The mission of the Airway and Aspiration Center for Children is to provide the public and the medical community with top quality, comprehensive, compassionate, high profile medical care for children, and well rounded, multidisciplinary education for parents. In addition to providing exemplary patient care, the Airway and Aspiration Center for Children will generate new treatment options, educational experiences, and collaborative research opportunities at the MUSC Children's Hospital.

Clinical Areas
Pediatric airway and swallowing disorders can be complicated and life threatening.

Dr. White performs an airway endoscopy.

The Airway and Aspiration Center for Children focuses on the treatment of children with complex aerodigestive problems including chronic tracheostomy dependence, congenital laryngeal anomalies, airway stenosis and other obstructive etiologies, airway hemanglomas and other vascular malformations of the aerodigestive tract, diagnosis and treatment of aspiration, sialorrhea, complex chronic cough, and complex sleep/upper airway issues.

Education
The faculty of the Airway and Aspiration Center for Children educate patients, families, and healthcare professionals in a variety of ways. Sharon Kelly Brown, RN, and the MUSC Children's Hospital team of physicians and speech pathologists provide inpatient education for children who are tracheostomy dependent and their families. The faculty of the Airway and Aspiration Center for Children frequently give lectures to residents, medical students, and speech and language pathology students on topics including "Medical and Surgical Management of Pediatric Aspiration", "Pediatric Tracheostomy", and "Treatment of Subglottic Stenosis". Residents and medical students routinely accompany and assist members of the Pediatric Airway and Aspiration Center during all clinical and surgical activities. Additionally, the faculty members are involved in instructional courses at both a regional and national level. Plans are underway to provide an instructional airway endoscopy course for the education of resident physicians.

Key Faculty
Faculty members of the Airway and Aspiration Center for Children are highly trained healthcare professionals who provide the children of South Carolina with the highest standard of medical care. The core faculty includes members from several pediatric subspecialties.

David R. White, MD, is the Director of the Airway and Aspiration Center for Children. Dr. White completed the world's premiere fellowship in Pediatric Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center under the direction of Robin T. Cotton, M.D., an internationally renowned expert in pediatric otolaryngology, airway reconstruction, and aerodigestive disorders. Dr. White is a native of Charleston, S.C., and graduated from Davidson College in 1994. He then received a medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and completed his residency in Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the University of North Carolina. Dr. White has published over 25 research articles and book chapters in the otolaryngology literature. Dr. White is also a member of the Craniofacial Anomalies and Cleft Palate Center, the Velopharyngeal Insufficiency and Speech Team, and the Cochlear Implant Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.

C. Michael Bowman, MD, PhD, is the Director of the Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Allergy and immunology. Dr. Bowman has extensive clinical experience in caring for children with chronic aspiration, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and other disorders of the lungs in children. He is also renowned nationally and internationally for his excellent clinical and basic science research in pediatric pulmonology. Dr. Bowman received his PhD and MD from the University of Wisconsin, followed by residency training in Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University and a fellowship in Pediatric Pulmonology at the University of Colorado. Dr. Bowman also serves as the Director of MUSC Comprehensive Cystic Fibrosis Center.

Bonnie Martin Harris, PhD, is Associate Professor in the College of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, College of Health Professions, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and College of Dental Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is Director of the MUSC Evelyn Trammell Institute for Voice and Swallowing, and founder and consultant to the Evelyn Trammell Voice and Swallowing Center at Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta. Dr. Martin Harris chairs the Inaugural Board for Board Recognition in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders and President Elect (2006) of the Dysphagia Research Society. Dr. Martin Harris's clinical and research interests are focused in the areas of laryngeal and pharyngeal dynamics during swallowing, respiration and vocalization. She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Speech Language Hearing Research, and reviewer for the Dysphagia Journal (Editorial Board), American Journal of Speech Language Pathology, Laryngoscope, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, a national and international lecturer, and has published chapters and articles in the areas of aerodigestive tract function and disorders. Her work is funded by a grant from the National Institutes on Deaffiess and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and the Mark and Evelyn Trammell Foundation.

R. Bhanu Pillai, MD, is the Director of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology at MUSC. He provides clinical expertise in gastroesophageal reflux and disorders of the digestive system to the Airway and Aspiration Center for Children. Dr. Pillai has a busy clinical practice at MUSC Children's Hospital. Dr. Pillai received his initial medical training in India before completing a residency in Pediatrics at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. He then completed fellowship training in Pediatric Gastroenterology at Louisiana State University and Wayne State University. Dr. Pillai has a busy clinical practice at MUSC Children's Hospital.

Key Equipment/Resources
The Airway and Aspiration Center for Children conducts clinical activities in the second floor Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery office at Rutledge Tower. This facility has state of the art equipment for airway, voice, and swallowing evaluation including fiberoptic laryngoscopy, videostroboscopy, and flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing. Combined endoscopic procedures requiring sedation or anesthesia are performed in the main hospital operating rooms utilizing block time provided by the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. Radiologic swallowing evaluations are performed in the pediatric radiology suites in the Medical University Hospital.

Research
Members of the Airway and Aspiration Center for Children are actively involved in research that will improve the diagnosis and treatment of children with airway disorders and chronic aspiration and allow the development of new treatments to improve outcomes of treatment. Current areas of research include:

Current areas of research include:

• Development of epidemiologic database for the Pediatric Airway and Aspiration Center (Drs. White and Harris)
• Establishment of normal parameters for MBSS in children (Drs. Harris, Halstead, and White)
• Breathe/swallow coordination in CF patients (Drs. Bowman and Harris)
• Airway complications and dysphagia after Norwood procedure (Drs. Halstead and Bradley)
• Dysphagia and aspiration in patients with 22ql 1.2 microdeletion (Drs. White, Halstead, and Stokes)
• Treatment of multiple level airway stenosis with extended cricotracheal resection (Dr. White)
• Voice outcomes after treatment of airway stenosis (Drs. White and Halstead)
• Alternatives to tracheotomy in infants (Dr. White)