Leaders in ENT
Six Miller School of Medicine otolaryngologists have served in leadership positions for respected professional societies in the past 10 years.
The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine offers innovative research, more clinical trials than any other institution in South Florida and groundbreaking medical education.
That the Miller School is also a leader in professional development comes as no surprise. In recognition of the program’s national stature, Miller School faculty members within the Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery have risen to prominence in respected professional associations.
As president of the American Rhinology Society from 2014 to 2015, Dr. Casiano, professor of otolaryngology and director of rhinology and the endoscopic skull base program at the Miller School, helped increase international participation in the society and diversity in its subcommittees.
“Today we are one of the most diverse otolaryngology societies,” said Dr. Casiano, the society’s first Latino academic rhinologist president since its 1954 founding.
From 2010 to 2012, as president of the Pan-American Association of Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery, Dr. Casiano increased international participation and helped establish funding for the association’s educational mission. During his tenure, the association revised its bylaws for the first time since its 1946 founding.
“This allowed us to establish new, modern educational venues and opportunities for association growth,” he said.
Dr. Casiano also established a travel scholarship so that otolaryngologists from underserved countries can attend association meetings.
As president of The Triological Society in 2024, Dr. Hoffer, professor of otolaryngology and neurological surgery at the Miller School, helped set policies, grow membership, oversee scholarly activities and guide a stable, well-known ENT organization.
“We have had in place, for several years, some diversity policies to make sure we bring in membership that is representative of people in the field,” said Dr. Hoffer.
The society has a number of initiatives to ensure diverse membership.
“We are inclusionary, not exclusionary,” he said. “We’re reaching out to people who might not otherwise join.”
As chair of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance, Dr. Holcomb, a professor of clinical otolaryngology and director of the hearing implant program at the Miller School, led the board of directors and collaborated with industry partners, professionals and the organization’s executive director.
“Before I took office, only surgeons were chair,” said Dr. Holcomb. “I hoped that, by breaking the mold, I would inspire other audiologists, speech pathologists, educators and psychologists to become leaders in our organization, as well. ACIA is a multidisciplinary organization and representation matters.”
ACIA was able to pivot during COVID and provide an online educational conference in place of the scheduled in-person 2020 conference. This allowed presenters to showcase their research and continue conversations to move the field forward in a time of uncertainty.
“Additionally, we organized two task forces to write peer-reviewed manuscripts on the management of single-sided deafness cochlear implants,” said Dr. Holcomb.
Having previously served as a board member, treasurer, and vice president, Dr. Sargi, professor of otolaryngology and vice chair for quality, performance improvement and value at the Miller School, is president-elect of the North American Skull Base Society (NASBS). NASBS presidents typically serve for several years before moving up to an officer’s position.
NASBS started 35 years ago as a surgical society, but has attracted other specialists over the years.
“The bulk of membership is still surgeons,” he said, “with 80% ENTs and neurosurgeons and 20% other specialists.”
Dedicated primarily to education and research, NASBS is, according to Dr. Sargi, one of the most prestigious and recognized skull base societies in the world.
“It has been a multiyear and currently ongoing outreach effort to increase international membership,” he said.
As president of the American Neurotology Society in 2022, Dr. Telischi, professor of otolaryngology, neurological surgery and biomedical engineering at the Miller School, was involved in planning and running annual meetings, representing the society and the subspecialty of neurotology, providing guidance for current practice standards, answering insurance coverage questions and interacting with national fellowship and residency organizations.
“I continued the very popular and high-level educational activities at the annual meetings as well as maintaining our inclusive and belonging culture of promoting colleagues from diverse backgrounds and women surgeons,” said Dr. Telischi. “We started to incorporate more training and recognition of the Advance Practice colleagues who support our clinical work by encouraging their membership in the society and participation/attendance at conferences.”
Since 2020, Dr. Weed, the W. Jarrard Goodwin Professor of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and vice chair for academic affairs in the Department of Otolaryngology at the Miller School, has served as chairman of the Advanced Training Council (ATC) of the American Head and Neck Society (AHNS).
The ATC oversees all AHNS-approved head and neck surgical oncology and head and neck endocrine fellowships in the U.S. and Canada, currently comprising 54 fellowship programs offering a total of 67 positions annually. The ATC conducts site visits for new and established programs, supervises the annual fellowship match process and establishes fellowship guidelines for training.
“I chair monthly Zoom meetings to review all site visit reports and then present the decisions of the ATC to the executive committee of the AHNS for final approval,” said Dr. Weed.
Tags: American Cochlear Implant Alliance, American Head and Neck Society, American Neurotology Society, American Rhinological Society, cochlear implants, Department of Otolaryngology, Dr. Donald Weed, Dr. Fred Telischi, Dr. Meredith Holcomb, Dr. Michael Hoffer, Dr. Roy Casiano, Dr. Zoukaa Sargi, head and neck surgery, otolaryngology, Skull-base surgery, The Triological Society, USNWR ENT, USNWR ENT 2026