Bios for Our Core Team Members

Ernest D. Cronin, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Dr. Cronin is currently President of the Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons

Dr. Ernest D. Cronin, a Houston native, attended Tulane University and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. He received his medical degree in 1971 from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

Dr. Cronin completed his internship at Kansas City General Hospital, received general surgery training at St. Joseph Hospital in Houston, and then obtained an Otolaryngology Residency from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, completing his Plastic Surgery Residency Program at St. Joseph Hospital in Houston, Texas.

In 1988, Dr. Cronin established the Cohen and Cronin Clinic Association along with Dr. Benjamin E. Cohen. In January 2002, Dr. Cronin became Chief of Staff at St. Joseph Hospital. At the present time, he is the president-elect of the Texas Society of Plastic Surgery, where he has also served as vice-president and treasurer in previous years. He has also been past president of the Houston Society of Plastic Surgeons. Since Dr. Cronin has been the Medical Director of the Cronin and Brauer Cleft Palate and Facial Reconstruction Clinic. Since 1983 and on an annual basis, Dr. Cronin has served as the Founder and Medical Director of Operation San Jose, a surgical mission project dedicated to provide plastic surgery services to children with cleft lip and palate deformities in underserved countries in Latin America. Dr. Cronin is one of 77 plastic surgeons in the United States and one of only five plastic surgeons in Houston chosen by his peers to be included in the recently published The Best Doctors in America since 1995.

Dr. Cronin has published approximately 32 medical journal or book chapters on plastic surgery and has helped train many plastic surgeons. He is board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology and the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He is a member in good standing of a number of national medical societies including the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, from which he has received the Certificate of Advanced Education in Cosmetic Surgery; and the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association. Currently, he serves as the President of the Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons and has received numerous awards.

 

Paul W. Gidley, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Dr. Paul Gidley attended Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, receiving his Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology with honors. He attended the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical Honor Society and graduated in 1990. He then completed a residency program in Otolaryngology through the University of Texas, Houston in 1995. In 1997, he completed a fellowship at the University of Iowa in Otology-Neurotology.

Currently, Dr. Gidley is an Associate Professor of Otology-Neurology in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.  Previously, he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston.  He is board certified with the American Board of Otolaryngology in Otoloryngology– Head and Neck Surgery and in Otology-Neurotology. He is a member of numerous professional societies including the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, the American Neurotology Society, and the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Gidley specializes in hearing loss, ear infections, and ear malformations. He has been a member of the Cronin & Brauer Craniofacial and Cleft Palate Team in Houston since 1997. 

 

Daniel D. Louie, D.D.S., Ph.D.

Dr. Louie was born in China. In 1960, he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from Tulane University and a Masters of Science in Chemistry from Arizona State University in 1963. Dr. Louie completed his Doctorate in Biochemistry from Kansas State University in 1967. In 1983, Dr. Louie received his D.D.S. from the University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston. He then completed his orthodontics certification in 1989, also from the University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston.

Dr. Louie is a member of the following organizations: The American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association, the American Dental Association, the American Association for Dental Research, American Association of Orthodontists, Texas Dental Association, Houston District Dental Society, and the International Association of Dental Research.

 

Patrick M. Conoley, M.D.

Dr. Conoley attended Baylor University, graduating in 1972. He received his medical degree from Baylor Medical School in 1976.  In 1980, he completed the Radiology Residency Program at the University of Texas in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Conoley is a member of the American Board of Radiology. He serves as Vice President of Harris County Medical Society. Dr. Conoley performs the videofluoroscopy testing for the team with Dr. Donna Fox. This test is an often an overlooked procedure that is not really stressed in medical training. By performing this test, he combines his love of medicine and language.

 

Donna R. Fox, Ph.D.

Dr. Fox received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington in Seattle and her Master of Arts at the University of Iowa. She received her Ph.D. in Speech & Psychology at the University of Missouri. Teaching experience has been at William Jewel College, the University of Nebraska and the University of Houston. She has been both Area Head and Director of Graduate Studies for Communication Disorders. She has published texts in Voice Disorders, Cleft Palate and Private Practice along with numerous articles in these areas. Her most recent book is a "Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers with Cleft Palate" authored with Joan Lynch and Bonnie Brookshire.  In addition, she has published several chapters in various new texts in Cleft intervention.  She is a member and Fellow of the American Speech Hearing and Language Association, The American Psychological Association, The International Association of Logapedics and Phoniatrics and the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association where she has served as a board member and secretary to the Cleft Palate Foundation. She is past President of the American Academy of Private Practice, in addition to being a member of various state and local professional organizations. She has received the Honors of the American Academy of Private Practice as well as the Honors for both Arkansas and Texas Speech Language and Hearing Association.

Dr. Fox has been the speech pathologist for the Cronin & Brauer Cleft Palate and Facial Reconstruction Clinic since it’s beginnings in 1988.  Her numerous years of experience with cleft lip, palate and maxillofacial deformities have also made her an authority in feeding and lactation techniques.