The Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery received a gift from the Steve and Marian Mosites Family Foundation towards head and neck cancer research. The donation is funding two projects via the Mosites Precision Medicine Awards for 2026.
Department Chair José P. Zevallos, MD, MPH, FACS, said the Department received several outstanding applications and relied on an outside reviewer to conduct a blind review.
The two award recipients are Matthew Spector, MD, FACS, for his project, “Personalized Implant-Radiation Strategies for Head and Neck Cancer Reconstruction,” and Lazar Vujanovic, PhD, for his project, “Defining the Postoperative Immune Landscape in Oral Cavity Cancer via Surgical Drain Fluid.”
“The Mosites Precision Medicine Award provides the critical early investment needed to transform innovative ideas into the next generation of patient care,” Dr. Spector said. “This funding allows us to explore personalized mandibular reconstruction using novel CFR-PEEK implants that may improve both radiation delivery and healing for patients with head and neck cancer. Just as importantly, awards like this generate the preliminary data necessary to compete for larger national grants. We are deeply grateful to the Mosites family for their vision and hope their generosity inspires others to invest in research that has the potential to change the future of cancer treatment.”
Dr. Vujanovic said support like this is critical as government research funding is becoming increasingly limited; it gives researchers the opportunity to pursue new methods of detecting and treating head and neck cancers. “In our case,” he said, “this generous award will allow us to study the immune environment immediately after surgery using surgical drain fluid that contains immune cells collected directly from the surgical site. These cells may provide a unique window into the anti-tumor immune response and help us better understand why some patients relapse and identify those who may benefit from more personalized treatments.”
Marian Mosites – who passed in 2022 – was a patient of Eugene N. Myers, MD, FACS, FRCS, Edin (Hon), who treated her head and neck cancer in the 1990s. After hearing about the advances in head and neck cancer treatment and ways in which personalized medicine was the future of innovative treatment for head and neck cancer, Marian and Steve established the Marian S. Mosites Initiative for Personalized Head and Neck Cancer Research in 2014. During its tenure, the initiative has raised tens of thousands of dollars to advance research and treatment of head and neck cancer.
Marian and Steve’s children have been involved in keeping the legacy of the family’s support alive through continued giving. Their daughter, Cindy Mosites Sunseri, has served on the Eye & Ear Foundation Board for many years.