By Chloe Santa Maria, MD, MPH
We are thrilled to celebrate some outstanding achievements from our team this season!
Sandra Stinnett, MD, Director, UPMC Swallow Disorders Center and Assistant Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, has had a remarkable run of recognition. She was awarded a grant from the ALA American Laryngological Voice and Research Education fund for her study, “Voiceload: the impact of neighborhood deprivation and allostatic load on voice handicap in muscle tension dysphonia” — a first for Pitt Laryngology, and a well-deserved milestone. She also had a manuscript accepted to Laryngoscope titled “Neighborhood Deprivation and Voice and Reflux Symptom Burden in a Tertiary Laryngology Cohort” — a true team effort. Congratulations, Sandra!
Chloe Santa Maria, MD, MPH, Director, Complex Adult Airway Center and Assistant Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, was awarded the prestigious Robert Ossoff Post-Graduate Best Paper Award for her work, “Preclinical outcomes of TGF-β3 for vocal fold scar in a rabbit model.“ This represents the first publication out of her lab and tackles one of laryngology’s most challenging frontiers: vocal fold scar, a condition with no reliable treatment options today.
She also had a simulation lab on Wendler glottoplasty accepted at the upcoming AAO meeting in Los Angeles. Exciting things ahead!
Libby Smith, DO, FAOCO, Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, has an incredible showing at the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting in Los Angeles this October, with four courses accepted, covering an impressive breadth of topics — from Parkinson’s disease and voice/swallowing to neurogenic voice disorders, office-based laryngology procedures, and laryngeal reinnervation (co-presented with Dr. Sridharan). She was also added to an “Ask the Experts” panel. We can’t wait to see her on that stage!
This Division continues to push the field forward through research, education, and innovation. We are so proud of everything this team has accomplished.