The Department remains focused on growth: in clinical practice and research. You will see our accomplishments in all these areas throughout the update.

It is important to highlight our clinical practice expansion, with increased presence throughout the NY metro area.  We have increased representation from all subspecialties at our practices in Westchester, serving adults at the Montefiore Einstein Advanced Care (MEAC) in Elmsford at 555 Taxter Road and children in Harrison at 600 Mamaroneck Avenue. At MEAC we focus on patients with head and neck cancer, thyroid/parathyroid disorders, otologic and neurotologic diseases, rhinology and skull base issues, sleep disorders and facial aesthetic and reconstructive issues. We are also seeing facial aesthetic and reconstructive patients at the newly opened Greenwich Street 497 practice in Tribeca, which has an on-site surgical center, and at a site in Flushing where we see complex head and neck and skull base patients. To facilitate the surgical management of these patients, we have expanded our surgical sites to Montefiore Mount Vernon for adults and Montefiore New Rochelle for children. We have expanded our care team with new physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners.  This growth is an important component of improving access to our state-of-the-art care and supporting our relationship with our community partners.  We have also opened a new cochlear implant space on our Hutchinson campus and adorned it with a mural created by Bronx students (see below).

This year we have continued to advance the care of otolaryngology patients through our research efforts.  We are excited to have new clinical trials and grant funding in tinnitus research overseen by Dr. Joshua Sturm and are participating in a novel clinical trial assessing surgical cancer specimens with microPET imaging in the operating room suite to ensure appropriate surgical margins (see below for details about both of these areas).  We continue to see positive results from our inpatient adult tracheotomy care team to maximize the care and positive outcomes of our tracheotomy patients and increase staff education to maximize safety.  We continue to successfully participate in clinical trials; intervention trials for head and neck cancer patients, biological therapy for chronic sinusitis patients and others, and continue to extend our grant portfolio in translational, simulation and quality research (please see details in the following sections).

We look forward to 2026 and the ability to continue to offer state-of-the-art care to our community and continue to advance the science of our specialty.