Academic Leadership

Katherine ‘Kathy’ Hammond Chessman, Pharm.D., FPPA, FCCP, BCNSP, was born in Greenville, SC. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Presbyterian College and was selected as the Presbyterian College Outstanding Young Alumnus in 1997. Dr. Chessman received both a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (Pharm.D.) from the College of Pharmacy at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She then completed her Pediatric Pharmacotherapy Residency with an emphasis in nutrition, pharmacokinetics, critical care, and research at the University of Tennessee and Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center in Memphis, TN.

After finishing her residency program, Dr. Chessman accepted a position as the MUSC University Medical Center’s first, full-time, hospital-based clinical pharmacy specialist working in the Division of Pediatric Surgery. She is now chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcome Sciences and Professor with tenure at the MUSC College of Pharmacy, a clinical pharmacist specializing in pediatric surgery and intestinal rehabilitation at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and previously served as director of the MUSC Pediatric Pharmacy Residency Program for 28 years.

At MUSC, Dr. Chessman served as president of the Faculty Senate and received one of the three inaugural university-wide MUSC Outstanding Clinician Awards (2000). She recently received the MUSC Commitment to Excellence in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice Award. She is board-certified in nutrition support, previously board-certified in pharmacotherapy, a charter member of the Phi Lambda Sigma Leadership Society Beta Chi Chapter, and a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) and the Pediatric Pharmacy Association. She served on and chaired the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (BPS) Nutrition Support Council and the BPS Pediatric Pharmacy Specialty Council.

Dr. Chessman was the senior author on one of the first publications to describe using an ethanol lock to successfully reduce central line-related infections in children on home parenteral nutrition. She was also a member of the editorial boards of the ACCP’s Pharmacotherapy Self-Assessment Program 5th, 6th, and 7th Editions. She has authored several book chapters in the areas of fluids, electrolytes, nutrition, and various pediatric topics.

Dr. Drayton received her Pharm.D. degree from the University of South Carolina, College of Pharmacy in 2000. She then completed pharmacy practice and psychiatry specialty residencies at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2002 and 2003.

Dr. Drayton currently serves as Assistant Dean for Assessment and Accreditation and Associate Professor in the College of Pharmacy, Medical University of South Carolina. Board certified in Psychiatric Pharmacy Practice, her primary area of interest and research is in schizophrenia and mood disorders.

As an academician she was awarded the honor of 2011 SCCP, MUSC Preceptor of the Year and nominated for the MUSC Foundation Clinical Teaching Excellence Award. She was the featured leader for MUSC in the February 2015 edition of Focused Leadership, sponsored by ARROW (Advancement, Recruitment, and Retention of Woman). Dr. Drayton was named 2015 MUSC Foundation Educator-Lecturer of the Year. She also received the 2019-20 Academia Preceptor of the Year Award and 2021-22 Mentor of the Year Award.

Dr. Marva Williams-Lowe was appointed the Chief Pharmacy Officer for MUSC Health and Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs in the MUSC College of Pharmacy, the college and the Medical University of South Carolina Hospital Authority (MUHA) in May 2022. Dr. Williams-Lowe oversees all pharmacy services in the MUSC Health System. She also serves as Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs in the College of Pharmacy; many of the college’s faculty have appointments in MUHA pharmacy services, many students complete rotations there, and the units collaborate on MUSC’s award-winning residency program.

Dr. Williams-Lowe received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in Boston. She completed a management certificate program at Boston University and a Master of Health Administration at Ohio University. She also recently completed the American Society of Health-system Pharmacists (ASHP) Certified Pharmacy Executive Leader (CPEL) program. She is a 2017 Carol Emmott Fellow and in 2021, Dr. Williams-Lowe was named a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.