KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Thank you to all our Invited Speakers for your involvement in the Frontiers 2023 Program.
Charley C. Della Santina PhD MD is a Professor of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he leads the Vestibular NeuroEngineering Lab and the Johns Hopkins Cochlear Implant Center. His clinical practice focuses on surgical treatment of auditory and vestibular disorders. His research focuses on neurophysiology and engineering related to vestibular implants, which are “bionic” devices intended to partially restore sensation of head movement to individuals chronically disabled by bilateral vestibular hypofunction. He founded Labyrinth Devices LLC, a company focused on developing vestibular implants and novel tests of vestibular function
Dr Charley C. Della Santina
Johns Hopkins University, USA
Dr. Zara M. Patel is Director of Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery and a Professor of Otolaryngology and, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery at Stanford. She was born and raised in St. Louis, completed her MD at the Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, Oregon and completed her residency training in otolaryngology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, NY. After pursuing fellowship training in rhinology and endoscopic skull base surgery at Stanford University, she was recruited to join the Emory University faculty in Atlanta in 2011. After four years, the rhinology division recruited her back to the West coast to rejoin the department here at Stanford University in 2015.
Dr. Patel is an expert in advanced endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery. She treats patients with a wide variety of rhinologic complaints, including chronic sinus infection or inflammation, sinus disease that has failed medical therapy, sinus disease that has failed prior surgical therapy, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, benign and and malignant sinus and skull base tumors, as well as olfactory disorders.
She has served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the Board of Directors for the American Rhinologic Society and has developed a multitude of educational materials for both physicians and patients to help them better understand rhinologic disorders. She is passionate about educating patients to allow them to make the best decisions about their own care, leading to better outcomes.
Dr. Patel has published widely in topics such as avoiding complications in endoscopic sinus surgery, chronic rhinosinusitis in the immunosuppressed patient population, new devices and techniques for endoscopic skull base surgery, and olfactory dysfunction. She continues to perform research in these areas, and is currently collaborating with neuroscientists and engineers to develop technology that she hopes will eventually help cure patients with olfactory loss.
Dr Zara M. Patel Stanford University School of Medicine, USA
Invited Speakers
Dr Mohsen Asadnia is a well-respected and accomplished biomedical and mechanical engineer currently serving as a full professor at the School of Engineering at Macquarie University. His expertise in the fields of smart materials, biomedical engineering, micro/nano fabrication and mechatronics has earned him an international reputation as a leading researcher in the field. He has published 120 research papers and articles in top-tier journals, seven patents and four books. His research interest in the field of biomedical engineering focuses on developing innovative devices to help patients with inner ear disorders (with a particular emphasis on Meniere's disease).
Dr Kristi Biswas (BSc (Honours), MSc, PhD) is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Medicine, University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is a molecular microbiologist focusing on the interplay between host immune response and associated microbes in upper respiratory diseases, particularly chronic rhinosinusitis. As part of her Mid-Career Fellowship with the Passe and Williams Foundation, she utilises cutting-edge molecular tools to investigate the impact of antimicrobials on biofilms grown in the laboratory and on human sinonasal tissue. Kristi is a member of the NZ Microbiological Society (NZMS) Executive Committee and Co-Chair of the 2023 NZMS Conference.
Dr Daniel Brown is a hearing and balance physiologist, with particular focus on Meniere’s disease. After being awarded a PhD in Auditory Neuroscience from the University of Western Australia in 2007, he undertook a 2 year fellowship at Washington University Saint Louis, before returning to start up a new laboratory at Sydney University in 2009. During this time, he developed new methods of objectively diagnosing Meniere’s disease, new animal models of Meniere’s, and new approaches to quantifying functional and morphological changes in the inner ear. He was awarded the Barany Society Award for Best Mid-Career Researcher in 2018. In 2019 he moved to Curtin University to start up a new Hearing and Balance laboratory, and began working on new therapies for treating inner ear disorders. In 2020, as a team of 4, he was awarded the overall Curtin Innovation award, for the investigation of re-purposing an anti-hyperlipidemic drug to prevent ototoxicity, which the team has subsequently patented. At Curtin, he is the Discipline Lead for Human Biomedicine, and the Course Coordinator for Human Biology.
