Department of Otolaryngology - Faculty | The University of Arizona College of Medicine

Our faculty hold appointments in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix and practice at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix, Banner Children's at Desert, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Phoenix VA Health Care System, Barrow Neurological Institute, and affiliated community practices. Together they cover every subspecialty of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery and teach the department's residents and medical students.

Department Leadership

Amal Isaiah, MD, PhD, MBA	Professor and Chair, Department of Otolaryngology; Program Director, Otolaryngology Residency Practice site: Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix; Banner Children's at Desert Medical school: St. John's Medical College, Bangalore, India Graduate degrees: DPhil (PhD) in Neuroscience, University of Oxford (Rhodes Scholar); MBA, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, University of Maryland Medical Center Fellowship: Pediatric Otolaryngology, UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Medical Center Dallas Clinical interests: Pediatric sleep-disordered breathing and sleep surgery, pediatric airway, complex pediatric otolaryngology Research interests: Optical and MRI neuroimaging in children, deep learning for medical imaging, AI-driven clinical phenotyping

Pediatric Otolaryngology

Joshua W. Wood, MD, FACS	Assistant Professor, Clinical Scholar; Site Director, Banner Desert Medical Center and Banner Children's at Desert Practice site: Banner Children's at Desert, Mesa Medical school: Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis Fellowship: Pediatric Otolaryngology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Clinical interests: Pediatric airway and tracheostomy, pediatric head and neck surgery, pediatric otology, sleep-disordered breathing; medical student education

Amal Isaiah, MD, PhD, MBA — Professor and Chair

Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Microvascular Reconstruction

Harrison Cash, MD, MS	Assistant Clinical Professor; Site Director, Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix Practice site: Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Gilbert; Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix Medical school: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Graduate degrees: MS, Physiology, University of Cincinnati Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, University of Washington Fellowship: Head and Neck Oncologic and Microvascular Reconstructive Surgery, University of Washington; AO Craniomaxillofacial Trauma Fellowship, University of Washington Clinical interests: Head and neck cancer, including cancers of the tongue, throat, larynx, nose, scalp, face, and ears; melanoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma; reconstruction after cancer treatment
Pardis Javadi, MD	Assistant Clinical Professor; Associate Program Director, Otolaryngology Residency; Clerkship Site Director, Banner MD Anderson Practice site: Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Gilbert Medical school: Medical College of Wisconsin Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Albany Medical Center Fellowship: Advanced Oncologic Head and Neck Surgery and Reconstructive Surgery, Emory University Clinical interests: Head and neck cancer, cutaneous malignancies of the head and neck, thyroid and parathyroid tumors, salivary gland tumors, microvascular reconstruction
Ameya A. Jategaonkar, MD	Assistant Professor, Clinical Scholar Practice site: Barrow Neurological Institute — Vice-Director, Head and Neck Cancer Program, and Director, Advanced Oncologic and Reconstructive Surgery Medical school: University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Fellowship: Advanced Oncologic and Microvascular Reconstructive Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University / Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center Clinical interests: Head and neck cancer, transoral robotic surgery, thyroid and parathyroid surgery, skull base surgery, free-flap microvascular reconstruction
Deborah X. Xie, MD	Assistant Clinical Professor Practice site: Barrow Neurological Institute Medical school: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital Fellowship: Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Microvascular Reconstructive Surgery, Indiana University Clinical interests: Head and neck cancer, transoral robotic surgery, thyroid and parathyroid surgery, open skull base surgery, microvascular reconstruction, facial reanimation, hypoglossal nerve stimulation for obstructive sleep apnea

Otology, Neurotology, and Lateral Skull Base Surgery

Shawn M. Stevens, MD	Associate Clinical Professor; Site Director, Barrow Neurological Institute Practice site: Barrow Neurological Institute — Chair, Department of ENT and Skull Base Surgery Medical school: The Ohio State University College of Medicine Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina Fellowship: Neurotology, University of Cincinnati Clinical interests: Cochlear and auditory brainstem implantation, acoustic neuroma and lateral skull base tumors, chronic ear disease and cholesteatoma, otosclerosis, Gamma Knife radiosurgery
Samuel R. Barber, MD	Assistant Clinical Professor Practice site: Barrow Neurological Institute Medical school: Tufts University School of Medicine (with research honors) Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson Fellowship: Neurotology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Clinical interests: Hearing and vestibular disorders; cochlear implants, auditory brainstem implants, and bone-anchored hearing devices; acoustic neuroma and skull base tumors; cholesteatoma Research interests: Medical imaging and virtual technologies for preoperative planning and surgical navigation

