Our Staff:

Mary Kay Tobin, MD — allergist, University Consultants in Allergy and Immunology. Mary C. Tobin, M.D. is the director of clinical services for the Allergy/Immunology Division, Department of Immunology/Microbiology, at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Tobin has practiced allergy and immunology in the academic setting for the last 25 years. She attended St. Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana, and graduated magna cum laude with a BS in biology. She obtained her MD from Rush Medical College in 1977. She did her residency in internal medicine at Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital from 1977-1980, and served as chief resident in internal medicine from 1980-1981. From 1981-1983 she did a fellowship in allergy/immunology at Rush. After completing her fellowship, Dr. Tobin left Rush and went to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, where she started the allergy section in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. While at Loyola, she developed an Asthma Center, which provided comprehensive asthma care and education for adults and children. The Asthma Center offered support services such as exercise programs and mediation for patients with asthma. In 1999, she returned to Rush and together with her colleagues have created the Rush University Asthma Center. She is looking forward to combining both clinical and research perspectives to enhance patient care.

Salman Khan, MD — Section of Pediatric Pulmonology. As a pediatric pulmonologist at Rush Children's Hospital, Dr. Khan has extensive training in evaluation, diagnosis, management and caring for children with asthma, allergies and other pulmonary disorders. Asthma is a very common respiratory disease in pediatric population and often presents with seasonal allergies and allergic skin condition called eczema. It has been shown that asthma has strong genetic component, and in the presence of environmental allergens can be very disabling. Therapy is directed toward control of asthma symptoms with medications, control of environmental allergens and patient education. With effective therapy, patients can perform activities of daily living without any significant limitation. The key to the successful control of asthma is close follow-up with physicians and compliance with prescribed therapy.

Brian Stein, MD, MS — Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, co-director of the Rush University Asthma Center. Dr. Stein is board certified in pulmonary and critical care medicine. His clinical interests are the diagnosis and treatment of difficult-to-manage asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Dr Stein's research focuses on the quality of care delivered to patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Girish Sharma, MD, MBBS, MRCPI — Section of Pediatric Pulmonology and Rush Cystic Fibrosis Clinic. Dr. Sharma is director of the Section of Pediatric Pulmonology at Rush Children's Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at Rush University. He was trained at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, in London, and Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Cleveland. Dr. Sharma has spent more than 20 years as a clinician and clinical researcher in asthma and related disorders. His interests include use of impulse oscillometry for the diagnosis of asthma in younger children who cannot perform conventional lung function. Dr. Sharma was named the #1 attending of the year by Rush pediatric residents and has written multiple papers and book chapters on asthma, including one in the popular eMedicine by WebMD. Dr. Sharma runs a state-of-the-art pulmonary function lab with facilities for lung function testing with exercise and cold air challenge, impulse oscillometry and bronchoscopy.

Susan Fox, MSS, PA — physician assistant, University Consultants in Allergy and Immunology. Susan has been a part of the asthma team for nine years. Prior to becoming a physician assistant, she conducted basic science asthma research and coordinated asthma clinical trials here at Rush. After completing her physician assistant training and master's in medical science, she practiced in an ear, nose and throat clinic, often seeing patients with sinus disease, GERD, vocal cord dysfunction and allergic rhinitis. Susan is excited to be a part of the Asthma Center and its multidisciplinary approach to treating asthma. She has a particular interest in preventive medicine, focusing on the whole individual in order to optimize overall health. Also, having an interest in complementary and alternative medicine, Susan hopes to integrate yoga, meditation and breathing techniques into the Asthma Center.

Sarah Bergman, RN, BSN, MS — nurse coordinator, Rush University Asthma Center. Ms. Bergman's nursing background is in general medicine, community health and pediatric psychiatry. For five years, she developed and implemented a school health program on Chicago's north side. Throughout her professional experiences, she has intervened when patients present with acute asthma exacerbations, and as follow-up, taught patients how to better manage their asthma. Sarah is enthused to use her variety of experiences in caring for adults and children at the Rush University Asthma Center.

Other specialists on our team:

Garth Swanson, MD — gastroenterologist. An assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Digestive Diseases. His practice focuses on the diagnosis, management and treatment of common gastrointestinal diseases such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Current management of GERD relies on medical therapy and techniques such as upper endoscopy and BRAVO ph testing. Uncontrolled acid reflux can exacerbate the chronic airway hyperreactivity and inflammation in asthma, and the proper diagnosis and treatment of acid related disorders such as GERD are important in the management and quality of life in asthma patients.

Paul Jones, MD — director of pediatric otolaryngology. With over 20 years of experience in treating pediatric patients with asthma, Dr. Jones is a pediatric airway evaluation specialist in direct laryngoscopy, bronchoscopy, esophagoscopy, and can rule out asthma-like condition (paradoxical vocal cord movement, vocal cord paralysis, benign growths, congenital narrowing and external compression of the airways). Studies have shown that control of these co-existing conditions improves a patient's quality of life and decreases the amount of medication needed to control asthma symptoms, decreases rescue inhaler use, decreases unplanned ER or hospital visits, and should be part of an overall asthma management plan.

Jay Dutton, MD — University Head and Neck Associates. As an ENT sinus specialist, Dr. Dutton is well versed in the numerous studies that have demonstrated the link between chronic sinusitis, nasal polyposis and asthma. By improving sinus issues through medical or surgical means, those with asthma benefit. Patients who undergo sinus surgery, for example, require less frequent use of rescue asthma medications.

Other subspecialties:

Sports Medicine
Women's Health
Speech and Hearing
Psychology
Sleep Medicine
Respiratory Therapy

Core Faculty:

Robert Balk, MD — director, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Alan Landay, PhD — chairman, Department of Immunology and Microbiology
Larry Thomas, PhD — professor, Department of Immunology and Microbiology