Rheumatology Fellowship Columbia - Faculty

James W. Fant Jr., MD, received his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, North Carolina (affiliated with East Carolina University). He then completed his rheumatology fellowship at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

Dr. Fant served as chief of rheumatology at Wright Patterson USAF Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, from 1991-1994 and was in private rheumatology practice at Columbia Arthritis Center from 1994-2001. Currently, he is an associate professor of clinical internal medicine with the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia and is director of the Division of Rheumatology at Prisma Health.

He greatly enjoys teaching patients, medical students, residents, fellows, and other physicians. His academic interests include systemic rheumatologic disorders and serologies of rheumatic diseases. He has previously worked to develop original computer software to generate rheumatology progress notes. Current initiatives include starting a rheumatology fellowship and using telemedicine to deliver follow-up care for patients with inflammatory arthritis.

Shannon Iriza, DO, is a board-certified rheumatologist with Prisma Health in Columbia, South Carolina. She received her medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia and completed her internal medicine residency at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She then completed her rheumatology fellowship at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. 

Dr. Iriza is board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology. She diagnoses and treats various systemic autoimmune diseases with a special interest in myositis and autoimmune associated lung disease. She is also interested in medical education and enjoys teaching not only fellows, residents, and medical students, but also her patients.

Sunita Paudyal, MD, received her medical degree from the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, Nepal. She completed her internship in internal medicine at Michigan State University/Grand Rapids Medical Education Research Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and her residency at Providence Portland Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, followed by a fellowship in rheumatology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. 

Dr. Paudyal's areas of interests include rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.

Alvin Lee Day, MD, RMSK, RhMSUS, CCD, received his medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Prisma Health, also in Columbia, and a fellowship in rheumatology at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.

Dr. Day is board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology, with additional certifications in musculoskeletal ultrasound and clinical bone densitometry. His academic interests include general rheumatology, musculoskeletal ultrasound, osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease, quality bone densitometry, and medical education. 

Day is an assistant professor of clinical internal medicine at UofSC School of Medicine, where he also serves as a faculty member in the Internal Medicine Residency, Sports Medicine Fellowship, and Primary Care Ultrasound Fellowship. He welcomes patients regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or socioeconomic background.

Mark Harold Greenberg, MD, received his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, and completed his internship and residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, also in Chicago, where he was a teaching attending physician. He later completed a rheumatology fellowship at Albert Einstein-Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. 

Dr. Greenberg was in private practice in rheumatology in Florida for 31 years before joining Prisma Health and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbie, where he currently is an associate professor of internal medicine. His academic interests include rheumatologic diseases and musculoskeletal ultrasound.

Navya Kuchipudi, MD, RhMSUS, is a board-certified rheumatologist at Prisma Health in Columbia, South Carolina. She received her medical degree from NRI Medical College in India and completed her residency at Saint Peters University Hospital/Rutgers in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She then completed a rheumatology fellowship at the University of Connecticut in Farmington. 

Dr. Kuchipudi's interests include general rheumatology and the use of ultrasound to evaluate musculoskeletal pain.