AIVER Physician Researchers

College in Music Theory and Composition, graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance from Combs College of Music; and he completed his Residency in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery and a Fellowship in Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at the University of Michigan. Dr. Sataloff is Chairman of the Boards of Directors of the Voice Foundation and of the American Institute for Voice and Ear Research. He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of Graduate Hospital; President of the American Laryngological Society, the International Association of Phonosurgery, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery; and in numerous other leadership positions. Dr. Sataloff is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Voice, Editor-in-Chief of Ear, Nose and Throat Journal, Associate Editor of the Journal of Singing, and on the editorial boards of numerous otolaryngology journals. He has written over 650 publications, including 38 books. His medical practice is limited to care of the professional voice and to otology/neurotology/skull base surgery.

Robert Thayer Sataloff, MD, DMA, FACS

Robert Thayer Sataloff, MD, DMA, FACS is Professor and Chairman, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Academic Specialties, Drexel University College of Medicine. He is also Adjunct Professor in the departments of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University, the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University; on the faculty of the Academy of Vocal Arts; and Conductor of the Thomas Jefferson University Choir. Dr. Sataloff is also a professional singer and singing teacher. He holds an undergraduate degree from Haverford

Standards Institute committees, and as an advisor to President Nixon, his influence resulted in the drafting of scientifically based laws that have preserved the hearing of millions of Americans. Dr. Sataloff is the author of more than 150 publications including eleven books. He has served on numerous editorial boards and national and international committees.

Joseph Sataloff, MD, DSc

Joseph Sataloff, MD, DSc, Professor of Otolaryngology at Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, and Adjunct Professor of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine, is an internationally renowned otologist, surgeon, scientist, and pioneer in occupational hearing loss. His efforts to raise the consciousness of America's leaders in government, industry, and medicine to the adverse impact and tremendous monetary and human costs associated with occupational hearing loss are recognized worldwide. Through service on numerous medical and American

care of the professional voice is multidisciplinary and includes the active involvement of a speaking voice therapist, acting voice therapists, singing voice therapists, gastroenterologists, neurologists, pulmonologists, general surgeons and other healthcare professionals, as indicated by the individual patient's needs. Her additional interests include pediatric airway and voice disorders and head and neck cancer surgery.

Dr. Heman-Ackah received her bachelor's of arts degree in psychology and her doctor of medicine degree from Northwestern University as part of the honors program in medical education. She completed a residency in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Minnesota and then completed a fellowship in professional voice care and laryngology under the preceptorship of Robert T. Sataloff, M.D., DMA in Philadelphia. Following her fellowship, she founded and directed the Voice Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she brought professional voice care to the Chicago voice community and was Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. She currently has an appointment as Associate Professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine and Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical College here in Philadelphia.

Dr. Heman-Ackah is known nationally and internationally for her pioneering research on the laryngeal chemoreflex, which has furthered our understanding of how laryngeal reflexes can contribute to sudden infant death syndrome, as well as for her research in developing measures for voice analysis and in describing strobovideolarngoscopic findings in singers. Dr. Heman-Ackah has received numerous awards and grants for her research, including awards from the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, the American Laryngological Association, and the American Laryngological Voice Research and Education Foundation. She has been elected to membership in the International Association of Phonosurgeons, and is also a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the Voice and Speech Trainer's Association (VASTA), the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and of the Voice Foundation. She is the current national medical adviser for VASTA as well. She has written numerous publications, including co-authoring the first textbook on laryngeal electromyography, and is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Voice. She has been recognized by the state and federal governments, and has been appointed to the Physicians' Advisory Board by the National Republican Congressional Committee and to the Pennsylvania Hearing Aid Sales Registration Law Advisory Council by Governor Rendell. She continues to pioneer advancements in voice care through her basic science and clinical research, as well as through educational programs for medical students, residents, singing teachers, speech-language pathologists, otolaryngologists, and other physicians and voice professionals.

Links:

Curriculum Vitae

Yolanda D. Heman-Ackah, MD

Yolanda D. Heman-Ackah, MD is an otolaryngologist, certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology, who subspecializes in professional voice care and laryngology. Her background as a trained musician, dancer and singer makes her uniquely qualified to understand the vocal demands of the performing artist, and to tailor treatment of professional voice disorders based on this understanding. Her primary practice focus is in treating the professional voice user (singers, actors, public speakers), but she also treats other voice and airway problems such as reflux, spasmodic dysphonia, laryngeal papillomatosis, airway stenosis, vocal fold paralysis, arytenoid dislocation and laryngeal cancer. Her approach to the

John A. Tucker, MD

Links:

Curriculum Vitae

Robert J. Wolfson, MD

Robert J. Wolfson, MD is Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine. His major interests are otology and neurotology. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of vertigo and balance disorders, especially those related to inner ear pathology such as Meniere’s Disease. His otologic interest is in the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of the hearing handicapped. He has lectured and published extensively on these subjects.

Links:

Curriculum Vitae

Venu Divi, MD

Venu Divi, MD is Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine. He received his undergraduate education at Kent State University and his medical training at Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine. In 2006, he finished his residency in otolaryngology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Mich. In 2007, he completed his fellowship in professional voice and laryngology with Dr. Robert Thayer Sataloff. His interests include care of performing artists, including singers and emcees. He is also passionate about investigating the utility of yoga and ayurvedic medicine (the traditional medicine of India) in the care of the voice patients.

Links:

Curriculum Vitae

John A. Tucker, M.D. graduated from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed his residency in otorhinolaryngology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the last otolaryngologist in a family of renowned ear, nose and throat specialists including his father Gabriel Tucker, and his brothers Gabriel Tucker, Jr. and Chavalier Jackson Tucker. Dr. Tucker has served as Chief of the Department of Otolaryngology at Graduate Hospital and Gabriel Tucker Chairman in the Department of Bronchoesophagology and Laryngeal Surgery. He has also been Professor and Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology at Hahnemann University, Chairman of the Division of

Otolaryngology at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children; and he is currently Clinical Professor of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Pennsylvania and Adjunct Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine. He has authored more than 100 publications, and he is renowned internationally for his contributions to laryngology (especially embryology of the larynx) and pediatric otolaryngology. He was also co-author of the original paper introducing flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopy.