Palliative Care Showcase Presenters

Carrie Cormack

Carrie L. Cormack, DNP, CPNP, FPCN, FAAN
Carrie Cormack is an Associate Professor and lead palliative care faculty in the College of Nursing (CON) at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).

Dr. Cormack focuses on improving the quality of life for individuals living with serious illness through palliative care education and practice. Under her leadership, the CON prioritized palliative care nursing education and aligned with national recommendations, by successfully embedding palliative care across all undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. In addition, she led the development and successful implementation of the nation’s first Post-Master of Science in Nursing to Doctor of Nursing Practice Lifespan Palliative Care program. As faculty with the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC), Fellow with the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (FPCN), and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), Dr. Cormack teaches palliative care to interprofessional healthcare clinicians and students locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Concurrent to her faculty work, Dr. Cormack practices as a pediatric nurse practitioner in perinatal palliative care honoring patient and family values as they navigate receiving difficult news during pregnancy.

Dr. Cormack received her BSN from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, and her MSN and Doctorate from the Medical University of South Carolina.

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Christina McDaniel, DNP, RN
Christina McDaniel has been a nurse for over 20 years, focusing primarily on leadership and innovation in the areas of palliative/hospice care, population health, and pediatrics. The opportunities awarded to Dr. McDaniel throughout her nursing career have collectively fostered a core compassion to advocate and care for individuals living with serious illness and their families. As a leader, Dr. McDaniel is also committed to advocating for the wellbeing of the healthcare providers delivering care to this vulnerable population. In January 2022, Dr. McDaniel joined the MUSC Palliative Care Team as the Program Manager for the Charleston Division and is now serving as the Executive Director of Palliative Care for the MUSC System. In the Executive Director role Dr. McDaniel works to ensure that access to quality palliative care is a priority across the state anywhere MUSC is serving patients. These roles have given her the opportunity to utilize her skills as a leader and change agent for patients, families, and healthcare providers. Dr. McDaniel also holds an appointment at the MUSC College of Nursing teaching in the Accelerated Bachelor of Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice Programs.

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Scott Hutchison, OTD, OTR/L
Dr. Scott Hutchison is an occupational therapist and assistant professor in the Residential Occupational Therapy program at the Medical University of South Carolina. He has been an OT since 2006, and much of his clinical career was in Medicare-certified home health and Hospice. The primary role of OTs is to maximize a client’s independence and engagement in life’s meaningful activities and occupations, from basic dressing or feeding to complex baking, working, or caregiving. OT is appropriate for clients in all stages of life. Dr. Hutchison is passionate about extending the services of OT to more clients receiving Palliative Care who may be limited from engagement due to pain, breathlessness, weakness, limited mobility, and cognitive impairments. He is also an OT Doctorate Capstone advisor and mentor to students developing projects in Palliative Care and Oncology Rehabilitation.

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Hermes Florez, MD, Ph.D., MPH, MA
Dr. Hermes Florez is Professor and Chair of Public Health Sciences at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). He also serves as Associate Dean for Population Health at the MUSC College of Medicine and Chief Academic Officer (Associate Chief of Staff for Education) at the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affair Medical Center (VAMC) in Charleston, SC.

Prior to his transition to South Carolina in 2020, he served at the University of Miami (UM) Miller School of Medicine as Chief of Geriatrics & Palliative Medicine and Director of the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) at the Miami VAMC. He was part of the South Florida Healthy Aging Regional Collaborative, working with several stakeholders on the implementation of several evidence-based programs in more than 20,000 older adults.

He also served as National Co-Chair of the GRECC Directors Network with the purpose of coordinating initiatives among these Centers of Excellence to promote healthier aging in the U.S. population. He served in the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Professional Practice Committee developing guidelines for the management of diabetes in older adults, addressing challenges in long-term care facilities and palliative care.

Upon his arrival to Charleston, he joined the Executive Committee of the MUSC Center on Aging and then served as Director of the Population Health and Data Management Pillar in the new MUSC Center for Healthy Aging. He is a physician-scientist trained in internal medicine, endocrinology & geriatrics, as well as in epidemiology and public health. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Zulia in Venezuela, South America.

Dr. Florez has expertise in the prevention and management of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD) and has 17 book chapters and 212 peer-reviewed publications in major scientific journals. He led innovation and implementation of NCD evidence-based programs to promote healthy aging in South Florida with support from the Health Foundation of South Florida and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He has been actively involved in the evaluation of patients at high-risk for diabetes and other age-related diseases in studies funded by the Pan American Health Organization, the American Heart Association, and the International Diabetes Federation – Bringing Research in Diabetes to Global Environments and Systems (IDF-BRIDGES). Dr. Florez has also worked in the translation of diabetes prevention as part of the MOVE weight management program, supported by the VA National Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention. He was the Miami Principal Investigator (PI) of the VA-funded Million Veteran Program (MVP), the largest genomics initiative in the U.S. and Miami PI of the NIH-funded GRADE, a comparative effectiveness research study in patients with type 2 diabetes.

He is currently the National Chair of the VA Cooperative Studies Scientific Evaluation Committee, which oversees the evaluation and implementation of multicenter clinical trials in a large population of U.S. Veterans.

Dr. Florez was appointed by the Board of Trustees as Endowed Chair and Executive Director of the MUSC Center for Healthy Aging.