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UW Oto residents enjoying the beautiful summer weather over the Montlake cut during our yearly orientation where we welcome our newest interns.

Dear friends and colleagues,

Neal Futran, MD, DMD

Allison T. Wanamaker Professor and Endowed Chair

I hope this message finds you well, enjoying the warm and sunny days of summer! We are thrilled to bring you the latest updates from UW Oto on our advancements, achievements, and most importantly, our people.

The start of a new academic year brings fresh opportunities for growth, collaboration, and advancement. For our trainees - both those who have graduated and are continuing the UW Oto mission, and those who have just joined us - it marks the beginning of an enriching journey that will shape their professional lives.

With great pleasure, we introduce the newest members of our esteemed Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery family and warmly welcome our incoming residents and fellows who joined us in July. Our program has attracted a group of exceptionally talented individuals who have demonstrated deep passion for the field of otolaryngology. They come from diverse backgrounds and bring with them a wealth of experiences and perspectives. Their energy, dedication, and fresh outlook will undoubtedly invigorate our program and drive us to new heights of excellence.

Our department members and alumni have represented us well in recent national and international otolaryngology meetings, as detailed below. On the home front, we have a facial nerve center under the direction of Dr. Nina Lu, and a multi-disciplinary airway and esophageal center at Seattle Children's Hospital launched by Drs. Jake Dahl, Kaalan Johnson, Sanjay Parikh, and Kathy Sie. Our research training program remains robust, with Drs. Kelsey Loy and Zaroug Jaleel receiving AAO-HNS CORE grants this year, and alumni Drs. Corinna Levine and Derek Lam securing recent NIH funding. We also take a moment to celebrate the newest members who have come into the world and remember those who have departed.

Finally, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of you for your ongoing support and trust in our expertise. It is through your collaboration and feedback that we continue to grow and evolve as a leading center for otolaryngology-head and neck surgery care, research, and education.

Wishing you a healthy and enjoyable summer!

Neal

Introducing the Facial Nerve Center at UWMC-Montlake, led by G. Nina Lu, MD, and Emily Wilson, MS, CCC-SLP. The multi-disciplinary clinic focuses on comprehensive care of patients with facial nerve disorders and draws on the wealth of expertise within the department as well as across the University of Washington.

G. Nina Lu, MD

Emily Wilson, MS, CCC-SLP

Ms. Wilson provides expertise in facial neuromuscular retraining essential in optimizing patient outcomes. Joint cases with Neal Futran MD, DMD, Brittany Barber, MD, and Emily Marchiano, MD, ensure world-class surgical treatment of parotid malignancy with facial reanimation care.

Jay Rubinstein, MD, PhD, and Gavriel Kohlberg, MD, provide expertise in intratemporal pathology. Collaborations with neurosurgery, neurology, oculoplastic, neuroradiology, and PM&R colleagues ensure seamless care.

The clinic actively reviews challenging cases and hosts quarterly journal clubs for cutting-edge research. Patient progress is tracked through standard documentation and outcome measures, advancing facial nerve research. Dr. Lu's dedication stems from her training with world experts, inspiring her comprehensive care approach with a devoted team at UW.

Recent advancements in treating spastic facial palsy and synkinesis, such as selective neurectomy and myectomy procedures, have significantly improved outcomes, offering hope to patients previously told otherwise. Dr. Lu shares patient progress photos with permission, showcasing:

Patient #1: Smile restoration through therapy with Emily Wilson

Patient #2: Successful outcomes after selective neurectomy

The Facial Nerve Center at UWMC-Montlake remains committed to advancing care for facial nerve disorders. 

Seattle Children's is proud to announce the opening of a new Airway and Esophageal Center serving babies, children and teens through age 20. UW Oto faculty members Sanjay Parikh, MD, FACS, Kaalan Johnson, MD, Kathy Sie, MD, and Jake Dahl, MD, PhD, MBA, FACS, collaboratively launched the center with colleagues from pulmonary, GI, pediatric surgery, speech, and many others. The center provides seamless, multidisciplinary care from a highly experienced team of experts for patients who have complex conditions affecting their airway, breathing, and swallowing.

Jake Dahl, MD, PhD, MBA, FACS

Kaalan Johnson, MD

Sanjay Parikh, MD, FACS

Kathy Sie, MD

Neal Futran, MD, DMD, was awarded a presidential citation from the American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) for his exceptional contributions and longstanding support for the society. This is Dr. Futran's second citation from the Society (his first was in 2013). He joins a list of distinguished recipients, many from UW Oto.

