Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (ASOHNS) Annual Scientific Meeting

The Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (ASOHNS) Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) is the premier education and networking event for the Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery community in Australia. This year marks the 71 st anniversary of the Society’s Annual Scientific Meeting.

With the restrictions of COVID-19 felt locally, nationally and internationally, ASOHNS intends to hold a physical meeting in Melbourne, welcoming most delegates in person, and providing a strong virtual connection to their overseas colleagues. Their rapid pivot to a fully online meeting in March 2020 provided the expertise and wisdom to administer a high-quality virtual attendance option.

The attendance of two keynote sponsors is made possible by the support of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS): Dr Sujana Chandrasekhar, an otologist/neurotologist from the United States, and Dr Kate Heathcote, a consultant laryngologist from the United Kingdom (UK). Both speakers will present on a range of topics including updates in neurotology, changes to guidelines and pathways to leadership in otolaryngology as well as updates in laryngology.

Dr Chandrasekhar practises in New York City and Wayne, New Jersey, and has a passion for ear and balance patient care as well as teaching, humanitarian work, and developing leadership skills and the empowerment of others.

Dr Sujana Chandrasekhar

Elected by their 12,000 members in August 2014, Dr Chandrasekhar is the president-elect of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) and the third woman and the first person of Indian descent to hold that office. She previously served as chair of the AAO-HNS Board of Governors and is secretary-treasurer of the American Otological Society.

Dr Chandrasekhar attended medical school at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, graduated at the age of 22, and completed her residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at New York University Medical Center in New York. She then completed her Fellowship in Otology and Neurotology at the House Ear Clinic and Institute in Los Angeles, California.

Dr Chandrasekhar served on the full-time academic faculty of both the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Medical School and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, before entering private practice in New York City in October 2004. She is currently Director of Neurotology at the James J. Peters Veterans Administration Medical Center, Otologist/Neurotologist at the New York Head and Neck Institute, Clinical Professor at Hofstra-Northwell SOM, Clinical Associate Professor at Icahn SOM, and holds staff privileges at several New York and New Jersey hospitals.

The second speaker, sponsored by RACS, is Dr Kate Heathcote, a consultant laryngologist at the Robert White Centre for Voice, Airway and Swallowing in Poole Hospital National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in the UK.

Dr Kate Heathcote

Having completed her ear, nose and throat (ENT) training, she undertook a six-month Fellowship with Professor Jean Paul Marie in Rouen, France where she trained in pioneering techniques of laryngeal reinnervation. She went on to complete a further Fellowship at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital in London before taking up her consultant post in Poole.

Dr Heathcote established the Centre for Airway Voice and Swallowing in 2013 and has worked to develop it as a cutting-edge centre offering advanced techniques to NHS patients. As well as multidisciplinary voice clinics, the centre runs treatment clinics using transnasal techniques and diagnostic clinics in conjunction with gastroenterology.

Since returning from France, she has worked at introducing techniques of reinnervation to the UK and disseminating the techniques globally via courses and conferences. Working with colleagues at Southampton Children’s Hospital, Dr Heathcote has established a national centre for paediatric laryngeal reinnervation. Dr Heathcote is on the council of the British Laryngological Association and the scientific committee of the European Laryngological Society.