Abirami Sivapiragasam, M.D.

Dr. Abirami Sivapiragasam (Abi Siva) is an Associate Professor of Medicine and a board-certified medical oncologist at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, with more than a decade of clinical and academic experience. She specializes in the care of patients with breast cancer and serves as the Director of Medical Oncology. In this role, she focuses on strengthening clinical programs, expanding access to innovative therapies, and building collaborative models of care that improve outcomes across South Carolina and beyond.

Dr. Sivapiragasam is equally committed to education and mentorship. As Program Director of the Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Program, she is dedicated to training the next generation of oncologists. She has developed structured mentorship and research initiatives designed to support fellows in building strong clinical skills, pursuing meaningful scholarship, and growing into thoughtful, patient-centered leaders in oncology.

A passionate clinician-scientist, Dr. Sivapiragasam serves as principal investigator on multiple clinical trials and leads the Breast Cancer Clinical Research Group at MUSC. Her research focuses on designing pragmatic clinical trials that can be seamlessly integrated into everyday practice. She is particularly interested in right-sizing therapy through de-escalation strategies that reduce toxicity while maintaining efficacy, as well as biomarker-driven approaches that personalize treatment decisions.

She collaborates closely with translational scientists to advance innovative therapeutic concepts from bench to bedside, with the goal of accelerating access to cutting-edge treatments for patients. Through her clinical leadership, research efforts, and dedication to education, Dr. Sivapiragasam remains deeply committed to improving breast cancer care and advancing the field of oncology.