Leigh Meade Vaughan, 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. Carolyn Taylor's clinical interests are in the areas of pediatric cardiac imaging, fetal echocardiography, and assessment of cardiac performance by echocardiography. She is currently on the cardiology faculty at Medical University of South Carolina where she is the medical director of the Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory. This includes performing, interpreting and teaching fetal, transthoracic, and transesophageal echocardiography in all forms of congenital and acquired heart disease in the fetal, pediatric, and adult congenital populations. She also actively participates in the MUSC Advanced Fetal Care Center (AFCC). The AFCC's mission is to use a multidisciplinary approach to provide comprehensive diagnosis, seamlesslycoordinated care, and maternal-fetal treatment for pregnant women with asuspected or confirmed fetal congenital anomaly. In addition to being a pediatric echocardiography and fetal echocardiography physician, she also takes care of in-patients on the step-down unit (8D) and is involved in direct patient care in multiple settings.

The MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital and Pearl Tourville Women’s Pavilion seamlessly integrates expert pediatric specialty care with obstetrical services. This state-of-the-art facility features: - South Carolina's first and only Level 1 trauma center - Advanced Fetal Care Center - South Carolina's only Level 4 NICU - The most comprehensive pediatric heart center in South Carolina - Nationally ranked pediatric cancer care - Obstetricians experienced in caring for the most high-risk women in the state