Bio
Dr. Stankovic is a board-certified, fellowship-trained otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon. She is the Bertarelli Foundation Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. She is also a professor, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery.
Dr. Stankovic is a recognized leader in providing state-of-the-art treatment for people with hearing loss. She complements her ear and skull base surgical skills with training in physics, molecular biology, and electrophysiology. Her multidisciplinary expertise in medicine and science enables her to develop uniquely effective solutions to the unmet needs of the hearing-impaired.
She has extensive experience in diagnosing and treating sensorineural hearing loss that results from damage to the inner ear. This is the most common sensory disorder in the world, but effective cures for it do not yet exist.
For every patient, she prepares a personalized care plan. Each plan is complete, compassionate, and dedicated to restoring the patient’s hearing and quality of life as fully as possible.
Dr. Stankovic directs the Stanford Medicine Molecular Neurotology Laboratory. Her research focuses on how to overcome hearing disorders compounded by the small size and complex three-dimensional structure of the inner ear. Her approach is shaped by collaborations with international technology leaders, including developers of ultra-low-power electronics and nonlinear optics.
She has led research studies investigating optical imaging of cells inside the inner ear. She also has participated in research to develop a chip that enables a fully implantable cochlear implant. Other research projects of Dr. Stankovic include new strategies for the prevention of intracranial tumors that cause hearing loss.
She previously directed the Stankovic Molecular Neurotology and Biotechnology Laboratory at Harvard. Her lab was part of the world's largest research center for the study of hearing and deafness.
She has published the results of her research in prestigious medical and scientific journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Communications, Nature Protocols, Nature’s Communications Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Topics have included advances in the diagnosis and management of vestibular schwannoma, gene therapy and drug repurposing for hearing loss, energy extraction from the inner ear to supply electronics, development of human cellular models of hearing loss, and innovations in cranial nerve stimulation.
She has earned numerous awards for her achievements. The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, American Otological Society, United States Department of Defense, National Organization for Hearing Research, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders have recognized her leadership in clinical care, research, and academics.
Dr. Stankovic is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a fellow of the American Neurotology Society. She is an elected member of the American Otological Society and Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum, the most authoritative international society of otorhinolaryngologists, and a former president of the American Auditory Society.
