Research Opportunities in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Kibwei A. McKinney, MD Yu-Tung Wong, MD Scott Shadfar, MD

Outline Funding opportunities Subspecialty Areas Clinical/Research Faculty – Areas of Interest Examples

ENT Residency Application Step 1 USMLE Score Medical School GPA Extra-curricular Activities Research

Duration of Research 2 months – Projects completed during the summer in between the 1 st and 2 nd yr 1 year – Projects completed during a year off in between the 3 rd and 4 th years of medical school

Grants/Funding Opportunities 2 months – Research Training in Otolaryngology Program (8-12 weeks) – Application online at Carolina Medical Student Research Program website: – Due Feb. 8 th, year – Research Training in Otolaryngology – Doris Duke Clinical Fellowship Program – American Otologic Society Research Fellowship (T32) – Howard Hughes Medical Institute Training Fellowship – Holderness Fellowship (4 Yearly)

Otolaryngology Subspecialty Areas Head and Neck Surgery (Cancer Research) Otology/Neurotology Facial Plastic Surgery Rhinology/Sinus Surgery Laryngology Anterior Skull Base Surgery Pediatric Otolaryngology

Head and Neck Surgery Marion Couch, MD, Ph. D. – Cancer Cachexia Neil Hayes, MD, MPH – Molecular pathogenesis of head and neck Cancers Mark Weissler, MD – Outcomes Research in Head and Neck Cancer Carol Shores, MD – EBV related Head and Neck Cancer in Lilongwe, Malawi

Cancer Cachexia Loss of weight, muscle atrophy, catabolism associated with end-stage cancer Significant cause of morbidity

Cancer Cachexia Historically thought to be mediated by increased energy expenditure by rapidly proliferating cancer cells Increasing body of evidence attributing cachexia to pathophysiologic mechanisms at the cellular level NF-κB – ubiquitous protein complex that controls DNA replication – When constitutively active, proper regulation does not occur  cellular proliferation  tumor – Also  Inflammation (possibly leading to cachexia)

Resveratrol Potential NF-κB Inhibitor Natural compound found in red wine, red grapes Increased life span of nematode and short-lived fish If good enough for the nematode, why not for us?

Putting Resveratrol to the Test Day 0 – Tumor Inoculation Days 1-17 Document Cachexia/Treat with Resveratrol Sacrifice and Harvest

Outcomes Tumor size Body weight Tissue NFκB levels Cardiac echo readings

Otology/Neurotology Doug Fitzpatrick, Ph. D. – Preservation of residual hearing in cochlear implantation Paul Manis, Ph. D. – Cellular mechanisms/neural networks of hearing John Grose, Ph. D. – Age-Related decline in temporal processing Craig Buchman, MD – Auditory Neuropathy, CI Outcomes Oliver Adunka, MD – Electroacoustic Stimulation (EAS); Intraoperative electrophysiology Joe Hall Ph. D./Emily Buss – Psychoacoustics Joseph Roche, MD – SNHL and synaptic plasticity in Te1 Vestibulocochlear system of the Mongolian Gerbil; animal model used in electroacoustic studies

Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery William Shockley, MD Interests: Microtia repair, nasal defects and rhinoplasty, congenital anomalies Clinical Outcomes Research

Rhinology/Sinus Surgery Julia Kimbel, Ph. D. – computational fluid dynamics, particle uptake deposition Brent Senior, MD – MIPS Outcomes Research, Sleep Research Charles Ebert, MD – QOL Outcomes for sinus surgery, Allergic Fungal Rhinosinusitis

Allergic Fungal Rhinosinusitis Disease process characterized by fungal proliferation, inflammation and deformation of the normal bony anatomy Presents unilaterally in over 40% of patients Hypothesis: These patients represent a genetic chimera with differential expression on the contralateral sides of the nose Microarray analysis will be used to characterize these differences

Laryngology Robert Buckmire - Medical Robotic System for Laser Phonomicrosurgery – Joint venture with UNC/NC State Dept. of Biomedical Engineering Image Guidance in Laryngeal Surgery

Laryngeal Phonomicrosurgery Group of Complex surgical techniques that leverage the use of endoscopic tools Surgical laser (CO2) under the control of a micromanipulator Problem: poor ergonomics

Laryngeal Phonomicrosurgery Hypotheses: – Different user interfaces may be advantageous in providing increased fine motor manipulation of the laser. – A trained robot may make more precise, uniform cuts than those made by a human

Skull Base Surgery Adam M. Zanation, MD – Molecular biology of sinonasal tumors, radioanatomic analysis of the pediatric skull base, outcomes research in endoscopic skull base surgery Mu cos a G PC PPFPPF M uc os a G PC PP F

Pediatric Otolaryngology Amelia Drake, MD Austin Rose, MD Carlton Zdanski, MD, FACS Rose Payapilli, MD (resident) – clinical outcomes in patients with cochlear malformation after CI