Brian Burkey, MD, MEd – AHNS President
Brian B. Burkey MD, MEd, FACS is currently Chairman of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital and Chairman of the Regional Institute for Surgical Specialties within the Cleveland Clinic Florida system. He has been an American Board of Otolaryngology diplomate since 1992, and his practice has an emphasis on head and neck oncologic and microvascular reconstructive surgery. He has trained over 40 fellows during his career, almost all of whom have positions in academic otolaryngology both nationally and internationally. Dr. Burkey has been an active member of the American Head and Neck Society, serving on many committees, and is now President of that organization. Dr. Burkey is married to Maureen, his wife of over 39 years, and they live in Vero Beach, while their daughter Rachel Burkey lives and works in Weston, FL.
Eben Rosenthal, MD – Conference Chair
Eben L. Rosenthal is a surgeon-scientist with an active research interest in molecular imaging and clinical focus on oncologic and microvascular surgery. He serves as the Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he works with a team of 65 faculty to delivery high complexity otolaryngology care across the Southeast. Between 2015 – 2021 he served as the John and Ann Doerr Medical Director of the Stanford Cancer Center where he worked collaboratively with Stanford Health Care leaders to set the strategy for delivery of cancer care across the Bay Area. Dr. Rosenthal has been continually funded by the NIH for almost 2 decades to conduct bench to bedside translational studies in targeted therapy and molecular imaging. He has conducted over a dozen early phase clinical trials for diagnostic and therapeutic agents for the treatment of solid tumors.
Daniel Deschler, MD – Program Chair
Daniel G. Deschler, MD, FACS is the Vice-Chair for Academic Affairs for the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. For a decade, he served as the Director of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI), as well as Director of Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He currently co-directs the Michael Dingman Fellowship in Head and Neck/Microvascular surgery which he founded in 2006. He was Secretary/Treasurer and President of the Society for University Otolaryngologists and President of the New England Otolaryngology Society. He also served on the Executive Council of the AHNS as the Chair of the Patient Care Service. Dr. Deschler received his BA at Creighton University and the received an Honors degree in Medicine from Harvard Medical School. After concluding his Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery residency at the University of California, San Francisco, he then completed an advanced fellowship in head and neck surgical oncology and microvascular reconstruction in with Richard Hayden, MD in 1996. Dr. Deschler joined the Staff of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in 2000 and is currently a Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Harvard Medical School and he is honored to be the Inaugural Dr. Eugene N. and Barbara L. Myers Chair in Head and Neck Surgery at the Mass Eye and Ear. He and his wife, Eileen Reynolds, MD are Faculty Deans for Leverett House at Harvard University.
He has authored over 235 peer-reviewed publications, as well as numerous books, book chapters and education reviews. He serves on the editorial boards of the Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, Head & Neck. Laryngoscope and UpToDate. He has served as the Otolaryngology Section Editor for UpToDate since 2002 chairs the Thesis Committee of Triological Society. Dr. Deschler’s clinical interests cover the breadth of head and neck oncologic and reconstructive surgery including, advanced malignancies of the upper aerodigestive tract, salivary gland diseases, microvascular reconstruction and general head and neck reconstruction. His research interests overlap the breadth of these areas including speech following pharyngeal/Laryngeal surgery and reconstruction as well as management issues in the treatment of advanced head and neck malignancies.
Maie St. John, MD, PhD – Proferred Papers Chair
Maie A. St. John, M.D., Ph.D., FACS
Thomas C. Calcaterra, M.D., Chair in Head and Neck Surgery
Chair and Executive Medical Director, Department of Head & Neck Surgery
Professor, Head & Neck Surgery and Bioengineering
Co-Director, UCLA Head and Neck Cancer Program
Associate Director Cancer Research and Education, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
A highly renowned surgeon, scientist and educator, Dr. St. John is Professor and Chair of Department of Head and Neck Surgery. She also holds the Thomas C. Calcaterra, M.D., Chair in Head and Neck Surgery and is Co-Director of the UCLA Head and Neck Cancer Program. Dr. St. John received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. She completed residency and postdoctoral training at UCLA.
In addition to maintaining a busy surgical practice, Dr. St. John is active in clinical research and is closely involved in training young physician-scientists. She is a prolific author in head and neck medicine and a sought-after lecturer both nationally and internationally. She has served on numerous editorial boards of several international journals, including Cancer, Clinical Cancer Research, and Head & Neck. Dr. St. John has consistently been named Super Doctor and one of America’ s Top Doctors by the Castle Connolly Guide.
Carole Fakhry, MD – Posters Chair
Dr. Fakhry is honored to hold the Charles W. Cummings, M.D. Professor, serves as Chief of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery, Director of the Head and Neck Cancer Center and Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is a Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Oncology and the Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology.
Her research interest focuses on the role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in head and neck squamous cell cancer. She has demonstrated that the presence of HPV confers a prognostic advantage to individuals with oropharyngeal cancer and that HPV is associated with unique clinical characteristics. In addition to her interest in the clinical implications of HPV in head and neck cancer, she is co-principal investigator of a large study to understand screening individuals at “high-risk” of malignancy and evaluating imaging modalities to improve diagnostics and early detection of HPV- related head and neck cancer.
After an undergraduate degree at Stanford University, Dr. Fakhry completed her medical school, residency in otolaryngology head and neck surgery and fellowship in head and neck surgical oncology at Johns Hopkins. She has also received a master’s in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
A dedicated educator and mentor, Dr. Fakhry has mentored numerous trainees. Her clinical teaching has been recognized by receipt of the George Nager Teaching Award. Dr. Fakhry serves in leadership roles for the department, the institution, and regional and national professional societies. She is director of the head and neck group in the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and the head and neck surgical oncology fellowship. She is associate editor for Oral Oncology and Cancer and serves on several editorial boards. She is currently the co-chair of the National Cancer Institute’s Head and Neck Steering Committee.