Palliative Care Showcase Presenters

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.

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.

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.

Dr. Florez received his MD from the University of Zulia in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and his PhD and MPH from the University of Miami School of Medicine. Following his initial career as Professor of Public Health Sciences and Medicine at Miami, he recently joined MUSC as Chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences at MUSC and as a member of the Endocrinology Medical Service at the Robert H. Johnson Veterans’ Administration Medical Center in Charleston.

As a public health physician-scientist with training in Endocrinology and Geriatrics, the primary goal of Dr. Florez’s research efforts is to reduce the burden of chronic diseases and promote healthier aging through the implementation of best practices for prevention and management. He has a current focus on diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He is the national and international leader of projects focused on the role of genetics, gene-environment interactions, fitness promotion and pharmacological interventions using oral hypoglycemic agents in determining outcome in pre-diabetes and diabetes care. His studies in the VA system and in Latin America have been funded by the Pan American Health Organization, the American Heart Association, the International Diabetes Foundation, the VA National Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, and the Center for Disease Control Prevention (CDC), as well as the NIH. As a member of the American Diaetes Association (ADA) Professional Practice committee, he leads national efforts to develop guidelines for diabetes management in older adults.

In addition to continuing his long-term research on diabetes disease mechanisms and, he will leverage his clinical and epidemiological expertise to analyze social determinants of health including the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and their impact on chronic disease care in the VA health system. These efforts will seek to coordinate clinical and quality improvement initiatives to reduce the burden of COVID-19 in older adults, particularly those with other pre-existing disease and in long-term care settings.