Spring 2023 Newsletter
Stanford Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery
Team News
Dr. Tulio A Valdez is a surgeon-scientist born and raised in Colombia with a subspecialty interest in Pediatric Otolaryngology. He attended medical school at Universidad Javeriana in Bogota,Colombia before undertaking his residency in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery in Boston. He completed his Pediatric Otolaryngology Fellowship at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston (2007), and obtained his Master’s in Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Connecticut.
Clinically, Dr. Valdez has an interest in pediatric sleep apnea. He has a special interest in the management of sinus disease in cystic fibrosis. Dr. Valdez has co-authored one textbook and numerous book chapters and scientific manuscripts. Dr. Valdez continues his clinical research in these areas, particularly with a focus on aerodigestive disorders.
Scientifically, Dr. Valdez has developed various imaging methods to diagnose otitis media and cholesteatoma, a middle ear condition that can lead to hearing loss. He was part of the Laser Biomedical Research Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research includes novel imaging modalities to better diagnose ear infections, one of the most common pediatric problems. His research has now expanded to include better intraoperative imaging modalities in pediatric patients to improve surgical outcomes without the need for radiation exposure.
Dr. Valdez believes in multi-disciplinary collaborations to tackle medical problems and has co-invented various medical devices and surgical simulation models. This promotion underscores his innovative research on molecular imaging to diagnose otitis media, compassionate and advanced care of children with sleep apnea, and tireless work and leadership in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusivity.
Brian Nuyen, MD has joined the department as Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Laryngology.
Dr. Brian Nuyen is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego BS/MD Combined Degree Medical Scholars Program. Dr. Nuyen then completed his Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery residency at Stanford Medicine where he developed a keen interest and passion for head and neck gender affirmation for transgender/gender-nonconforming communities. He completed his James Thomas, MD Voice Surgery Fellowship in Portland, Oregon (2021-2022) subspecializing in gender-affirming voice medicine and surgery. He was also a visiting fellow in Summer 2022 with Dr. Hyung-Tae Kim at the Yeson Voice Center in Seoul, South Korea with a focus on international perspectives on gender-affirming endoscopic voice surgical innovation.
Robert Jackler, MD was featured in an hour-long CNBC program on “The Rise of JUUL’s Business” as part of the network’s series “American Greed”.
Video: CNBC “American Greed” The Rise of JUUL’s Business (1-24-2023)
Dr. Jackler, Stanford OHNS professor and emeritus chair, serves as principal investigator of the research group, “Stanford Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising,” a group he founded in 2007. SRITA’s online repository (tobacco.stanford.edu) has some 60,000 tobacco ads, over 900,000 unique users, and is one of the most heavily used sites at Stanford University. His group’s 2019 paper on “JUUL Advertising Over its First 3 Years on the Market” helped to focus national attention on the role of the company in the viral uptake of JUUL among teenagers. The SRITA report was foundational in 5000+ lawsuits, including numerous state attorney general actions, holding JUUL accountable for its youth-targeted marketing. To date, judgments against JUUL have totaled over $1.5 billion and the company’s valuation has dropped from over $38 billion to under $1 billion. At present, the FDA is seeking to remove JUUL’s products from the market. In the CNBC program, Dr. Jackler is interviewed extensively about his team’s research into JUUL’s youth-targeted marketing and his opinions concerning the culpability of the JUUL leadership in triggering a surge in nicotine addiction among American teens.
Drs Taseer Din, Zara Patel, and Davud Sirjani were invited speakers and panelists at the 2023 International Federation of Otolaryngologic Societies (IFOS) meeting in Dubai, UAE.
IFOS is the largest international meeting in our specialty that congregates every three years with over 7,000 participants from all over the world coming together to learn from subject experts in the field. Our three physicians were honored to represent Stanford University OHNS among the faculty of this global educational event and formed new bonds with international colleagues that will allow for further collaboration and advancement of scientific research in their respective fields.
Sam Most, MD has co-edited a new textbook on multicultural approaches to rhinoplasty surgery, the first of its kind.
Dr. Most has published the textbook Global Rhinoplasty: A Multicultural Approach with co-editors, Dr. Nazim Cerkes and Dr. Ashkan Ghavami.
The book also includes many of the top authors from around the world and encompasses many different views of rhinoplasty, a global operation. The goal of this text was to develop an ethnocentric, rather than a one-size-fits-all, approach to this challenging operation.
“I strive to create natural, ethnocentric beauty in my rhinoplasty operations. I hope this book helps young rhinoplasty surgeons do the same. Thank you to all of my colleagues who have contributed to this wonderful textbook!”
- Dr. Sam Most
Castle Connolly is a ranking that asks other physicians to vote for the country's top 7% of physicians. Congratulations to all who were selected this year: Drs. Zara M. Patel of the Rhinology Division, Chris Holsinger of the Head & Neck Surgery Division, C. Kwang Sung of the Laryngology Division, Hamed Sajjadi of the Otology-Neurotology Division, Jayakar V. Nayak of the Rhinology Divison, Lisa A. Orloff of Head & Neck Surgery Divisions, Peter H. Hwang of the Rhinology Divison, Sam P. Most of the Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Division, John B. Sunwoo of the Head and Neck Division, Nikolas Blevins of the Otology-Neurotology Division, Edward J. Damrose of the Laryngology Division, Mai Thy Truong of the Pediatric Otolaryngology Division, Davud Sirjani of the Head and Neck Surgery Divisions, and Jon-Paul Pepper of the Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Division!