Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

A new project, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and led by Aaron Moberly, MD, and Metin Gurcan, PhD, professor and director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics and the Clinical Image Analysis Lab at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, aims to develop machine learning applications to analyze eardrum videos collected with a digital otoscope.

COVID-19 infection alters the microbes of the upper respiratory tract for at least several weeks, and such disturbances could impact disease severity and be targets for therapeutic interventions.

Vanderbilt is the only place in the world that has an implantable bilateral pacemaker that can stimulate opening of both vocal folds in patients with bilateral vocal fold paralysis, allowing them to both breathe and speak.

A genomic study of musicality conducted by Vanderbilt researchers identified 69 genetic variants associated with beat synchronization, meaning the ability to move in synchrony with the beat of music.

Herbert Christopher, a grateful Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery patient who received cochlear hearing implants from David Haynes, MD, has funded the training of otolaryngology fellows and leaders in Alzheimer’s disease care through several outright endowed gifts and additional gift planning with his estate.

A Vanderbilt study is testing drugs that provide a targeted fluorescent dye that clings to and illuminates cancer.