Winter 2020 | UH Ear, Nose, & Throat Institute Update

A message from Nicole C. Maronian, MD, Director and Chair

Innovations in Ear, Nose & Throat | Winter 2020

 Nicole Maronian, MD

Otolaryngology holds a place in history as one of the oldest medical specialties in the United States. Recently, University Hospitals made history again by naming Cliff Megerian, MD, as chief executive officer of University Hospitals Health System. This announcement marks the first time an ENT surgeon has been tapped to lead a major health system. We congratulate Dr. Megerian and look forward not only to his leadership of UH but also to his continued work as a practicing neurotologist in Otolaryngology.

Our ENT Institute continues to grow in 2020. Our nationally recognized experts deliver exceptional quality care to patients, innovate in research, lead in our field and societies, as well as educate our next generation of medical students, residents and fellows. This more than anything has continued our ranking in U.S. News and World Report for 2019-20. I am very pleased to share several notable highlights of our Department over the last year as we have expanded faculty and advanced tertiary ENT treatments to improve the quality of care for our patients.

PHYSICIAN APPOINTMENTS

On June 1, Alejandro Rivas, MD, will join University Hospitals Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery as Division Chief of Otology/Neurotology and Professor of Otolaryngology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. An international renowned expert in endoscopic ear surgery, cochlear implantation, and acoustic neuroma surgery with an expansive research portfolio, Dr. Rivas will focus on growth of our clinical trials in cochlear implantation, and expansion of our CI and lateral skull base programs.

Cyrus Rabbani, MD, who is currently completing a fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins, will join our department to formalize our facial reanimation program, along with the full cadre of functional and cosmetic facial plastics. We are excited to add his clinical expertise to our facial plastics team of Diana Ponsky, MD, and Jonathan Frankel, MD.

RESIDENTS RETURN TO UH AFTER FELLOWSHIP TRAINING

Nauman Manzoor, MD, will join the UH faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Otology/Neurotology. He is currently a second-year Glasscock Fellow in the Department of Otolaryngology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Manzoor will be a valuable addition to our team, which includes Sarah Mowry, MD, Gail Murray, PhD, CCC-A, and Cliff Megerian, MD.

W. Colby Brown, MD, will return to UH this summer to expand general ENT care at University Hospitals Parma Medical Center. He is currently completing a fellowship in rhinology and anterior skull base surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and will also provide tertiary rhinology at UH Cleveland Medical Center.

John Gerka Stuyt, MD, will extend the reach of UH ENT comprehensive general care into Akron, Ohio. He is currently completing a fellowship in rhinology and anterior skull base surgery at the University of California, Irvine. His practice will also include tertiary rhinology at UH Cleveland Medical Center.

Akina Tamaki, MD, will join UH after completing a fellowship in head and neck ablative and reconstructive surgery at The Ohio State University. Dr. Tamaki will see patients with head and neck cancer at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center.

Read more information and updates on our fellows, residents and medical students.

ROBUST RESEARCH IN OTOLARYNGOLOGY

Quintin Pan, PhD, and Theodoros N. Teknos, MD, recently published their research on HPV-related head and neck cancers and made a striking discovery that HPV genotype matters in the prognosis of HPV-related head and neck cancer patients. p16 immunohistochemistry, a surrogate biomarker for HPV status, is incorporated in the management of HPV-related head and neck cancer patients, but this assay doesn't discriminate between HPV genotypes. Their work argues that reflex HPV genotype testing should be adopted as standard of care for optimal risk stratification and treatment selection. Read more about this groundbreaking research here.

Brian M. McDermott Jr., PhD, and Ruben Stepanyan, PhD, published a groundbreaking paper in the journal Human Molecular Genetics demonstrating that the zebrafish can be used as a model to study a recessive form of human deafness. Using the gene editing technique called CRISPR, McDermott's and Stepanyan's research teams have made mutant zebrafish, hair cell defects, that have a deafness form similar to humans. This study should allow for a greater understanding of how human deafness occurs.

PGY4 resident Arminé Kocharyan, MD, is the recipient of a prestigious ANS Trainee Award (Basic Science), presented by the American Neurotology Society for her work in the lab of Kumar Alagramam, PhD, who is the Professor and Anthony J. Maniglia Chair for Research and Education, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Her research is focused on repurposing an approved drug to prevent deafness in Usher syndrome type 3A.

PGY2 resident Benjamin Johnson, MD, was awarded a $20,000 grant from the American Hearing Research Foundation to apply to his PGY3 research block. Dr. Johnson is using his research time to work in the lab of Dr. Alagramam, studying antimalarial artesunate as a novel treatment to mitigate hearing loss associated with Usher syndrome type 3A. Quite an accomplishment for a PGY -2.

ACADEMIC AND CLINICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Eight faculty were nominated to Cleveland Magazine’s Best Doctors in October 2020.  They include: Cliff Megerian, MD, Pierre Lavertu, MD, Rod Rezaee, MD, Nicole Maronian, MD, Diana Ponsky, MD, Freedom Johnson, MD, David Stepnick, MD, and Ted Teknos, MD.

Sarah Mowry, MD, residency program director for our CWRU/UH ENT residency, completed her Medical Education Research Certification (MERC), which was a year-long program designed to evolve skills as a researcher in medical education.

In collaboration with our UH Physician Leadership program, we have several rising leaders to highlight. Brian D’Anza, MD, was chosen as a 2020 Anton Scholar. This provides him a directed leadership experience, with a new role as Medical Director of Telehealth for UH. Nicole Fowler, MD, is completing the FLEX Women’s Leadership Program 2019-2020, and Dr. Rod Rezaee is participating in the UH Physician Leadership Program.

With sincere thanks for your support of the UH Ear, Nose & Throat Institute. Looking forward to a productive 2020 as we continue to focus on the UH Mission To Teach To Heal To Discover.

To reach the UH Ear, Nose & Throat Institute, call 216-868-8943.