Sarah Voges, FNP-C

Dr. Rick Silver is a professor of medicine and pediatrics and has served as director of the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology since 1995. In 2007, he was named distinguished university professor, the highest academic rank bestowed at MUSC. The division has seen remarkable growth in all facets, including extramural research funding, clinical services, and fellowship training during his tenure as division director. Under his direction, the Division of Rheumatology has been consistently ranked among the top 20 programs by U.S. News and World Report.Dr. Silver's research interests center on scleroderma and, in particular, scleroderma lung disease, now a major cause of death among patients with scleroderma. He and his colleagues were the first to utilize bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) to characterize scleroderma lung disease. He played an instrumental role in the design and development of the Scleroderma Lung Study I and II. Dr. Silver helped to initiate and develop MUSC’s pulmonary hypertension center and sarcoidosis center. Dr. Silver serves as associate director of a multidisciplinary clinical research center (MCRC) for the study of rheumatic diseases in African-Americans funded by NIAMS. Dr. Silver’s clinical interests include scleroderma and scleroderma-related conditions, as well as childhood rheumatic diseases. MUSC Health is one of the world’s leaders in clinical care and investigation of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) and scleroderma-like conditions, e.g. eosinophilic fasciitis and the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. MUSC Health also serves as the state of South Carolina's only referral center for childhood rheumatic diseases. Dr. Silver has led the efforts to coordinate care for children in South Carolina with rheumatic diseases for the past 32 years,FALSE, and he continues to provide clinical care and conduct clinical research with Dr. Tasha Ruth, whose primary appointment is in the Department of Pediatrics.

Elizabeth Poth, AuD is an Instructor of Audiology at MUSC specializing in the evaluation and management of hearing loss in adults. Dr. Poth is a graduate of Miami University, with undergraduate degrees in both Zoology and Speech Pathology & Audiology. She received her MS degree in Audiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her AuD degree from A.T. Still University - Arizona School of Health Sciences. She completed a clinical fellowship at MUSC, after which she joined the faculty. Dr. Poth has an extensive background as a research audiologist with the MUSC Hearing Research Program's NIH-funded studies on age-related hearing loss. As a clinical audiologist, Dr. Poth has continued her involvement in translational research managing audiology support for clinical trials in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. She contributes to the clinical education of Audiology externs and fellows and is a team member of the MUSC Vestibular Program. Her current focus is providing adult patient evaluation of hearing and balance through behavioral and electrophysiologic testing, hearing rehabilitation through the fitting and evaluation of hearing aids and assistive listening devices, and hearing conservation through the dispensing of custom hearing protection.