A superstar couple will be joining the Department of Otolaryngology this July: Chloe and Peter Santa Maria. Originally from Perth, Western Australia, they are coming from Stanford. Peter is also bringing four scientists from his lab.
“I am thrilled to welcome these two transformative recruits to the Department of Otolaryngology,” The Eugene N. Myers, M.D., Professor and Chairman of Otolaryngology, José P. Zevallos, said. “Peter Santa Maria’s leadership will further elevate our otology-neurotology program, with a renewed emphasis on clinical and translational research excellence. Chloe Santa Maria will bring new expertise to our Voice Center, providing innovative approaches to caring for the professional voice. She is poised to leverage her previous experience in Los Angeles to serve the needs of the performing arts community in Pittsburgh.”
Chloe received her MBBS from the University of Western Australia and her MPH from the University of California, Berkeley. She was part of the Stanford Residency Class of 2023. She is currently doing her laryngology fellowship at the University of Southern California, one of the leading laryngology fellowships in the United States with unparallelled exposure to all aspects of the field. An USC Instagram post described her as an enthusiastic amateur singer and very passionate about laryngology. As a laryngologist, she will be working in the Voice Center and will introduce a novel translational research program to the Division of Laryngology.
Peter L. Santa Maria is a national leader with tremendous accomplishments who received his MBBS and PhD (in tympanic membrane wound healing) from the University of Western Australia. The surgeon scientist attended medical school at The University of Western Australia before undertaking his residency in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. He was the Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery fellow at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Western Australia before undertaking a three-year instructorship at Stanford University in Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery. He joined the Stanford faculty in 2017, where he is Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, and by courtesy, of Bioengineering.
Dr. Santa Maria’s lab discovered a tympanic membrane regenerative therapy, which has completed pre-clinical work and is part of ongoing clinical trials. As a surgeon-entrepreneur, Dr. Santa Maria has co-invented several medical devices and therapeutics that are in development and is actively part of device research teams testing new devices that can monitor dizzy attacks in the home, non-invasive ways to treat otitis media with effusion, and ways to restore hearing without implanting the inner ear. His lab has discovered new antimicrobial therapeutics that act on the most resistant bacterial infections.
Along with Thanos Tzounopoulos, PhD, Dr. Santa Maria will lead the development of the new Pittsburgh Hearing Institute at UPMC Mercy Pavilion. In the Department, he will be Vice Chair of Clinical and Translational Research, a newly created position. He will be named as Chief, Division of Otology/Neurotology; and Director of Faculty Innovation as part of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.