MUSC Health ENT at Rutledge Tower

Alison Yu, MD is an endoscopic sinus and skull base surgeon who specializes in the treatment of conditions in the nose, sinuses, and skull base. Dr. Yu treats a wide range of sinonasal diseases including sinusitis, allergies, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks, and skull base tumors. She has a particular expertise in the surgical treatment of sinonasal tumors and revision sinus surgeries. Originally from Virginia, Dr. Yu received her medical doctorate from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. During medical school, she was selected to receive the Dean's Research Scholar fellowship award to spend an additional year to conduct head and neck cancer research in the laboratory, earning a Distinction in Research. She completed her otolaryngology residency training at the University of Southern California/ Los Angeles General Medical Center. She then completed an additional year of fellowship training in Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia under renowned surgeons in the field. In addition to her clinical expertise, Dr Yu's research focus is in improving clinical outcomes for surgical and medical treatments of sinonasal diseases. She examines health care disparities to understand how to make treatment options available to all individuals in need. She has authored multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters and presented her research at regional and national conferences. As the recipient of the Resident Teaching Award, Dr. Yu is also passionate about teaching and mentorship. She is a member of the American Rhinologic Society.

**Zachary M. Soler, M.D. MSc,** joined the MUSC sinus center in 2011. Originally from coastal Florida, Dr. Soler attended medical school at Wake Forest University, followed by a residency in otolaryngology -- head and neck surgery at Oregon Health and Science University. He then completed a fellowship dedicated solely to rhinology and endoscopic sinus surgery at Harvard Medical School. After fellowship, Dr. Soler spent an additional year at the Harvard School of Public Health, earning a Master's Degree in epidemiology.Dr. Soler's practice is dedicated primarily to diseases of the nose, sinuses, and skull base. He treats adults and children with a wide range of conditions, ranging from common allergies and sinusitis to skull base tumors and CSF leaks. He has particular expertise with difficult-to-manage cases of sinusitis, revision sinus surgery, and surgical treatment of sino-nasal tumors. He sees patients in Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, and downtown Charleston.Dr. Soler has authored over 100 manuscripts and book chapters related to otolaryngology and rhinology. His research focus is on optimizing clinical outcomes after medical and surgical treatment of chronic sinusitis. He is a principal investigator on several large studies funded through the National Institutes of Health and the American Rhinologic Society. He is board certified through the American Board of Otolaryngology and a member of the American Rhinologic Society. Dr. Soler's practice is dedicated primarily to diseases of the nose, sinuses, and skull base. He treats adults and children with a wide range of conditions, ranging from common allergies and sinusitis to skull base tumors and CSF leaks. He has particular expertise with difficult-to-manage cases of sinusitis, revision sinus surgery, and surgical treatment of sino-nasal tumors. He sees patients in Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, and downtown Charleston.Dr. Soler has authored over 100 manuscripts and book chapters related to otolaryngology and rhinology. His research focus is on optimizing clinical outcomes after medical and surgical treatment of chronic sinusitis. He is a principal investigator on several large studies funded through the National Institutes of Health and the American Rhinologic Society. He is board certified through the American Board of Otolaryngology and a member of the American Rhinologic Society.

**Peter R. Dixon, M.D., MSc** is an otolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat doctor) specializing in ear care. He provides the full spectrum of hearing and balance care. Examples of conditions he treats include eardrum perforations, cholesteatoma, otosclerosis, and other causes of hearing loss. He is part of a multidisciplinary team that provides cochlear implants to restore hearing for certain forms of hearing loss. Dr. Dixon is also an expert in the area between the ear and the brain, called the skull base. He treats tumors (acoustic neuromas, meningiomas, glomus tumors), CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) leaks, and other skull base conditions.





In addition to being a surgeon, Dr. Dixon is a scientist who researches hearing healthcare. He analyzes healthcare data with artificial intelligence and other methods. His work helps us understand how to best organize and deliver hearing care to the people of South Carolina and the United States.





Dr. Dixon was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. He completed his M.D., master's degree in health services research, and residency in otolaryngology at the University of Toronto. He completed fellowship training in Otology and Neurotology (ear and skull base surgery) at the University of California, San Diego. He is board-certified in Otolaryngology and is an Assistant Professor at MUSC.

