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Director, Pediatric Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Christopher T. Wootten, MD, MMHC, Director of Pediatric Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Wootten grew up in Oklahoma and Mississippi. He earned his medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He completed his residency and internship at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr Wootten completed a two-year fellowship of additional subspecialty training in pediatric otolaryngology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH. Beyond the Children’s Hospital, in 2014, Dr. Wootten founded the Aerodigestive Society as an annual special-interest meeting (www.aerodigestive.us), which has blossomed into an international not-for-profit organization focused on education and innovation to help children with airway and aerodigestive disorders. He has served in many roles within this organization including President, and he has spoken nationally and internationally about the multidisciplinary care of the pediatric airway. He chairs or co-chairs two national aerodigestive research collaboratives. With a growing interest in health care leadership, Dr. Wootten obtained a Masters of Management in Health Care from the Owen School of Business at Vanderbilt in 2017. Dr. Wootten has authored or co-authored over 70 peer reviewed articles and book chapters in many aspects of pediatric otolaryngology—head and neck surgery, and in the diagnosis and management of pediatric and adult airway disorders. His research interests include understanding chronic airway inflammation and its role in airway reconstruction. He also maintains an avid interest in the use of minimally invasive surgical techniques in the ear, in the management of sleep apnea, and in the airway.