MUSC Health ENT at East Cooper Medical Pavilion

Krishna G. Patel, M.D., Ph.D. joined the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery in August 2008. She is a native of Athens, Georgia and attended Columbia University in New York City for her undergraduate education. She then earned M.D. and Ph.D. degrees through the combined program at the Medical College of Georgia, where she was awarded the Excellence in Research Award. Dr. Patel completed a residency in otolaryngology \&- head and neck surgery at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Following residency, she pursued fellowship training in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of California, Davis.





During both her residency and fellowship training, Dr. Patel participated in volunteer medical trips to other countries to provide care to the medically underserved. Her recent trips to Ecuador and El Salvador involved surgically repairing children with cleft lips, cleft palates, and ear deformities. She is board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology and by the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.





As a member of the MUSC faculty, Dr. Patel's focus is in the areas of aesthetic facial plastic surgery, such as rhinoplasties, Botox, and blepharoplasties. Her practice also includes facial reconstructive surgery, facial trauma surgery, and reconstruction of Mohs defects. She is the director of the Craniofacial Anomalies and Cleft Palate Center and participates in the repair of cleft lips and palates. She also serves on the Executive Board of Directors for the American Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Patel sees patients in Rutledge Tower on the main campus of MUSC, as well as at off-site locations in Mount Pleasant.

Tyler M. Rist, M.D. is a fellowship trained facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has a passion for treating patients with facial weakness from Bell's Palsy, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, head and neck cancer, and a variety of other conditions. He also received specialized training in other areas of facial plastics including facial trauma, nasal breathing/deviated septum surgery, cancer reconstruction, eyelid surgery, and cosmetic surgery of the head and neck including facelifts, revision rhinoplasty, and blepharoplasty. Dr. Rist grew up in Alabama before playing Division 1 soccer and graduating with honors with a Biomedical Engineering degree at the University of Memphis. He then attended medical school at the University of Tennessee and completed his residency training in ENT head and neck surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina. He was then selected to be the only facial plastics fellow at one of the top fellowships in the country at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where he received additional training in facial paralysis and complex rhinoplasty. During fellowship, he received awards for his excellence in teaching residents. He has published widely in many areas of facial plastics and continues to perform clinical research at MUSC. Dr. Rist has come to love the Lowcountry and is proud to return to South Carolina where he was trained as a resident. He believes that each patient is unique and is excited to partner with you to achieve your goals.

Kimberly McClure, MSPAS, PA-C is a board-certified Physician Assistant in the Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery, Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Division at MUSC. Kimberly grew up in Greenville, SC and obtained her Bachelor of Science in Language and International Health (emphases in Spanish and Community Development) at Clemson University. Following her undergraduate graduation in 2020, she worked as a scribe for the MUSC Otolaryngology Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Dvision, before attending MUSC for PA school. She received her Master's Degree in Physician Assistant Studies from MUSC in 2024.





Kimberly is passionate about providing a high standard of excellence when it comes to patient-centered care. She is particularly interested in cleft and craniofacial anomalies, nasal surgical procedures, keloid management, scar revision, facial paralysis, and aesthetic facial procedures.





Outside of clinical medicine, Kimberly has a passion for international missions, having served in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Spain. She looks forward to accompanying Dr. Krishna Patel on Global Smile trips. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, cooking, going to the beach and playing with her golden retriever, Winnie!

**Michelle S. Hwang, M.D.** is a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon and assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. She is originally from Chicago, IL and completed her bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She earned her medical degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Hwang then completed her residency training at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. She continued into fellowship training in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery and microvascular reconstruction at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA. Her clinical interests include facial paralysis, facial reconstruction, cosmetic surgery, facial trauma, functional and cosmetic rhinoplasty, and hair restoration. She believes in patient-centered care and working together with the patient for the best outcome.

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.

Judith M. Skoner, M.D. joined the MUSC Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery as an assistant professor in September 2005. She received her medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and completed her residency at the Medical University of South Carolina. Following residency, she completed fellowship training in microvascular reconstruction/facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at Oregon Health \& Science University in Portland. After fellowship, Dr. Skoner traveled through Nepal, providing care to underserved patients at remote locations with various head and neck disorders. Thereafter, she joined the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery faculty at Temple University School of Medicine, as division head for microvascular/facial plastic \& reconstructive surgery.





Now, as part of the MUSC facial plastics faculty, Dr. Skoner continues her focused expertise in microvascular surgery and complex reconstruction of the head and neck-- which is essentially recreating parts of the face/mouth/throat/jaw/neck/scalp using transplanted tissue/bone from the patient's own body, after a large cancer or major trauma has resulted in the destruction of these critical features. She also has particular interest in post-traumatic facial reconstruction and functional/aesthetic reconstructions of other complex defects and deformities.





In addition to her MUSC facial plastic surgery practice, she also serves as the division chief of Otolaryngology at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Hospital in Charleston. Dr. Skoner's research interests include clinical post-reconstruction function and quality of life in head and neck cancer patients. Dr. Skoner is double board-certified, having completed all requirements for both the American Board of Otolaryngology, and the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; she is also an active member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

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.

**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.