Treatment de-escalation reduces toxicity while maintaining cancer control

It has long been said that when it comes to cancer, “the treatment is worse than the disease.” At WashU Medicine, a multidisciplinary team of head and neck surgeons, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists is trying to change that. Treatment of head and neck cancers like squamous cell carcinomas, typically utilizes a multidisciplinary approach that […]

Can hearing loss predict Alzheimer’s disease?

brain MRI with audiogram overlaid

Surgeons and basic scientists in the Department of Otolaryngology at WashU Medicine have teamed up to demonstrate a novel connection between hearing and dementia. Recently published in the Journal of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, their study of patients undergoing cochlear implantation revealed the presence of certain proteins commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) […]

Residents discover wealth of surgical expertise at WashUMed skull base course

Photo of participants at lateral skull base course

Mentored by leading neurotologists and neurosurgeons, WashU Medicine residents recently learned techniques to remove tumors from the lateral skull base. Working in the new, state-of-the art Multidisciplinary Surgical Simulation Lab in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center, residents from WashU Medicine Departments of Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery practiced surgical approaches to remove tumors affecting cranial nerves […]

Q&A with Clinical Audiologist Alison Brockmeyer

Washington University Clinical Audiologist Alison Brockmeyer offers a glimpse into exciting upcoming plans with her family. What is your current title, and how long have you been with Oto and WashU? I have been with the ENT department since 2010 and was hired as a Clinical Audiologist shortly after completing my Audiology Doctoral degree here […]

Voice and Airway group gets robotic assistance for laryngeal surgery

photo of surgeon at robotics consol

WashU Medicine laryngologist Bharat Panuganti, MD, is expanding the surgical options available to his specialty. The adaption – transoral robotic surgery or TORS – is not new but is rarely used for laryngeal procedures due to the lack of instruments suitable for the size of the larynx. Panuganti recently used the technique on a patient […]

Q&A with Clinical Audiologist Lauren English

Lauren English

Washington University Clinical Audiologist Lauren English discusses her role in the community and her love of F1 racing. What is your current title, and how long have you been with Oto and WashU? I have been an audiologist in the department for almost three years. Prior to that, I was an audiologist at Vanderbilt University […]

PACS launches combined degree program

photo of McClannahan and Borden in lab

WashU Medicine’s Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (PACS) is now offering a combined degree program, allowing participants to earn both a Doctorate of Audiology and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Speech and Hearing through an accelerated program. The degree provides training in clinical audiology (AuD) as well as mentored research training and coursework specialization […]

WashU Medicine hearing researchers gear up for national meeting

photo of scientists at their poster

Hearing scientists in the Department of Otolaryngology at Washington University School of Medicine are busy preparing their latest data for presentation at the upcoming MidWinter Meeting of the American Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO). The association is the world’s largest organization of hearing and balance researchers, with members located in universities, medical centers, research […]

Sharing expertise abroad: WashU surgeon helps implement advances in robotic surgery in Germany, Sweden

photo of Ryan Jackson with surgical team in Germany

Washington University head and neck surgeon Ryan Jackson, MD, recently spent time in Germany and Sweden, promoting the implementation of recent advances in transoral robotic surgery. Transoral robotic surgery or TORS is a minimally invasive procedure that uses a robot to provide greater precision in the surgical treatment of tumors in the mouth and throat. […]

ENT residents, faculty embrace hands-on curriculum

photo of residents receiving instruction prior to dissection

Residents in the Department of Otolaryngology at WashU Medicine are quickly realizing the benefits of a change to their core curriculum. Formerly a weekly, lecture-based didactic session, the core curriculum now includes hands-on dissection in the Multidisciplinary Surgical Simulation Lab, newly constructed in the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center. With its large display monitors and […]