by Kelsey Herbers
Two Vanderbilt University Medical Center physicians were recently inducted into Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum (CORLAS), an international otolaryngology society created to facilitate collaboration and the open sharing of discoveries and ideas.
The society consists of members from 55 countries, each of which has a member quota on the number of clinicians that may be involved.
Robert Labadie, MD, PhD, professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, was voted in last year as one of 20 total American representatives and was inducted during the 2019 annual meeting in Bern, Switzerland, in August.
Alejandro Rivas, MD, associate professor of Otolaryngology and associate service chief of Otology and Neurotology, was voted in this year as a representative of his birth country of Colombia. He will be inducted at the 2020 meeting in Santiago, Chile.
To become a member, nominees are presented by existing members from each country for final confirmation by the international membership committee. Membership lasts a lifetime.
“In my opinion, CORLAS is an ear, nose and throat (ENT) think tank where ego is checked at the door,” Labadie said. “The members are the thought leaders of ENT across the world, with most of the progress occurring during informal gatherings between and after scientific presentations.”
“Being part of CORLAS is one of the most important recognitions of my career,” added Rivas. “It is an honor to be part of the organization where all of the major advances in otolaryngology are discussed in an open and free manner by its members without reservation and in a collegial manner in order to continue moving those advances forward.”
Labadie and Rivas are the second and third VUMC representatives inducted into CORLAS, preceded by George Wanna, MD, who was inducted representing his birth country of Lebanon. Wanna now serves as site chair of otolaryngology at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.
“Induction into the international collegium — with an extremely limited total membership — is an extraordinarily prestigious honor in our otolaryngology community. I have not heard of any other center having three inductees — especially in such a short time span,” said Roland Eavey, MD, Guy M. Maness Professor and chair of Otolaryngology and director of the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center. “We are immensely proud that Vanderbilt has been the home to such illustrious individuals. We salute them for such a special achievement.”
