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.