Care Team
Laryngology

Bio

Bio

Bio

Bio
Bio
Ann Kearney, CScD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S has her Clinical Science Doctorate degree in speech pathology. She received her Master's degree from the University of Iowa. She completed her Clinical Fellowship Year (CFY) at North Coast Rehab Center in Santa Rosa, CA. After her CFY, she moved to San Francisco and became the Director of the Speech Pathology Department at San Francisco General Hospital, an affiliate of UCSF. It was during this time that she became interested in post laryngectomy speech rehabilitation and trained with Mark Singer, MD. From there, she moved to Boston and spent time at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), a training hospital for Harvard Medical School.
She was a member of the Voice and Swallowing department and worked with Kitty Verdolini, PhD and Marvin Freed, MD. After several years at the BWH, she moved to Tufts/New England Medical Center where she was the voice specialist for the Department of Otolaryngology and worked directly with the Chair of the Dept., Stanley Shapshay, MD.
Ann has been with the Department of Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery since 2003. She has presented at numerous national meetings. She is the program coordinator for CEU courses offered through the Department, such as Stanford's TEP course and Advanced FEES courses. Additionally, she is the co-founder for the head and neck cancer support group at the Cancer Center. Her interests include post laryngectomy rehabilitation, voice therapy in the professional voice user, swallowing disorders, exercise induced paradoxical vocal fold movement disorder (EI-PVFM), chronic cough, and obstructive sleep apnea. She is Board Certified in Swallowing Disorders, has been on the faculty for the IAL/Voice Institute, trained in Buteyko Breathing (level 1) and is Myofascial Release certified for the head and neck. Ann works in the Laryngology and Sleep Surgery divisions within the Department.
Bio
Betsy Stickels, MS CCC-SLP (she/her), is a voice specialized speech language pathologist. She earned her Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology from the Loyola University of Maryland. Previously, Betsy worked for Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Voice and Swallow Program until 2023 when she joined the Stanford Voice and Swallow Center, expanding services to Emeryville, Ca. At Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Betsy started their Gender Affirming Voice Care program.
Betsy’s particular clinical interests include gender-affirming voice care and voice therapy for professional voice users and singers. As part of Stanford Voice and Swallow Center, Betsy sees voice, swallow, and upper airway patients. She also joins Dr. Brian Nuyen to provide multidisciplinary gender-affirming voice care initial evaluations. Betsy provides follow-up therapy as well as runs a free group for gender-diverse patients and community members looking for extra support and practice while working on their voice transition.
Outside of the clinic, Betsy is an avid singer and voice teacher. She also enjoys reading, live music, and a good cup of coffee.
Bio
Xueying Cao, MS, BSN, PA-C, graduated with Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing in 2016 from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, USA, where she was a member of Sigma Theta Tau, Honors Society of Nursing. After working as an RN for 2 years in cardiothoracic surgery, Xueying went to Stanford University in Stanford, CA, USA, earned her Master of Science degree in Physician Assistant Studies and became a Board-Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C) in 2022.
Xueying joined Stanford Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery Department in 2022 after graduating from her PA program. Clinically, she specializes in laryngology, rhinology, and sleep surgery divisions. Xueying is passionate about providing high-quality evidence-based care to her patients. She is competent in performing ENT related procedures and seeing patients with complaints of nose, throat and sleep issues.
In addition to patient care, Xueying is interested in teaching, medical innovation, clinical research, and leadership focusing on healthcare administration.
Bio
Adam Fry, MM, MA CCC-SLP, is a voice specialized speech language pathologist. He earned his Master of Arts in Speech Language Pathology from the University of Pittsburgh. Before joining Stanford, he completed his clinical fellowship at the Lakeshore Professional Voice Center in Detroit, Michigan.
Prior to his career in Speech Pathology, he received his Master of Music from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati followed by a 10 year career as an opera singer singing with companies such as Pittsburgh Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Dayton Opera, Union Avenue Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Erie Philharmonic, Asheville Symphony, Cincinnati May Festival and Annapolis Opera.
Adam’s particular clinical interests include voice care for singers and professional voice users, respiratory retraining for chronic cough and upper airway disorders, and dysphagia therapy for swallowing disorders. Adam performs Modified Barium Swallow Studies and FEES (Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallow) and combined voice and swallow evaluations with Dr. Brian Nuyen.
Outside of the clinic, Adam continues to keep his ties to the opera world helping singers in distress. He also enjoys exploring the California coast, craft breweries and looking for the next best donut.