March 2008

Mark Weidenbecher’s presentation “Tissue Engineered Trachea” at the U. Pittsburgh*

He was awarded FIRST PRIZE!

Mark carried out his research in the laboratory of James Dennis, Ph.D. in the department of Orthopedics. Dr. Dennis holds a secondary appointment in our department. Congratulations to Mark!

*Alumni Day ENT Refresher Course, hosted by the U. Pittsburgh Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery Department, March 28-29, 2008.

February 2008

Active participation by members of our department at the ARO 2008!

• Members of our department presented six posters and one podium talk at the ARO 2008.

• Dr. Kumar Alagramam, along with Rickie Davis from NIOSH, organized a workshop on otoprotection

• Faculty members from our department were invited to become members of the ARO council for various activities.
  • Cliff Megerian - Govt. and Media Relation
  • Brian – Education Committee
  • Kumar Alagramam -Animal Welfare Committee

January 2008

Faculty member Brian McDermott received the “Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award” a grant from the March of Dimes Foundation. This is a two year, $150,000 grant.  This grant will focus on "Elucidating the Molecular Basis of Heritable Deafness using a Functional Genomics Approach".  Congratulations to Brian!

Anca Barbu , MD PGY 4 Resident, presented a poster at the Middle Section Triological Society meeting in Chicago on Jan 18-21.

Title: Development of a Nano-Composite of a Biomimetic Bone Substitute Material: A Biocompatibility Study Using the Rat Subdermal Model.

Kianoush Sheykholeslami , MD, PhD , PGY 4 was awarded a travel grant to attend the “Sixth Annual Masters Skull Base Surgery Course” presented by Osman Microsurgery Laboratory at the University of South Florida , January 31-February 3, 2008.

December 2007

Congratulations to Chief Resident Richard Lee !

Dr. Richard Lee received the Resident Free Paper Award from the
AO North America. His paper, “Complex Scalp Reconstruction at the Extremes of Age” was selected to be presented at the AO North America Craniomaxillofacial Symposium held in Snowbird, Utah on Febraury 22 - 24, 2008. 

November 2007

This may be old news to some, but we officially congratulate Freedom Johnson, MD on his acceptance of a 1 yr Fellowship in Head & Neck Skull Base Surgery at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.

October 2007

The Definitive source for clinicians who require a comprehensive guide to the management of oral cancer. View the Oral Cancer Cover (.pdf)				John Werning graduated from Case Western Reserve Medical School. Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc. www.thieme.com

May 2007

On May 12 we held our Annual Research Day Conference. Below please click to see the Annual Research Day Brochure.

Research Day Brochure PDF

Passed the Boards! All three residents who graduated June 2006 have passed the Board Exam.  Congratulations to Brian Drew, Kathryn Hall and Mark Vecchiotti!!

NEOOHNSS Resident Paper Competition

Nitin Pagedar, M.D. came in 1 st place at the NEOOHNSS Resident Paper Competition, title of his paper “Molecular Classification of Thyroid Nodules by Cytology” and Samantha Anne, M.D. came in 3 rd place, title of her paper “Molecular Changes Associated with Endolymphatic Hydrops”.

April 2007

Mark Weidenbecher, MD, a postdoctoral fellow in James Dennis's lab  http://www.case-ent.org/6_tissueengineering.html gave a poster presentation at the Combined Otolaryngological Spring Meetings (COSM) April 26-29, 2007, in San Diego. 

The title of his poster is:

Hyaluronan-Based Scaffolds to Tissue-Engineer Cartilage Implants for Laryngotracheal Reconstruction

Dr. Weidenbecher's poster presentation was awarded first prize !

March 2007

Congratulations to our residents Drs. Saba Aftab and Anca Barbu who were awarded the first and second place prizes at the University of Pittsburgh Resident Research Competition at the Alumni Day/Update in Otolaryngology conference 3.17.07. They were chosen from six presenters from 3 universities (U of Pittsburgh, U. West Virginia, and CWRU).

Five year R01 grant from NIDCD was recently awarded to study “Mucous Cell Metaplasia in Pneumococcal Otitis Media” (PI: Lin, U. Minnesota). Dr. Qing Zheng is a co-investigator on this grant and will be the subcontract PI for 3 years. The proposed studies seek to examine the molecular pathogenesis of mucous cell development in otitis media exemplified by pneumococcus and its cell envelope components that contain Gram positive pathogen-associated molecular patterns. These studies should bring new insight into the bacterial factors and host responses necessary for development of chronic otitis media and may lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies for this common disease.

The project will commence 04/01/07.