CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Shriners Hospitals for Children announced Wednesday a new affiliation to support the state’s only comprehensive pediatric burn center.

Shriner’s Children’s will provide a $3 million grant to establish the Shriners Children’s Endowed Professorship in Pediatric Burn Care as part of the collaboration. That grant will be matched by funding from MUSC in support of the burn center.

“This collaboration helps ensure that the children of South Carolina will have continued access to high-quality and comprehensive burn care,” said David J. Cole, M.D., FACS, MUSC president. “It’s a natural maturation of our work to date with Shriners and further, I am incredibly excited to see how this affiliation and resultant research will help synergize the care our top-notch team is already providing to patients and families from all over South Carolina. This is a great example of public and private entities coming together in the best interest of the citizens of our state.”

“As a South Carolina native, I am so pleased that our organizations are helping to make best-in-class pediatric burn care accessible to children and families of this state and beyond,” said Kenneth G. “Kenny” Craven, Imperial Potentate of Shriners International and CEO of Shriners Children’s. “For 100 years, Shriners Children’s has provided hope and healing to children. Through our collaboration with MUSC, we can continue our mission of helping more kids closer to home.”

Rohit Mittal, M.D., has been named the Shriners Children’s Endowed Professorship in Pediatric Burn Care at MUSC where he will treat pediatric burn patients and augment the team at MUSC in their current efforts to perform innovative research that improve quality of care and life of burned children, according to a news release.