Dr Mohsen Asadnia
Macquarie University, NSW
Professor Jasneek Chawla is a Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Specialist at Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane and leads the Kids Sleep Research Group at the Child Health Research Centre, University of Queensland. Her research interests include sleep in children with complex disability and the development of novel measurement tools for paediatric sleep medicine. A/Prof Chawla holds a Children’s Hospital Foundation, Early Career Fellowship and is leading a multi-centre MRFF funded study focused on improving the diagnosis and management of sleep disorders in children with neurodisability. She is a board director for the Australian Sleep Association and is chair of the Education Committee and deputy chair of the conference committee.
A/Prof Jasneek Chawla
Queensland Health, QLD
Dr Claire Frauenfelder was awarded the Robert Guerin Research Prize for her investigation of outcomes for over 10,000 head and neck cancer patients admitted to intensive care in Australia and New Zealand.
She is an ENT registrar who undertook a mid-training fellowship at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, with a particular interest in paediatric head, neck, and tracheal surgery.
She also completed her masters investigating establishing aquaporin expression in human sinonasal tissues and exploring their role in chronic rhinosinusitis, and has published about paediatric COVID-19, laryngology, and validated the NSQIP database for use in Australian cancer patients.
Dr Claire Frauenfelder
Women & Childrens Hospital & Flinders Medical Centre, SA
Ray is an adult & paediatric rhinologist, and an awardee of the Foundation’s Academic Surgeon Scientist Fellow Award. This award allowed Ray to undergo subspecialist training at Stanford University, USA, and to return to Auckland as an academic surgeon.
His research focuses on the interaction of innate immunity and microbiology in chronic rhinosinusitis. He also has broad interest in product development and digital therapeutics. Upon his return to New Zealand, he has become a Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland and participating in active research and doctoral student supervision, as well as being a clinical leader in the field.
Dr Raymond Kim
Auckland City Hospital & Starship Children’s Hospital / University of Auckland, NZ
Dr Celene McNeill is an audiologist holding a Bachelor of Applied Sciences in speech and hearing from PUCC Brazil, a Masters of Audiology in the topic of perilymph fistula and a PhD in Meniere’s disease from Macquarie University. Celene has been working in Australia since 1989 and has a broad professional experience as a clinician, researcher, speaker, advisor, and board member of several professional and charity associations related to hearing and balance disorders. Celene has extensive experience assessing and managing hearing of patients with Meniere’s syndrome and has developed a unique protocol to fit hearing aids to those with fluctuating hearing losses.
Dr Celene McNeill
Healthy Hearing & Balance Care, NSW
A/Prof Gillian Nixon is a paediatric respiratory and sleep physician with both academic and clinical appointments. Her clinical practice as Deputy Director of the Melbourne Children’s Sleep Centre at Monash Children’s Hospital is centered on the management of children with respiratory and sleep disorders, placing her in an ideal situation to both raise clinical questions for research and to translate research into practice directly. A/Prof Nixon's academic appointment is in the Department of Paediatrics, Monash University. She is also the Head of Paediatric Sleep Research in the Melbourne Children’s Sleep Centre. A/Prof Nixon's research is focussed on improvements in the diagnostic and treatment pathway for snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea in children, including developing simplified diagnostic tools and driving improvements in evidence-based treatment pathways. She has recently held a Translating Research into Practice fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council to support this research. She has a postgraduate qualification in Health Services Management and is focussed on improving care for children through improvements in health care systems. She has built cross-disciplinary collaborations and worked with state government 2018-2020 on related quality improvement projects regarding the management of the large number of children with snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition with significant negative effects on learning and development.
A/Prof Gillian Nixon
Melbourne Children’s Sleep Centre, Monash Children’s Hospital & Monash University, VIC
Dr Kristi Biswas
University of Auckland, NZ
Brent Edwards Ph.D. is the Director of the National Acoustic Laboratories where he leads research and innovation initiatives that focus on transforming hearing healthcare. For over 20 years he headed research at major hearing aid companies (GN ReSound, Starkey) and at Silicon Valley startups that have developed innovative technologies and clinical tools used worldwide. Dr. Edwards is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, a Fellow and current President of ICRA and an Adjunct Professor at Macquarie University.
Dr Brent Edwards
National Acoustic Laboratories, NSW
Dr Alethea Grobler was born in South Africa and immigrated to Australia in 1993. She graduated from the University of Adelaide Medical School in 2000. Dr Grobler trained in ear, nose and throat surgery in South Australia and completed most of her training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre. In 2009 she was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
Throughout her training and subsequent surgical practice, Dr Grobler developed an interest and expertise in the treatment of general ear, nose and throat problems. She has a particular interest in the management of hearing loss and inner ear conditions. Dr Grobler is actively involved in neuro-otology cases which she manages in both private and public practice.