Rodney J. Schlosser, M.D. is the director of rhinology and sinus surgery at the nose and sinus center. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and serving four years of active military duty in the U.S. Army, Dr. Schlosser received his medical degree from the Mayo Clinic. He then completed his ENT residency at the University of Virginia where he trained under the mentorship of Charles W. Gross, M.D. a nationally recognized sinus surgeon and pediatric otolaryngologist. After his residency, Dr. Schlosser completed an additional year of study during a fellowship devoted exclusively to the treatment of advanced sinus disease at the University of Pennsylvania with David W. Kennedy, M.D. one of the premiere sinus surgeons in the world.Dr. Schlosser has written a textbook on the management of sinus problems and more than 200 articles and chapters dealing with sinus and nasal topics. He regularly travels around the world to speak and teach courses on the latest techniques in endoscopic sinus surgery and computerized image-guided surgery. Dr. Schlosser focuses primarily on difficult adult and pediatric sinus cases, nasal obstruction, revision surgeries, sinonasal tumors

Lauren Kirkland, MSPAS, PA-C is a board certified Physician Assistant in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head \& Neck Surgery, Otology Division. She is originally from Anderson, SC and attended Clemson University for her Bachelor of Public Health Sciences degree. Following graduating from Clemson, she attended the Medical University of South Carolina for her Master's in Physician Assistant Studies and passed her boards to become a certified Physician Assistant.





Lauren is passionate about providing excellent, patient-centered care to patients with ear, nose, and throat disorders, with a specific interest in disorders of the ear.

Ted A. Meyer, M.D. Ph.D. joined the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at MUSC in 2004 and was later named the director of the MUSC cochlear implant program. Dr. Meyer grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated from Washington University, where he majored in mathematics and was captain of the tennis team. In 1995, he graduated from the Medical Scholars Program at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Urbana-Champaign with a medical degree and a doctoral degree in Speech \& Hearing Science. Dr. Meyer then completed a residency in otolaryngology - head and neck surgery at Indiana University, where he trained with Dr. Richard Miyamoto. Residency was followed by a fellowship in neurotology at the University of Iowa, where he trained with Dr. Bruce Gantz. Dr. Meyer limits his practice to the evaluation and treatment of adults and children with otologic and neurotologic disorders.





Most patients have disorders affecting the ear that are managed surgically. Examples of his specialty areas include acoustic neuromas, cochlear implants, CSF leaks, glomus tumors, meningiomas and other skull-based lesions, hearing loss, ear infections, tympanic membrane perforations, cholesteatoma, otosclerosis, vertigo, Meniere's disease, facial paralysis and congenital ear malformations. As director of the MUSC cochlear implant program, Dr. Meyer oversees all clinical and research protocols involving patients with cochlear implants. MUSC has performed more than 100 cochlear implants yearly since 2012.Dr. Meyer has published numerous manuscripts and book chapters. He has received several grants to study mechanisms of speech perception with cochlear implants and is involved in many clinical trials, He frequently presents his results from these trials at national and international research meetings. Dr. Meyer is a fellow in the American Academy of Otolaryngology \&- Head and Neck Surgery.Dr. Meyer directs the MUSC temporal bone dissection course annually that attracts physicians from around the country to learn the latest techniques in surgical otology. He directs the MUSC otolaryngology residency program and neurotology fellowship program.

**Ted R. McRackan, M.D., MSCR** is the director of the Skull Base Center and medical director of the Cochlear Implant Program in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. McRackan was born in Virginia and moved to Charleston to attend the College of Charleston. He received his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and completed his residency at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Afterward, he moved to Los Angeles for a fellowship in otology-neurotology and skull base surgery at the House Ear Clinic.





Dr. McRackan's clinical practice focuses on the comprehensive management of ear, hearing, balance, and skull-base disorders in adults and children. Specific areas of interest include but are not limited to cochlear implantation; chronic ear surgery (cholesteatoma, chronic otitis media); acoustic neuroma and other skull base lesions; otosclerosis; facial nerve disorders and tumors; endoscopic ear surgery; implantable hearing aids; and vertigo.