Dr. Futran is pictured here accepting the award from AHNS president Brian Burkey, MD, Med, FACS, at the Society's 11th International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer held in July in Montreal. Congratulations to Dr. Futran on this well-deserved recognition!

UW Oto professor Al Merati, MD, had the unusual privilege of being a keynote speaker at not one but TWO society meetings during the recent COSM meeting in Boston, MA.

ABEA Chevalier Jackson Lecture: Dirty Laryngology

ABEA president Peter Belafsky, MD, PhD, invited Dr. Merati to give the annual Chevalier Jackson Lecture for the 103rd meeting of the American Broncho-Esophagological Association. Dr Merati's lecture, "Dirty Laryngology: A Love Story," was provocative in its reflection on the changing nature of the work we do and our identity as laryngologists in this new era. Dr. Merati served as ABEA President from 2019-2020.

At the American Laryngological Association's 144th annual meeting, Dr. Merati was invited by ALA President Lucian Sulica, MD, to deliver the State-of-the-Art Lecture titled "Are we there yet: Laryngology education past, present, and future." The lecture received a positive response and included new data from a nationwide survey of laryngologists. Interestingly, the Puget Sound area boasts one of the highest concentrations of laryngologists in the country, thanks in no small part to our UW program, which is among the three largest nationwide!

Jennifer Stone, PhD, received the distinct honor of presenting her research at the University of Chicago’s 22nd Annual Fernández-Lindsay Lecture, which paid tribute to two major contributors to research and training in otolaryngology, César Fernández and John Lindsay. Her presentation was titled "Regeneration and Reprogramming of Vestibular Type Il Hairs in Adult Mammals."

Dr. Stone is shown here receiving a plaque from the lecture host, Michael Gluth, MD, from UChicago.

Jonathan Perkins, DO, was the keynote speaker at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center's 4th Annual Vascular Anomalies Symposium in Queens, NY. This conference provided information on treatment, targeted therapies, and molecular genetics for managing lymphatic malformations and arteriovenous malformations.

The symposium was organized by our former pediatric otolaryngology fellow, Neha Patel, MD, shown here on the right, with Dr. Perkins.

Dr. Lau and colleagues also received a NIH/NIDCD R01 grant titled "Complex Pitch Perception in Complex Environments" (PI: Oxenham, Co-I: Lau, 5 years). The long-term goal of this research is to understand how the auditory system encodes the fundamental frequency (F0) of single and multiple sounds, how that process develops, and how it is affected by other auditory dimensions, as well as by aging and hearing loss.

Neel Bhatt, MD, won the American Laryngological Association’s post-graduate scientific award. This second annual award was presented at COSM in Boston for the best scientific presentation by an ALA post-graduate member. Dr. Bhatt's presentation was “Neurophysiology of the superior laryngeal nerve in an in vivo rat model.”

Juliana Bonilla-Velez, MD, and medical student Caleb Allred were awarded the Health Equity Research Award from ASPO for the manuscript, "Implementation of an Outbound Ambulatory Scheduling Team Reduces Disparities in Access to Pediatric Otolaryngology Care."

Dr. Stone Takes the Lead in NIH AUD Study Section

Jennifer Stone, PhD, UW Oto research professor and director of research, has the honor of serving as chair of the NIH Auditory System Study Section (AUD) for the 2023-24 year.

The AUD section reviews applications on the structure and function of the auditory and peripheral vestibular systems, generally emphasizing mechanisms underlying normal and abnormal function and/or ways to improve diagnosis and treatment of auditory and vestibular diseases.

Aria Jafari, MD, and Matthew Zhang, MD

Ian Humphreys, DO FARS, received a presidential citation from the American Osteopathic Colleges of Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology for his efforts to advance rhinology education in the college, including founding and developing a hands-on sinus surgery dissection course.

He was also elected to the Board of Governors as a member-at-large.

Dr. Humphreys recently hosted the 2nd Annual Sinus Surgery Dissection Course at the Annual Clinical Assembly of Osteopathic Surgeons’s annual meeting in San Diego. He is pictured above (third from left) with course faculty.