To support the ear health of urban and rural Indigenous people, Dr Grobler consults in communities within the Northern Territory as well as in the APY Lands of northern South Australia.
Dr Grobler is an active participant in the selection and training of Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons and is involved in the provision of surgical education through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Furthermore, Dr Grobler sits on the ASOHNS Federal Executive Committee in the role of Diversity and Inclusion Advisor.
Dr Alethea Grobler
The Memorial Hospital
Women’s & Children’s Hospital
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, SA
Giri Krishnan is an Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Registrar in South Australia and a senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide. He completed his PhD titled “Innovating surgery for oral squamous cell carcinoma with targeted fluorescent and magnetic tracers” at the University of Adelaide in 2022. Part of this research was undertaken at the Rosenthal laboratory at Stanford University, California, through the Fulbright exchange program. His research interests include margin analysis techniques, sentinel lymph node biopsy and transoral robotic surgery for head and neck cancers.
Dr Giri Krishnan
SA Health & University of Adelaide
Co-founder and volunteer co-director of Hear our Heart Ear Bus Project, Rachel has an extensive history of working with deaf students, specialising in conductive hearing loss (something her 19yr old son has experienced). Once a Classroom Teacher and Teacher of the Deaf, Rachel has worked with the NSW Department of Education, and is currently a Hearing Screener, Member of the NSW Educators of Deaf Students Association, and a Volunteer and Public Officer of the Dubbo & District Support Group for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Inc.
Rachel Mills
NSW Teachers of the Deaf/ Volunteer Directors Hear our Heart Ear Bus
Paul Paddle is an ENT surgeon. Working at Monash Health, Paul is exposed to tertiary level management of a wide range of adult & paediatric ENT conditions. He has appointments as an ENT surgeon at Monash Health, Epworth Health and Swan Hill District Hospitals. He is actively involved in the Australian ENT research. For instance as a co-director of the Melbourne ENT group and Country ENT, as well as a consults of a Voice, Airway and Swallowing Specialist at the Melbourne Voice analysis Centre, and the Melbourne Swallow Analysis Centre. Additionally, Paul is also a founder and CMO of a health-tech startup company: Nebula Health, which uses technology to better engage and educate patients, and improve the care experience and decrease complications.
Dr Paul Paddle
Monash Health, Epworth Health and Swan Hill District Hospitals
Dr Daniel Brown
Curtin University, WA
Associate Professor Daniel Ellis is the Director of Trauma at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and the Co-Chair of the Statewide South Australian Trauma System. He was previously Clinical Director of MedSTAR – the Emergency Medical Retrieval Service. As well as the Trauma role, he also works as a Pre-Hospital & Retrieval consultant with MedSTAR, as an Intensivist in Calvary healthcare and as a consultant in the Royal Adelaide Emergency Department. Dan has worked in critical care in Australia and the UK for over 20 years. He is involved in an extensive portfolio of Trauma Research and has just published the 2nd Edition of his textbook in Pre-hospital and Retrieval Medicine.
He holds Academic appointments with University of Adelaide and James Cook University, Queensland.
A/Prof Daniel Ellis
Royal Adelaide Hospital, SA
Richard currently works as a dedicated rhinologist (nose, sinus, allergy and endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery) at Macquarie University and St Vincent’s Hospitals in Sydney. He is the program head of Rhinology & Skull Base Surgery at the Applied Medical Research Center of UNSW and is Professor at both the University of NSW and Macquarie University. After several years of post-training fellowships, including formal fellowships in the USA and UK, Richard practices in Sydney, Australia, as one of only a few dedicated rhinologists in the country. He has authored over 300 publications, books, book chapters and completed his PhD in trans-nasal skull base surgery. Prof Harvey has been ranked as the top Australian researcher in otolaryngology in the past 3 years. Richard has presented over 800 lectures and talks on sino-nasal disease management. He is the current Editor-in-chief of the Australian Journal of Otolaryngology (ww.w.TheAJO.com) as well as an associate editor for the Cochrane ENT disorders group currently and contributes to the editorial board for Rhinology Journal and other international journals. Prof Harvey is the current president of the Australian & New Zealand Rhinologic Society and the Australasian Academy of Facial Plastic Surgeons. He is the recipient of the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery Medal for Distinguished Contribution to the Art and Science of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, intended to recognize members providing outstanding OHNS services beyond their normal practice activities and the ESR Hughes Award from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons for contributions to the profession. Along with training surgeons in both developed and emerging countries, Richard continues to run a series of courses in Sydney every year to further rhinologic education and training in Australia.
