Differences in Healthcare Delivery Across Borders – Global Perspectives Within the MUSC Community Panel

Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at 4 p.m. | Location: Bioengineering Building BE 112 / Broadcast Virtually

View the On-demand Recording

On April 10, MUSC panelists from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and Cameroon shared their first-hand experiences practicing research and delivering health care in their respective home countries and in the U.S. This roundtable discussion featured discussion by panelists of their perspectives on how health is shaped in different contexts, challenges, barriers and strategies.

Discussion Moderator: Michael D. Sweat, Ph.D. - Center for Global Health Faculty Director

Lama Almutairi	Vincent Brice Owona Ayissi, Ph.D.	Sally Morsy	Rami Zebian, M.D., CPE, FCCP

Panel Member Biographies

Lama A. Almutairi (Saudi Arabia)

Doctor of Pharmacy Candidate | Class of 2025
MUSC College of Pharmacy

• Almutairi, PharmD candidate of 2025, relocated from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Charleston in August 2023 to pursue her professional doctorate in pharmacy at MUSC, aiming to obtain licensure in the U.S. and pursue residency programs. Previously, she served as a teaching assistant at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, where she also earned her PharmD. Almutairi was selected as one of 20 students nationwide for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's inaugural cohort in the aspiring academics program. Passionate about teaching, Almutairi is dedicated to sharing knowledge and inspiring others in her field.

Vincent Brice Owona Ayissi, Ph.D., (Cameroon)

MUSC Postdoctoral Fellow
Senior Lecturer of neurosciences and molecular biology
Department of Biochemistry, University of Yaounde, Cameroon

• Dr. Owona Ayissi is completing an INVEST Fellowship in the MUSC laboratory of Peter Kalivas, Ph.D. He is currently a senior lecturer of neurosciences and molecular biology in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Yaounde, Cameroon, where he serves as the coordinator of the department’s master’s program in public health biotechnology, and supervises master’s and Ph.D. students. Research Interests: Dr. Owona Ayissi’s research investigates a key brain circuit connecting the nucleus accumbens core to the dorsolateral ventral pallidum, which is involved in cue-induced opioid seeking and relapse. During his INVEST Fellowship in Dr. Kalivas’ laboratory, Dr. Owona Ayissi aims to gain skills in cutting-edge technologies that are useful for investigating these brain pathways but are currently not available in Cameroon. In addition to enhancing knowledge of the brain circuits contributing to opioid use disorder and relapse, this training will facilitate the transfer of such innovative technologies to laboratories in Cameroon.

Sally Morsy (Egypt)

Graduate Assistant and Ph.D. Student
Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

• Sally Morsy is a graduate assistant and Ph.D. student in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Before moving to Charleston, South Carolina, where she now lives with her husband and two sons, she earned a bachelor's and master's degrees in physical therapy in Egypt and worked as a teaching assistant at Cairo University. Her tenure at a pediatric rehabilitation center deeply influenced her passion for researching neurological disorders in children. Her doctorate research focuses on motor rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy, aiming to significantly improve their interaction with the environment and enhance their quality of life.

Rami Zebian, M.D., CPE, FCCP (Lebanon)

Chief Medical Officer
MUSC Health Florence Medical Center

• Dr. Rami Zebian is a pulmonary and critical care specialist. He splits his time between clinical duties in pulmonary and critical care medicine and administrative duties as Chief Medical Officer. He enjoys caring for patients in the outpatient and Intensive Care Unit setting. He has a special interest in advanced diagnostic bronchoscopy such as endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) and robotic-assisted bronchoscopy for lung cancer diagnosis and staging. He also treats severe persistent asthma and pulmonary hypertension.Dr. Zebian received his medical degree at Beirut Arab University-Lebanon and completed his internal medicine residency at both the American University of Beirut-Lebanon and the University of Texas at Houston. He completed his pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship at the University of Texas at Houston. Dr. Zebian is board certified in Critical Care Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, Internal Medicine and Clinical Informatics.