Town Hall Recognizes Success and Service

WashU Med Otolaryngology’s annual Town Hall, held Friday, September 18, revealed a department continuing to build on a historic legacy and finding new peaks in achievement.

Lindburg Professor and Chair Sid Puram, MD, PhD, opened the meeting by sharing the department’s renewed mission, vision and values statements to the 130-plus staff who attended in person or via Zoom.

The messaging then turned to one of growth, in all three areas of our tripartite mission: patient care, education and research.

Clinic visits and surgical cases increasing

Clinical visits and surgical cases in Otolaryngology continue to increase at one of the highest rates of WashU Medicine. Four new clinical faculty recruits were noted: Morgan Sandelski, MD, and Andres Bur, MD, for the Division of Head and Neck Surgery; Sebastian Jara, MD, a new sleep specialist; and Amit Walia, MD, MSCI, in the Division of Neurotology.

Clinical space is also expanding with the anticipated opening of CAM – Sunset Hills scheduled for October 15. The larger footprint of Sunset Hills will allow more specialties to see patients at that facility.

A sleep medicine program was one area highlighted by Puram as a tremendous opportunity for clinical growth and development of a multidisciplinary program.

Research on the rise

A new NIH funding rank of number three among otolaryngology departments nation-wide was announced as a major achievement for the department.

Auditory neuroscientist Manoj Kumar, PhD, recently joined the group of hearing researchers housed in the CID Building. The department is also recruiting one additional member for that group.

Puram cited head and neck cancer and neurotology/hearing as two particularly strong areas of research for the department. In these areas, faculty are engaged in basic and applied sciences as well as translational and outcomes research.

Training programs continue to grow

Residency and fellowship programs as well as the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (PACS) were noted for maintaining their strong national standing and continued growth.

We are expecting to receive approval to increase our annual resident cohort to six, adding one additional resident each year to the clinical track.

PACS is preparing to add a graduate degree program in Speech-Language Pathology. This will complement their current program in audiology and deaf education, and certainly enhance their national standing.

Staff Service Awards

A highlight of the Town Hall is always the recognition of staff for years of service to the department. Those recognized included the following.

To close the event, Puram left attendees with one final inspirational message.

Our measure as a department is not simply what we accomplish, but what we make possible – for our patients, our trainees, our colleagues, and one another.