https://sydneyentclinic.com/richard-harvey/
Prof Richard Harvey UNSW, Macquarie University, NSW
Prof Lopez-Escamez's research involves the combination of human multi-omic data and disease models to reveal the molecular mechanisms leading to Meniere’s disease and severe tinnitus and get a better understanding to find a cure. He was the founder of the Otology and Neurotology Group in Spain, an international leader in neurotology and genetics of Meniere’s disease/tinnitus and inspired the Meniere’s Disease Research Consortium. His research has been disseminated through 170 Conferences at the major international meetings including the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, Barany Society, European Society of Human Genetics, European Confederation ORL-HNS and International Federation ORL Societies. He was the recipient of several prestigious Awards including the Frontiers Spotlight 2018 Award.
Currently, Prof Lopez-Escamez is ranked in the Stanford World Top 2% Scientists in 2021-22 and has published over 160 papers in top scientific journals in several categories including audiology, genetics and heredity, medicine, clinical & experimental and otorhinolaryngology with > 7200 citations in Google Scholar. He has been granted > 7 million in international competitive funding in Europe and selected to lead the Meniere’s disease Neuroscience Research Program at the University of Sydney, where he has opened a new laboratory at The Kolling Institute.
Prof Lopez-Escamez has successfully supervised over 10 International PhD and 25 Master students at the Universidad de Granadaand Centre for Genomic and Oncological Research (Genyo) with successful completions. His mentees are enrolled as postdoctoral researchers in top ranked Universities including the University of Edinburghand the University of Cambridge.
Prof Jose Antonio Lopez-Escamez
The University of Sydney
A/Prof Sutapa Mukherjee is a sleep physician and epidemiologist with extensive experience of large-scale collaborative projects including cohort studies and multi-centre clinical trials. Her medical degree was awarded by the University of Adelaide in 1989 (MBBS), followed by FRACP in 1996 (Thoracic Medicine), 2005 (Sleep Medicine), and a PhD from the University of Western Australia in 2002.
A/Prof Mukherjee relocated to Adelaide in 2014 from Toronto, where she was Director of Sleep Medicine (Women’s College Hospital, Toronto), Assistant Professor (University of Toronto) & Clinical Lead for the Ontario Health Study; a large cohort of 230,000 individuals. She is currently the President of the Australasian Sleep Association, Associate Professor in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at Flinders University and Clinical Lead in Research, Respiratory and Sleep Service, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, SA Health. A/Prof Mukherjee’s primary research interests lie in contributing to the understanding of sleep apnoea, including clinical trials.
In June 2020 A/Prof Mukherjee was elected by her peers to Co-Chair the Guideline Leadership Group of the National Covid-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce (NCCET), during which she was directly responsible for assessing evidence on Covid-19 management and therapy with direct translation into new guidelines.
A/Prof Mukherjee regularly gives public lectures (including to parents and children about the importance of healthy sleep), radio interviews, and educational activities and provides mentoring and advice on career progression to early career researchers and women in medicine.
A/Prof Sutapa Mukherjee
Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health
Professor Alkis Psaltis MBBS, PhD FRACS, is the Head of Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide, Australia and Professor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide in South Australia.
He is currently the Vice President of the Australian and New Zealand Rhinological Society
He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and 19 book chapters and delivered over 350 national and international presentations.
He sits on the editorial board 5 major international ENT journals.
He has served on the board of training for ENT in South Australia and currently serves on the Board of Training for the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and the Research and Scholarships Committee for the Royal Australian College of Surgeons.
Prof Alkis Psaltis
Queen Elizabeth Hospital and University, SA
Donna has over 27 years experience with hearing education and programs, including her role as Assistant Principal Teacher of the Deaf (NSW Department of Education). She is the Founder and Life Member of the Dubbo & District Support Group for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Executive Committee member of the NSW Educators of Deaf Students Association, and Executive Member National Association of Australian Teachers of the Deaf. Donna is the parent of a hard-of-hearing daughter and is a co-founder, hearing screener, and volunteer co-director of Hear our Heart Ear Bus Project.