Raible Lab Undertakes Projects Promoting Well-Being

Randall Bly, MD, was recently awarded the highly coveted UW Oto Trachy Award! The winner is selected by a vote of the residents and represents the member of the otolaryngology research faculty who has been most influential to their research development.

Announcing 2023 CORE Grant Recipients: Dr. Loy and Dr. Jaleel

Two UW Oto residents are recipients of a 2023 CORE grant! The AAO-HNSF CORE grants (Centralized Otolaryngology Research Effort) are a collaboration of several societies, foundations, and industry supporters focused on providing support for research in the field of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.

Kelsey Loy, MD, has won a 2023 ASPO Research Grant for her proposal entitled "Spatial Heterogeneity in Lymphatic Malformations." Her primary research mentors are James Bennett, MD, PhD, and Jonathan Perkins, DO.

Dr. Loy's research aims to elucidate lymphatic malformation pathophysiology using a combination of spatial transcriptomics and in situ single-cell genotyping.

Zaroug Jaleel, MD, has won a 2023 AAO-HNSF Resident Research Award for "Effects of Aging on Superior Laryngeal Nerve Sensory and Motor Function in Rats." His primary research mentors are Dave Perkel, PhD, and Neel Bhatt, MD.

Dr. Shukla Wins "Best of the Best" at AAFPRS

UW Oto resident Aish Shukla, MD, MPH, was the 2023 1st Place Winner of the AAFPRS Best Poster for "Safety and Efficacy of Superior Orbicularis Oculi Botulinum Toxin Injection for Synkinesis." Dr. Shukla is shown (right) with her mentor, G. Nina Lu, MD. Congratulations, Dr. Shukla!

Dr. Adidharma Delivers Inspiring Innovation Keynote Address

UW Oto resident Lingga Adidharma, MD, won the inaugural Haynes Award for Innovation in Oto-HNS from Vanderbilt. Dr. Adidharma is shown here receiving the prize after delivering the keynote address at the Vanderbilt Innovation Symposium in April. Way to go, Dr. Adidharma!

We are thrilled to report that four (!) UW Oto residents were elected in 2022 to membership in Alpha Omega Alpha (AΩA), the national medical honor society. Election to Alpha Omega Alpha "is an honor signifying a lasting commitment to professionalism, leadership, scholarship, research, and community service. A lifelong honor, membership in the society confers recognition for a physician’s dedication to the profession and art of healing." A belated congratulations to these distinguished young surgeons!

Pictured above are Shaunak Amin, MD; Jacob Brady, MD; Eve Champaloux, MD, PhD; and Sherise Epstein, MD, MPH.

Faculty Updates

Edwin Monsell, MD, PhD

Edwin Monsell, MD, PhD, an emeritus professor at Wayne State University, has joined our part-time faculty in otology and neurotology. His research focuses on hearing loss mechanisms, and he continues to serve the national academic community with distinction. Dr. Monsell has a particular passion for teaching and working with residents in the ambulatory clinic. We are thrilled to welcome him and his expertise!

Welcome, New Interns!

The University of Washington School of Medicine Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery residency training program provides medical training in clinical, surgical, and investigative aspects of our specialty.

Each year, four applicants are accepted into the residency program. Three of these follow a 6-year track (five clinical years with one research year), and one follows a 7-year track (five clinical years with two research years).

We extend a warm welcome to the four extraordinary individuals who entered our program this summer!

Hosam Alkhatib, MD

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Solomon Johnson, MD, MS

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Stephen Leong, MD

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

Rishi Modi, MD

University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

. . . and Farewell to the Chiefs!

Grace Wandell, MD, MS, is off to a laryngology fellowship at UC Davis.

Neeraja Konuthula, MD, has accepted a head and neck oncologic fellowship at University of Miami.

Kaitlyn Zenner, MD, is starting a pediatric otolaryngology fellowship at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

Austin Lam, MD, will be pursuing a head & neck oncology and microvascular reconstruction fellowship at Mount Sinai in New York.

We thank our graduated 2022-23 fellows for their tremendous contributions!

From top left:

Abbey Carlson, MS CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathology clinical specialist at the Community Hospital of Munster, IN.

Harrison Cash, MD, is a head and neck surgical oncologist at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Phoenix, AZ.

Enrique Gorbea Dolagaray, MD, is an attending facial plastic surgeon at Adler Clinics in San Juan, PR.

