2024 Young Physicians Section (YPS) Awards

2024 YPS Impact Award

Shumon Ian Dhar, MD
UTSW Clinical Center for Voice CareThis year’s winner of the AAO-HNS Young Physicians Section (YPS) Impact Award is Shumon Ian Dhar, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at UT Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center. He is a laryngologist at UTSW Clinical Center for Voice Care and specializes in the treatment of voice, airway, and swallowing disorders. Previously, he was a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University and chief of the Johns Hopkins Swallowing Center.

Dr. Dhar’s clinical and research interests include the medical and surgical management of voice and swallowing disorders, upper airway stenosis, laryngopharyngeal reflux, and early vocal cord cancer. He provides specialized voice care to all types of patients, from professional singers to head and neck cancer survivors. Balancing and optimizing the major functions of the larynx (breathing, voice, and swallowing) are key principles that guide his practice.

Dr. Dhar is particularly passionate about education and is co-founder of Stroboscopy.org, a non-profit online project that works to educate voice professionals on the interpretation of laryngeal video stroboscopy, the gold standard diagnostic test for disorders of the voice. The aim of Stroboscopy.org is to provide a video-based learning resource for medical students, residents, speech-language pathologists, singing teachers, physicians, and more at any stage of training and experience.

Dr. Dhar serves on the AAO-HNS Airway and Swallowing Committee as well as the Medical Advisory Board of the National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders. He is a reviewer for several otolaryngology journals, has authored numerous academic articles, and regularly delivers lectures and presentations of his work. Dr. Dhar is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and member of its Advisory Council for Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, and an active member of the American Broncho-Esophagological Association.

2024 YPS Model Mentor Award 

Rod P. Rezaee, MD
University Hospitals Medical CenterThis year’s Young Physicians Section (YPS) Model Mentor awardee is Rod P. Rezaee, MD. He is the director of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Reconstruction at the University Hospitals (UH) Medical Center and professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. 

Dr. Rezaee is also the medical director of the Head and Neck Surgical Oncology unit at UH Seidman Cancer Center and serves on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® Thyroid Cancer Guidelines Committee as the representative of Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.

After being named director of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Reconstruction, Dr. Rezaee noted, “My role as director is to make sure the necessary resources to care for patients in the community are available to our providers. However, it is vital to also maintain their presence at main campus to handle complex tertiary cases such as advanced trauma and microvascular reconstruction. In addition, we must train students, residents, and fellows, and achieve our goals of participating in quality academic research projects.”

A resident training under Dr. Rezaee shared, “He played a significant part in teaching me the foundations of head and neck surgery and patient care, my decision to pursue a fellowship in head and neck oncology and microvascular reconstruction, and my decision to return [to Case Western] as faculty. He instilled the foundations of excellent patient care that I strive to emulate in the care of my patients.”

Dr. Rezaee also serves on multiple national committees within the AAO-HNS and the American Head and Neck Society, helping to improve the surgical, reconstructive, and non-surgical care of head and neck cancer patients.