Department Of Otolaryngology

Vanderbilt has announced eleven awardees in the latest round of its Innovation Catalyst Fund, an initiative that supports translational research that has promising commercial potential. Read More

The distinguished faculty members and deans representing eight colleges and schools were presented with medallions that symbolize the attainment of their positions and will become part of their official academic regalia. Chair holders contribute their expertise to real-world challenges, including climate change, political inequality and access to justice, artificial intelligence and ICU trauma.   Read More

An inflammatory factor in mucus could be a biomarker of treatment-resistant chronic sinusitis used to determine which patients are at risk for repeat sinus surgery. Read More

A team of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers has received a $3.1 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to develop advanced, patient-specific cochlear implant stimulation models for customized implant programming. Read More

Idiopathic subglottic stenosis is an unexplained narrowing of the windpipe just below the vocal cords. The disease is progressive, slowly affecting the patient’s ability to breathe, and can be fatal due to airway obstruction if left untreated. Read More

Older patients with a diagnosis of chronic sinusitis have a unique inflammatory signature that may render them less responsive to steroid treatment, according to new research led by Justin Turner. Read More

Reyna Gordon has received a NIH Director’s New Innovator Award of $2.3 million for her project, “Biomarkers of Rhythmic Communication: Integrating Foundational and Translational Approaches.” Read More

Ron Eavey, MD, Guy M. Maness Professor and chair of Otolaryngology and director of the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center, far right, testified recently at the Food and Drug Administration in Washington, D.C., along with members of Ear Community. Read More

A 2011 cicada swarm is leading to transinstitutional research at the Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE) and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) to develop a surgical planning tool to help restore speech for people with vocal fold paralysis. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators found that Botox injection into the vocal cords can lead to improved quality of life for patients with voice muscle problems. Read More

Renowned neurotologist Michael E. Glasscock III, MD, adjunct professor of Otolaryngology, died Feb. 17 in the home he shared with his daughter, Martina Glasscock Barnes, in Asheville, North Carolina. He was 84. The cause of death was kidney disease. Read More

Vanderbilt engineers have designed a “granular jamming cap” filled with coffee grounds that can improve the accuracy of the sophisticated “GPS” system that surgeons use for nose and throat surgery. Read More

Having a child born without an external ear or ear canal can be a scary and confusing experience for parents, and finding medical care for the rare condition has meant having to travel to several distant medical centers for treatment options. Read More

Ron Eavey, M.D., Guy M. Maness Professor and chair of Otolaryngology and director of the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center, received the 2017 Edward C. Bradley S.J., M.D., Medical Alumni Award from the Saint Joseph’s University Medical Alumni Chapter at its annual awards event on its Philadelphia campus on April 23. Read More

People who have problems with their sense of smell or taste and don’t know the cause have a new treatment option at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center. Read More

Last fall, the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center became the second facility in the country and third in the world to use a fully endoscopic surgical technique to remove an acoustic neuroma, a rare benign tumor on the balance and hearing nerves. Read More

Patients are coming to the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center from around the globe, discovering the center’s world-class services through social media. One such person is Sophia Pafitis, who traveled to Vanderbilt last year from the Australian island of Tasmania. Read More

To understand the phenomenal growth of research in the Department of Otolaryngology, step inside the S corridor on the second floor of Medical Center North. That is the location of the department’s gleaming new Laryngeal Biology Laboratory, which occupies the previous footprint of several smaller labs that have now been combined into a shared modern space. Read More

Removing tonsils modestly reduced throat infections in the short term in children with moderate obstructive sleep-disordered breathing or recurrent throat infections, according to a systematic review conducted by the Vanderbilt Evidence-based Practice Center for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Read More

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder in which people experience repetitive obstructions of their breathing multiple times per night. It is a common condition, and has been associated with many health problems including daytime tiredness, high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke, said David Kent, M.D., assistant professor of Otolaryngology. Read More