Title

Executive Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs

Specialty/Subspecialty

Internal

Clinical Interest(s)

president, faculty practice plan

Research Interest(s)

• health services research
• clinical trials
• chronic disease management

Current / Former SSCI Roles

About John R. Feussner, MD

Dr. Feussner is a Distinguished University Professor and served as Executive Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) from 2011 to 2015. He was Professor and Chairman of MUSC’s Department of Medicine from 2002-2011. From 2005-2009, Dr. Feussner was President of the College of Medicine's Faculty Practice plan.

Before coming to MUSC, Dr. Feussner was the Chief Research and Development Officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from 1996 to 2002. During that time, he was also Director of the VA Cooperative Studies Program. Dr. Feussner served on the President's Committee on Science, in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. He was Chairman of the Gulf War illnesses Research Working Group for the consortium of the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Health and Human Services; serving also as White House liaison. He was appointed to the Policy Council for the Agency for Health Research and Quality, and he served on the Clinical Trials Inquiry Panel for the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council. Dr. Feussner completed a 4-year term as a member of the Clinical Research Roundtable for the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine.

Prior to his time in Washington, Dr. Feussner was a Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at Duke University. In Durham, Dr. Feussner led one of the first nationally funded VA Centers of Excellence in Health Services Research. Dr. Feussner co-founded the Biometry training program at Duke in 1986, one of the first clinical research training programs in the nation directed specifically to physician investigators.

Dr. Feussner completed his undergraduate education at the University of Pennsylvania; received his MD degree from the College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and completed his Internal Medicine training, and served as Chief Medical Resident, at Duke University Medical Center. He received his MPH degree from the Department of Health Policy and Administration in the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill where he has been an Adjunct Professor. He has authored or co-authored nearly 250 publications including peer reviewed research papers, editorials, symposia and other articles.

Dr. Feussner has received numerous honors. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the National Medical Honor Society and is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians. Dr. Feussner was elected to Delta Omega, the Honorary Public Health Society. He has been a member of the SSCI since 1989. Dr. Feussner was the first recipient of the Wolcott Award for Clinical Excellence from the VA. He received a Distinguished Investigator Award from the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC, and the Medical Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement from the University of Vermont. He was the first recipient (after Dr. Eisenberg) of the John Eisenberg Award for Career Achievement in Research from the Society of General Internal Medicine. In 2002, Dr. Feussner received the VA Secretary's Exceptional Service Award. Other honors include designation by MUSC as a Distinguished University Professor. In 2009, he received the Earl B. Higgins Achievement in Diversity Award. The MUSC Department of Medicine honored him by creating the John R. Feussner endowed lectureship. The National Vietnam Veterans Foundation recognized him with a "special recognition award for service to veterans." In 2014, Dr. Feussner was made an Honorary "Green Beret" by the South Carolina and Texas Chapters of the Special Forces Association. He serves on the State Board for the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation based in Mt. Pleasant, SC.