2017 Nikhil J. Bhatt, MD International Public Service Award

The International Public Service Award honors a non-U.S. otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon whose achievements have advanced the specialty.

Sheng-Po Hao, MDThis year’s awardee is Sheng-Po Hao, MD, from Taipei, Taiwan. Dr. Hao is chair and professor of the Department of Otolaryngology at Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital and program director of Otolaryngology at Fu Jen Catholic University.

Dr. Hao has a strong commitment to the treatment and prevention of oral cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer, an almost uniquely Asian disease with Taiwan having the highest incidence in the world. He founded the Taiwan Oral Cancer Prevention and Treatment Association, which carries out oral cavity cancer prevention and screening programs, and is the founding president of both the Taiwan Head and Neck Society and the Asian Society of Head and Neck Society. He remains the  secretary-general of the latter.

He is an internationally recognized authority and has published hundreds of articles and book chapters on the surgical aspect as well as ongoing research in oral cancer. Dr. Hao has given high-profile lectures, including the keynote lecture in the IFOS World Congress in 2013 and the Eugene N. Myers International Lecture on Head and Neck Oncology at the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO^SM in 2014.

He has not only imparted his knowledge and expertise through teaching medical students and residents in Taiwan, but has also trained international fellows from China, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Spain, and the Philippines.

Dr. Hao graduated from Taipei Medical University and completed his residency at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and his fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. He returned to Taiwan, where he has held numerous positions in medical and academic institutions. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Yale University, and Seoul National University.