Leadership
Sharon Beth Weissman, MD, is division chief of infectious diseases at Prisma Health in Columbia, South Carolina, where she also serves as a clinical professor of internal medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. She previously served as program director for the Prisma Health–Midlands Infectious Disease Fellowship Program. Dr. Weissman received her medical degree from Columbia University in New York City and completed her residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. After her residency, she completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at Beth Israel Hospital-Brigham and Women's Hospital, also in Boston. She previously held positions at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where she was director of the HIV/Infectious Disease Clinic at the Louis Stoke Cleveland VAMC, and Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, where she also served as director of HIV services at the Hospital of Saint Raphael.
Majdi Al-Hasan, M.D. is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Infectious Diseases Division, and Vice Chair of Medical Specialties and Research in the Department of Internal Medicine. He is the Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence at Prisma Health-Midlands.
Dr. Al-Hasan received his Medical Degree from the University of Jordan and Internal Medicine residency training at the University of Kentucky. He completed Infectious Diseases fellowship at Mayo Clinic and Certificate of Clinical Research Training Program at Mayo Graduate School in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Al-Hasan joined the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in 2013.
He has established himself as a prominent figure in the fields of bloodstream infection, antimicrobial resistance, and antimicrobial stewardship. He is a member of multiple committees and expert panels on antimicrobial resistance representing national and international organizations and scientific societies, including the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the World Health Organization. He has participated in international working groups and guideline writing panels for management of various infections.
Dr. Al-Hasan is the principal or co-investigator on several clinical, educational, and research grants with extramural funding from state and federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has published over 85 peer-reviewed articles and serves as an editorial board member and reviewer for several journals of internal medicine, infectious diseases, clinical microbiology, and antimicrobial agents.
In his free time, Dr. Al-Hasan enjoys travelling, sports, and spending time with his family.
Divya Ahuja, MD, joined the Division of Infectious Diseases in 2005, where he is currently Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine. Dr. Ahuja graduated medical school in New Delhi, India in 1992, and completed parts of his residency in India , the United Kingdom and then at York Hospital in Pennsylvania. Dr. Ahuja also trained in a fellowship in Genitourinary Medicine and HIV at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Plymouth Hospital in the United Kingdom and then completed a fellowship in Infectious Disease at Penn State University College of Medicine in 2005. He is the Principal Investigator for the SC HIV/HCV Clinical Training Center and the South East HCV Telehealth Initiative, as well as the Medical Director of the Immunology Center.
Kamla Sanasi-Bhola, MD, is a board-certified infectious diseases physician with Prisma Health and an assistant professor of clinical internal medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, where she serves as program director for the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program. She received her medical degree from the University of Guyana in Georgetown, Guyana, South America, and completed her internal medicine residency at Howard University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. Following her residency, she completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia. Dr. Sanasi-Bhola's research interests include HIV prevention with a rural health focus, LGBTQIA+ health care disparities with a focus in transgender health care and advocacy, women’s health, and bone and joint infections. She is actively involved in the education of medical students, nurse practitioner students, residents and fellows. An attending physician at the Prisma Health Immunology Center, Sanasi-Bhola's patient population includes women with HIV (specifically peri-partum HIV-positive women), transgender people, HIV/hepatitis-C co-infected patients, and patients on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). As the director of the South Carolina AIDS Education and Training Center's PrEP telehealth program, she coordinates and executes PrEP technical support and LGBTQIA+ care competency programs for health care providers.
Dr. Edwin Hayes joined the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases of July 28, 2019 as Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine. He completed his Internal Medicine residency from University of Miami, Atlantis, FL in June 2015 followed by a year as chief resident. He completed his Infectious Diseases fellowship from Palmetto Health USC in June 2019.
Helmut Albrecht, MD, received his medical degree from the University of Hamburg, Germany, and completed residencies in Internal Medicine at the University of Hamburg and Emory University in Atlanta. Dr. Albrecht completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Hamburg and a fellowship in infectious diseases at Emory University. Dr. Albrecht has previously served as Chair of the Department of Medicine for Prisma Health Medical Group, Chief of Medicine for Prisma Health Richland, as well as having been the Chief of the USC Infectious Diseases Division. He is the current Heyward Gibbes Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine. Dr. Albrecht has considerable study experience as investigator, principal or coordinating investigator of multiple national and international trials. He has served as a reviewer for AIDS, Clinical Investigator, CID, JID, Annuals of Internal Medicine, JAMA, EID, and other journals. He has published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has authored >50 book chapters.
Mary Beth Poston, MD, is a clinical professor of internal medicine at Prisma Health. She received her medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and completed her residency at Palmetto Health Richland, both in Columbia. She then completed an academic general internal medicine fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and is board certified in internal medicine.
Academically, Dr. Poston is interested in graduate medical education and is the Internal Medicine Residency Program Director. Her additional interests include ultrasound in medical education and increasing physical activity in primary care.