Sleep Surgery

Richard P. Pearlstein, MD	Assistant Clinical Professor Practice site: Biltmore ENT, Phoenix (affiliated community practice) Medical school: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit (including Children's Hospital of Michigan) Clinical interests: Comprehensive otolaryngology; surgical treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, including hypoglossal nerve stimulation (Inspire Physician of Excellence)

Amal Isaiah, MD, PhD, MBA — Pediatric sleep surgery
Deborah X. Xie, MD — Hypoglossal nerve stimulation

Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Donovan Lockwood, MD	Clinical Instructor Practice site: Scottsdale Center for Plastic Surgery Medical school: University of Arizona College of Medicine Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Yale New Haven Hospital Fellowship: Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), Beverly Hills Center for Plastic and Laser Surgery Clinical interests: Rhinoplasty, deep-plane facelift and neck lift, eyelid surgery, facial fat grafting, facial reconstruction
Jimmy H. Chim, MD	Assistant Clinical Professor Practice site: Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix Medical school: University of Maryland School of Medicine Residency: General Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University Fellowship: Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, McGill University Health Centre and University of Miami / Jackson Memorial Hospital Clinical interests: Facial and reconstructive plastic surgery, rhinoplasty, reconstruction after trauma and cancer

Craniomaxillofacial Trauma and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Karel A. deLeeuw, DDS, MD	Clinical Professor Practice site: Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix Medical school: Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine Residency: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; General Surgery, University of South Florida Clinical interests: Craniomaxillofacial trauma, orthognathic and reconstructive jaw surgery
Kyle J. Shiffler, DDS, MD, FACS	Assistant Professor, Clinical Scholar Practice site: Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix Medical school: Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California; DDS, UCLA School of Dentistry Residency: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, LAC+USC Medical Center, Keck Medical Center of USC, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles Clinical interests: Maxillofacial trauma and reconstruction, orbital trauma, head and neck infections, jaw pathology

Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Cynthia Go, MD, PhD	Assistant Clinical Professor; Site Director, Phoenix VA Health Care System Practice site: Phoenix VA Health Care System (Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center) Medical school: University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine Graduate degrees: PhD, Pathology, University of Chicago Residency: Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals, Houston Clinical interests: Comprehensive otolaryngology for veterans
Ambujakshan Dildeep, MD	Assistant Clinical Professor Practice site: Phoenix VA Health Care System (Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center) Medical school: Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College, Raipur, India Residency: General Surgery, New York-Presbyterian/Queens (New York Medical College) Fellowship: Head and Neck Surgery and Reconstruction, Roswell Park Cancer Institute Clinical interests: Head and neck surgical oncology and reconstruction for veterans, including microvascular free-flap reconstruction, transoral robotic and laser surgery, thyroid and parathyroid surgery, and skin cancers of the head and neck; moderator of the VA head and neck tumor board

Richard P. Pearlstein, MD — Comprehensive otolaryngology, Biltmore ENT

Research Faculty

Scientists in the Department of Translational Neurosciences who hold secondary appointments in Otolaryngology and mentor the department's residents and students in hearing science and genomics.

Isabelle Schrauwen, PhD	Associate Professor Practice site: University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, Phoenix Biomedical Campus Graduate degrees: PhD and MS, Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium; postdoctoral fellowships in human genetics (University of Antwerp) and neurogenomics (Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix) Research interests: Genetics of hereditary and age-related hearing loss and otosclerosis, including the discovery of hearing loss genes such as CABP2, PLS1, STX4, and GREB1L; multi-omics diagnosis of rare pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders; leads the genomic analyses in the department's ABCD Study program on the upper airway and the developing brain
Jeong Han Lee, PhD	Associate Research Professor Practice site: University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, Phoenix Biomedical Campus Graduate degrees: MS, Biology, Chonbuk National University; PhD, Medicine, Wonkwang University; postdoctoral training, University of California, Davis Research interests: Inner and outer hair cells, spiral ganglion neurons, mechanotransduction, and synapse degeneration in age-related hearing loss