strong simulation curriculum he was part of in residency to MUSC, improving knowledge about the field among the general public through community outreach, and contributing to the broadening of clinical trial enrollment at the medical university to be able to offer patients access to cutting edge technologic advances.

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.

Dr. Paul O’Brien is a medical oncologist with special interests in cancers of the head and neck and also gastrointestinal malignancies. He has seven half-day clinics per week at the Hollings Cancer Center. He is active in the development of clinical trials and also serves as the inpatient attending on the medical oncology service three months per year. Dr. O'Brien is developing a curriculum for the residents and medical students during their rotations in medical oncology.