Donna Rees
NSW Teachers of the Deaf/ Volunteer Directors Hear our Heart Ear Bus
Ray Sacks is a Professor at both Macquarie University in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and at Sydney University. Professor Sacks was the Chief Examiner in Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons from 2012-2014 and is now the Chair of the Full Court of Examiners for RACS.He was the President of the Australian and New Zealand Rhinologic Society from 2008-2013 and is the current President of the Australian Society of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.
He has been a keynote speaker and invited faculty on courses throughout the world covering 32 countries on 6 continents. He is also on the Editorial Board of multiple journals and has published more than 150 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals as well as co-authored 23 book chapters , a Manual of endoscopic sinus surgery and a Textbook on Endoscopic surgery of the Orbit in both English and Chinese. His current H-Index is 37. Prof Sacks has received multiple special awards and medals including, the RACS Academy of Surgical Educators Award for Educator of the Year 2020, the ASOHNS Medal for Distinguished Service in the Science and Art of Otolaryngology in 2013, the RACS Medal for Outstanding Service to the Court of Examiners in 2014, the NSW RACS medal for Distinguished Service to Surgery in 2017, The Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation medal for 2018, and in 2021 became the first AoNZ ENT surgeon to be awarded Honorary membership of the European Rhinology Society in the 50 years of their history .
Prof Ray Sacks
Macquarie University, NSW
Dr David Sly is Chief Operating Officer of Research at Ear Science Institute Australia. He is an auditory neuroscientist with multidisciplinary experience working with surgeons, scientists, audiologists and engineers. His research aims to develop drug therapeutics and technology for hearing loss and hearing augmentation.
After his PhD, he worked at The Bionic Ear Institute and The University of Melbourne where he led research into cochlear implants, hearing diagnostics and hearing therapeutics utilising cellular, surgical, drug, electronics and instrumentation approaches. Between 2011-15 he was Deputy Head of the Department of Otolaryngology at The University of Melbourne.
At Swinburne University of Technology between 2016-2022 he was discipline lead of teaching in Clinical Technologies and Neuroscience and led research into augmented hearing and diagnostic medical technology for Defence and Industry.
Dr David Sly
Ear Science Institute Australia, WA
Dr Ruth Thornton (BSc, PhD) is a Passe and Williams Mid-Career Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia and the Co-Lead of the Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group at the Telethon Kids Institute. Her research interests lie in understanding the interactions between bacteria and the host in chronic and recurrent respiratory infections including ear, nose and throat infections, and chronic lung disease.
Dr Thornton’s research into the role of bacterial biofilms, intracellular persistence, and host immunity in recurrent otitis media has changed paradigms in understanding and treating otitis media, and has led to 2 clinical trials to improve otitis media treatment.
Dr Ruth Thornton
University of Western Australia, WA
Dr Carly Whyte is an immunologist and Research Fellow at the Centre for Cancer Biology, South Australia. Her research is focused around understanding how the immune system shapes cancer progression, with a particular interest in the therapeutic potential of eosinophils in head and neck cancer. She is supported by a Junior Fellowship from the Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation.
Carly completed her Bachelor of Science (Biomedical Science, First Class Honours) at the University of Adelaide. In 2018, Carly obtained her PhD at the University of Adelaide, where she uncovered a novel mechanism of how T cell migration into tumours is controlled. Carly then undertook postdoctoral training at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, UK, where she investigated context-dependent effects of the immune-modulating cytokine IL-2, with a view to improve therapeutic outcomes for patients with immune-mediated diseases. Carly has presented her research at national and international conferences and has published numerous articles in high-impact journals.
Dr Carly Whyte
University of Adelaide, SA
Dr Chao Wang is a neurologist and neuro-otologist. He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Sydney. He completed Neurology training at Concord Hospital, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital, followed by a two-year Fellowship in Neuro-otology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. In addition to his clinical work, Chao is currently completing his PhD with the University of Sydney. His PhD, supervised by A/Prof Miriam Welgampola and Dr Sally Rosengren, explores the applications of machine learning techniques for the diagnosis of vertigo. He holds a Research Scholarship from the Passe & Williams Foundation
Hear our Heart Ear Bus volunteer Communication/Grants Officer 2012- 2023 and volunteer Treasurer 2023- current. Also, grandmother to 5 lovely boys, one of which has battled with otitis media from age 2 years to 18 years.
Dr Chao Wang
NSW Health, NSW
Sue Went
Hear our Heart Ear Bus Project