Alex A. Kane, M.D.

Biography

Alex A. Kane, M.D., FACS, FAAP, is Division Director of Pediatric and Craniofacial Surgery at Children’s Health and Vice Chairman and Crystal Charity Ball Distinguished Professor of Plastic Surgery in the Department of Plastic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Kane has more than two decades of experience treating children with conditions that require plastic and craniofacial surgery, including cleft lip and palate, craniosynostosis, facial traumatic injuries, ear deformities, vascular anomalies, and pediatric breast conditions.

As a physician and surgeon, he focuses on three primary missions: to provide excellent care, to teach residents and fellows, and to advance the understanding of pediatric plastic and craniofacial surgery through his research.

He is positioning the pediatric plastic and craniofacial team at Children’s Health to be among the best in the country. Dr. Kane's research has focused on using imaging to study outcomes and improve treatments in pediatric plastic and craniofacial surgery. As part of his imaging research, Dr. Kane designed the Analytical Imaging and Modeling (AIM) Center for pediatrics at Children's Medical Center, which includes facilities for obtaining 2D, 3D, and 4D images to help pediatric specialists.

Dr. Kane earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He performed his residencies in general and plastic surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He then received advanced training through a concentrated fellowship in cleft lip and palate and craniofacial surgery at Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital in China and a secondary fellowship in craniofacial imaging at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Prior to joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 2010, Dr. Kane was an Endowed Associate Professor of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He was also Director of the Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Institute at St. Louis Children’s Hospital as well as Section Chief of Pediatric Plastic Surgery there.

Dr. Kane has authored more than 100 research articles and book chapters on pediatric plastic and craniofacial subjects. He frequently lectures and presents research at national and international medical symposia. He enjoys teaching fellows, residents, and medical students.

He holds a patent on a device to lengthen and reshape bone in pediatric craniofacial surgery, and along with his colleagues Dr. James Seaward and Dr. Rami Hallac at Children’s Health, holds two patents for a device to enable infants with cleft palate to breastfeed.

Dr. Kane has participated in many charitable surgical missions to Asia under the auspices of Smile Train and the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation. In addition to English, he speaks Spanish, some French, and some Mandarin.

Dr. Kane is included in D Magazine's Best Doctors list and was named a Super Doctor by Texas Monthly, as well as America’s Best Doctors by Best Doctors Inc. He also made U.S. News & World Report’s list of America’s Top Doctors.

Personal Note

Dr. Kane enjoys spending time with his wife and four adult children. Dr. Kane enjoys building furniture and “fixing things up” around the house.