Melissa Zheng, MD, is an assistant professor in laryngology at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ.

Nate Perkins, DO, is an attending pediatric otolaryngologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.

Jennifer Siu, MD, MPH, is a pediatric otolaryngologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, ON, Canada.

Maxwell Newby, MD, is a pediatric otolaryngologist at LeHigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, PA.

Dhruv Sharma, MD, is an assistant professor at the University of Louisville, KY.

Natalie Derise, MD, our facial plastics fellow, completed her residency at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

Rocco Ferrandino, MD, our head & neck fellow, completed his residency at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York.

Rachel Jonas, MD, our laryngology fellow, completed her residency at the University of Virginia.

Ion Prohnitchi, MD, our rhinology fellow, completed his residency at Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Romania.

Lindsay Boven, MD, our pediatrics fellow, completed her residency at LSU Shreveport.

Kara Brodie, MD, MPH, our pediatrics fellow, completed her residency at UC San Francisco.

Madeline Knutson, MS, CF-SLP, our speech-language pathology fellow, graduated from the University of Washington.

APPs (Advanced Practice Providers) are the heart of a patient-centered clinical practice, and our UW Oto APPs are living proof. Since January 2023, our APP team has had over 1,000 patient visits - a 125% increase over the previous six months. In response, over the same period, we increased the team from 2 to 6 providers, resulting in greatly improved patient access and care.

In collaboration with our physicians and residents, our APPs are responsible for inpatient coverage, consults, and outpatient visits across our clinical sites. Kristi Kratochvil, ARNP, and Ellen Nong, PA-C, cover our Montlake clinic inpatient daily needs and discharges, handle consults alongside the residents, and see patients in clinic after discharge. Alaina Castro, PA-C, and Carol Stimson, ARNP, see our head & neck outpatients: Alaina at Montlake and Fred Hutch; and Carol at Montlake, including complex discharges and outpatient follow-ups. Melissa Lorenz, PA-C, sees rhinology patients at Montlake, and Paige Trythall, ARNP, sees otology patients at Montlake and Northwest. 

From left: Kristi Kratochvil, ARNP; Carol Stimson, ARNP; Alaina Castro, PA-C; Melissa Lorenz, PA-C; Paige Trythall, ARNP; Ellen Nong, PA-C.

Thanks, team! We at UW Oto mean it quite literally when we say, "We couldn't do it without you." 

Al Merati, MD - Front row, 2nd from left. Tanya Meyer, MD, back row, right. Al Hillel, MD, back row, 3rd from right.

UW Pediatric Oto team and friends at COSM - aka The First Annual Scott Manning Retirement Party, as featured at the 7th Annual Andy Inglis Retirement Party. Scott Manning, MD - front and center.

UW Oto Head & Neck Team at AHNS

UW Oto chair Neal Futran, MD, DMD (right), with family, UW Oto residents, and other colleagues and friends.

Northwest Voice is a collaboration between the University of Washington's Voice Section of the Speech & Hearing Sciences Department, the Division of Laryngology in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, and esteemed colleagues in vocal pedagogy and performance in the Pacific Northwest. Launched in 2016 with support from the collaborative UW Bergstrom award, it has become the top regional multidisciplinary program in performing voice anywhere. The 8th annual Art & Science of the Performing Voice conference held in May attracted over 140 registrants!

Aria Jafari, MD, (2nd from right) participated in the Summer Sinus Symposium in Las Vegas, shown here with former resident Corinna Levine, MD (second from left) and former rhinology fellow Patricia Johnson, MD (third from right). They engaged in presentations and discussions about challenging cases in skull base surgery. Additionally, Dr. Jafari served as a panelist during the session titled "Where the Eye Meets the Nose: Orbital and Lacrimal Surgery for the Rhinologist." Great representation by UW faculty and alumni to exchange insights in the field at the meeting!

UW Oto junior residents made it through the annual UW Oto Emergencies Bootcamp! Senior residents honed their teaching chops by guiding the juniors through an impressive array of training exercises to learn and practice skills essential to our specialty. Trainees were also presented with two complex scenarios where they could apply technical and non-technical skills and receive structured feedback in a safe but higher-stress, multi-disciplinary environment - including a brand new one developed by Eve Champaloux, MD, PhD. New to the training were an augmented reality station from the BraIN Lab; a new trainer for flexible fiberoptic nasolaryngoscopy, developed in collaboration with Seth Friedman's lab; an APP mini-bootcamp with four stations; and a new nasal endoscopy model (bell peppers!) introduced by Aria Jafari, MD. The keynote by Kathy Sie, MD, on negotiation skills was part of the program's longitudinal leadership curriculum. A tremendous thank-you to course directors Maya Sardesai, MD, MEd, and Tanya Meyer, MD, and to so many others who contributed their valuable time and expertise.

