Sandra L.H. Davenport, MD, CM got her undergraduate degree from Barnard College in New York City, her basic medical science degree from Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire, and her MD from McGill University Faculty of Medicine in Montreal. Dr. Davenport completed her pediatric residency at the University of Washington in Seattle, along with two fellowships in the Comprehensive Care of Handicapped Children and in Abnormal Biologic Development. The focus of the Abnormal Biologic Development fellowship was deafness and was divided between genetics and the study of deafness from both a medical and cultural perspective, including taking a didactic course for ENT residents, spending time in the ENT clinic, beginning sign language, and learning about deaf culture. It was at this time that Dr. Davenport developed a life-long interest in deafblindness. Five years later, Dr. Davenport, Ms. Meg Hefner, and Dr. James Thelin presented a series of four patients at a scientific meeting that turned out to have CHARGE syndrome. This beginning led to further interest in both the medical aspects of the condition and the effects on development and communication.
