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HSSC adds Bearden and Willenberg to Scientific Steering Committee

Submitted by: Melanie Lux on Oct 24, 2008 at 8:09 pm Tagged with: Health Sciences South Carolina, James Bearden, Kelly Willenberg, Scientific Steering Committee Source: Lux Strategic Communications

COLUMBIA, S.C., October 24, 2008 - - Health Sciences South Carolina (HSSC) is pleased to welcome two new
members to its Scientific Steering Committee. James Bearden, III, MD, FACP, and Kelly Willenberg, MBA, BSN, RN,
CHRC, PhD(c), have joined the committee as representatives of Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System.

HSSC is a dynamic statewide collaborative composed of three South Carolina public research universities and four
health systems that seeks to improve health and economic wellbeing of the state through advances in research, education
and clinical care. The organization’s Scientific Steering Committee composed of researchers from each HSSC partner.

The committee provides guidance to the research effort, helps determine goals of the organization, and oversees the
progress and direction of the HSSC-supported Centers of Economic Excellence (CoEE), including the recruitment of
endowed chairs. The CoEE program was created and funded by the State to engage public research universities and
private and corporate investors in the transformation of South Carolina’s economy. Currently, there are eleven HSSCsupported
CoEEs that address a range of diseases and healthcare quality and patient safety issues.
A practicing medical oncologist, Dr. Bearden is the medical director of Gibbs Cancer Center and vice president
of Research at Spartanburg Regional. He was instrumental in helping the Gibbs Cancer Center become one of
only ten community hospitals to participate in the National Cancer Institute’s Community Cancer Centers
Program.

Willenberg is the director of Health Sciences Research for Spartanburg Regional. She has previously served as
the director of Billing Compliance at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. She has more
than 20 years of experience in clinical trials management and compliance.

“We are excited to have these two individuals join the Scientific Steering Committee,” says HSSC President and CEO Jay Moskowitz. “They both bring expertise from two different areas. Their experience, coupled with
the talents of others on the committee, will advance our organization and help us continue to fulfill our mission
of improving the economic wellbeing and public health of South Carolina.”

About Health Sciences South Carolina

Established in April 2004, Health Sciences South Carolina (HSSC) is a statewide public-private collaborative of universities and health systems possessing the shared vision of using health sciences research to improve the health and economic wellbeing of South Carolina. HSSC includes Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of South Carolina, Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center, Palmetto Health, and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. For more information, visit www.healthsciencessc.org.

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