Dr. McRackan has published a comprehensive neurotology textbook and has written over 60 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. His research interests focus on the development and application of novel measures to evaluate outcomes in individuals with hearing loss and cochlear implants, to improve patient outcomes. Dr. McRackan is a member and serves on multiple committees of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

Alexandra D. D'Oto, MD completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Miami before moving to Memphis, TN, for her medical education, at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She then completed her residency training at University of Texas Southwestern before heading to University of California San Francisco for fellowship training in Laryngology. During fellowship, she advanced and refined her clinical management and treatment of airway, voice, and swallowing disorders. She is excited to bring her expertise to Medical University of South Carolina. She treats the full gamut of laryngological disorders, including professional voice, voice disorders (such as adductor type laryngeal dystonia/spasmodic dysphonia), subglottic stenosis, and swallowing dysfunction. Her clinical interests include implementing a dedicated integrated voice clinic with voice-specialized speech-language pathologists to provide exemplary multidisciplinary care while minimizing patient visits. Her research focuses on voice disorders, such as adductor type laryngeal dystonia/spasmodic dysphonia as well as subglottic/tracheal stenosis. Dr. D'Oto is married to her husband Dr. Michael Hook, who is a physician at Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital. They enjoy exploring Charleston's culinary scene and yoga. She enjoys reading fiction novels, birdwatching, and throwing pottery. She and her husband are thrilled to be a part of MUSC and closer to family.

**Robert F. Labadie, M.D., Ph.D.** is an otolaryngologist, also known as an ear, nose, and throat doctor, who specializes in treatment of ear diseases and has a passion for cochlear implants which are implantable, electronic devices which restore hearing to patients with certain forms of deafness. In addition to being a medical doctor, Dr. Labadie has a Ph.D. in bioengineering and has used that skill set to design and perform studies to improve outcomes for patients with cochlear implants.





A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he went to college at the University of Notre Dame where he studied mechanical engineering and returned home to do both his M.D. and Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh. He then completed residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill following which he joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee where he practiced for 20 years before being recruited to MUSC to become the chair of otolaryngology in January of 2022.





Dr. Labadie is the author of more than 175 peer-reviewed papers, more than a dozen patents, multiple book chapters, and a textbook on image-guided surgery. He has presented his research nationally and internationally and has ongoing support from the National Institutes of Health for his research. He is a member of The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and a fellow of The American College of Surgeons, The American Otological Society, The American Neurotology Society, The Triological Society, and the international group Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum.

**Habib G. Rizk, M.D., MSc**, grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. He attended the French Faculty of Medicine at Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon. He pursued an Otolaryngology - Head \& Neck Surgery residency at Hôtel-Dieu de France Hospital in Beirut, followed by a one-year Otologic Medicine and Surgery Fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Teixido and a two-year Neurotology fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina.





Dr. Rizk's interests pertain to all areas of otology and neurotology with a specific focus on medical and surgical management of vestibular disorders. He is an associate professor in the MUSC department of Otolaryngology, Head \& Neck Surgery, and is the Director of the Multidisciplinary Vestibular Program. Dr. Rizk is currently on the board of directors and is vice-president of the Vestibular Disorders Association. He is a member of the Bárány society and a fellow of the American Neurotology Society. He is also a member of the American Balance Society and of the Otology and Neurotology Education Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Dr. Kirsten Meenan is a fellowship-trained laryngologist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of voice, swallowing, and airway disorders. Her expertise lies in the management of airway and breathing disorders, such as tracheal, subglottic, and posterior glottic scarring or narrowing. Dr. Meenan is also highly trained in the management of voice conditions, such as vocal fold paralysis, vocal fold polyps and cysts, early voice box cancers, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, and spasmodic dysphonia. She performs laryngeal reinnervation surgery when indicated for vocal fold paralysis and selective laryngeal adductor denervation-reinnervation (SLED-R) surgery for spasmodic dysphonia, the latter pioneered by her mentor at UCLA. Dr. Meenan also treats swallowing disorders such as Zenker's diverticulum and is trained in transnasal esophagoscopy. Dr. Meenan received her medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine and completed her residency at the University of Maryland. Her laryngology fellowship was completed at University of California, Los Angeles. She is a board-certified otolaryngologist and member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.