Allison Marie Whalen, MD

Shannon D’Alton received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a Master of Science in Nursing at The Medical University of South Carolina. She completed a post-graduate fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, focusing on neuro-oncology and pediatric hospice and palliative care. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Nursing at The Medical University of South Carolina. Mrs. D’Alton is certified by the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board and a member of the Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses Association. She specializes in the care of children with complex chronic conditions and has expertise in pediatric neurology and palliative care. Her clinical interests include recognition of the physical, social, and psychological burdens associated with chronic illness and loss. Her research interests include grief and bereavement, palliative care and understanding the impact of sibling death on surviving children and the parent-child dyad. Mrs. D’Alton currently practices perinatal palliative care as a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in the Advanced Fetal Care Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Rahul Argula was born in Hyderabad, India. He completed his medical schooling further south in the coastal town of Puducherry, at JIPMER (Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research). After graduating from medical school, he moved to Houston, Texas, to pursue a Master's degree in public health at the University of Texas school of Public Health, focusing on epidemiology and biostatistics. He then completed a residency in internal medicine at MUSC and following this, completed his fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine, also at MUSC. In 2013, he joined the faculty at MUSC with an interest in pulmonary vascular disease. He is the director of the MUSC pulmonary vascular disease program, where patients with a multitude of pulmonary vascular diseases such as pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary vasculitides, pulmonary arterio-venous malformations, etc. are cared for. The MUSC pulmonary vascular disease program is the only one in the state of South Carolina that is designated as a comprehensive care center for patients with pulmonary hypertension by the PHA (Pulmonary Hypertension Association). Dr.Argula's research interests include pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary vascular disease in the setting of connective tissue disease, interstitial lung disease, end-stage renal disease and sarcoidosis. His clinical interests include pulmonary arterial hypertension(PAH), chronic thrombo-embolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), pulmonary vascular disease in the setting of advanced liver disease, end stage renal disease, COPD, and interstitial lung disease. Dr.Argula is board certified in pulmonary diseases and critical care. He works together with multiple providers within the MUSC system to provide inter-disciplinary care for patients with pulmonary hypertension and other advanced lung diseases. During his inpatient service time, Dr.Argula provides care for patients admitted to the intensive care units at MUSC and also provides consultative services to hospitalized patients with pulmonary diseases.