Derek Lam, MD, MPH, an associate professor at OHSU and former UW Oto resident, was notified in late 2022 that his second independent R61-R33 trial grant will be funded by the NIH through the National Heart Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI). This major grant, titled "Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea with Personalized Surgery in Children with Down Syndrome (TOPS-DS)," is a randomized controlled trial with the potential to change the treatment paradigm in children with Down Syndrome to a more personalized treatment protocol with improved surgical outcomes and less need for secondary treatments.

Thomas Puel-Bonilla, born to Julianna Bonilla-Vélez and family in May.

Nathan, born to Randall Bly and family in April.

Alexander, born to Eve Champaloux and family in May.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a ruling to allow the sale of over-the-counter hearing aids starting Oct. 17, 2022. This action finalized congressional legislation from 2017 that called for broader availability of the devices. Cliff Hume, MD, PhD, who specializes in hearing and balance, was interviewed in a video from the UW Medicine Newsroom explaining who is a good fit for these kinds of hearing aids. This video and some accompanying links provide answers to common questions.

UW Oto faculty members Tanya Meyer, MD, and Neel Bhatt, MD, recently published research that will help patients with vocal disorders gain access to more appropriate treatment. Their research confirmed that some people with laryngeal dystonia and essential tremor of the vocal tract benefit from Botox injections more frequently than the three-month interval that most health insurers allow. Now some patients who had been paying thousands of dollars out of pocket for treatment will be able to make an effective case to insurers for coverage for the treatment they need. 

The research was published on May 25 in JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery and recently featured on the front page of UW Medicine Newsroom.

In January 2023, UW Oto faculty members Kathy Sie, MD, and Amit Bhrany, MD, together with Craig Murakami, MD, a UW clinical professor and emeritus facial plastic surgeon at Virginia Mason Medical Center, and former UW faculty member Sam Most, MD, currently a professor at Stanford University, returned to Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for a humanitarian surgical mission trip. They were joined by former UW facial plastic surgery fellows Anish Abrol, MD, Bryan Ambro, MD, and Scott Bevans, MD; and Tom Wang, MD, FACS, from Oregon Health & Science University.

This annual trip is a coordinated effort with Smile Cambodia, led by Theavy Mok, MD, and Northwest Medical Volunteers, a non-profit organization formed by Drs. Murakami, Sie, Most, and Bhrany. The team provides care for facial deformities caused by congenital anomalies, cancer, trauma, and more. It also serves as an educational exchange between UW/Stanford faculty and Cambodian medical students, residents, and surgeons.

The focus is on microtia repair, cleft lip and palate repair, complex facial reconstruction, and head and neck cancer surgery. This year, they screened over 130 patients, performed 45 surgeries, and provided medical supplies and an anesthesia machine to Smile Cambodia.

After the Cambodian genocide, the country was left with a severe shortage of physicians. The team aims to bridge this gap by providing healthcare and education to sustain long-term care. Cambodian medical students and residents participate in surgical cases and receive lectures on facial plastic surgery.

The impact extends beyond Cambodia; serving on this trip reminds the team of the importance of their profession and the difference they can make. It reaffirms the value of a life dedicated to serving others.

Aria Jafari, MD

As summer fades and autumn approaches, September holds a special place for me, marking my third anniversary in this remarkable department. I am delighted to introduce myself as an editor of this newsletter, eager to showcase what makes UW Otolaryngology so special.

Throughout the years, I have witnessed the extraordinary dedication of our students, residents, fellows, and faculty. Their passion for our field is truly inspiring, evident in the impressive accomplishments highlighted in this edition.

In this issue, we aim to share experiences, knowledge, and aspirations, embracing the exciting possibilities that lie ahead for our department. As we celebrate our collective journey, from Montreal, Canada to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, let us look forward to a bright and promising future, wherever the next adventure takes us. 

With gratitude,

-Aria Jafari