South African ENT Congress Provides Global Engagement Opportunities

Johan Fagan, MBChB, FCS(SA), Sanjay Parikh, MD, and Kathleen L. Yaremchuk, MD, MSA, Immediate Past AAO-HNS/F President

The South African ENT Society hosted its 59th Congress in partnership with the AAO-HNSF from October 20 – 22 in Cape Town, South Africa. The meeting was organized by a dedicated scientific committee including congress convenor Prof. Darlene Lubbe. More than 70 national and international faculty held multiple concurrent sessions of panels, lectures, and scientific sessions. AAO-HNS members who served as international faculty for the meeting included Greg Basura, MD, PhD, John Craig, MD, Jennifer Kim, MD, Dennis Poe, MD, Julia Toman, MD, Sanjay Parikh, MD, and AAO-HNS/F Immediate Past-President, Kathleen Yaremchuk, MD, MSA. Johan Fagan, MBChB, FCS(SA), prior AAO-HNSF Chair of the International Advisory Board, facilitated the international partnership between the partner societies and the AAO-HNS/F.

Several guest speakers with the James Loock, President of the South African ENT Society and Darlene Lubbe, conference chairperson. Back row (left to right): Mark Ferguson (UK); Jennifer Kim (USA); Sanjay Parikh (USA); Eleftherios Papathanasiou; John Craig (USA); Luisa Maria Bellussi (Italy); Felice Scasso (Italy); Kathleen Yaremchuk (USA); Maria Pia Villa (Italy). Front row (left to right): Arif Janjua (Canada); James Loock (South Africa); Darlene Lubbe (South Africa); Julia Toman (USA); Kate Stephenson (UK).

Keynote speaker Dr. Alexander Stoessel (Germany), a professor of zoology and evolutionary research.A memorable keynote address was given by Alexander Stoessel, MD, a professor of zoology and evolutionary research, who captivated the audience with his presentation, titled, “A Look into the Past Through the Ear: How Function and Morphology of the Auditory Region Shed Light on the Global Dispersal of Humans, The Evolution of Human Hearing and the Origin of Warm-Bloodedness in Mammals.” Attendees learned about the evolutionary changes of the cochlea and its usefulness as a particularly dense source of DNA, used to track and explain communication throughout history.

The meeting was hosted in partnership with the South African Speech-Language Hearing Association and The South African Association of Audiologists. Before and after the meeting, local workshops were hosted by Shazia Peer, MD, for pediatric airway surgery, Dr. Lubbe for transorbital cranial base surgery, and Louis Hofmeyr, MD, for vertigo. The event was a huge success with over 550 delegates and 42 vendors from 20 countries enjoying the warm spring weather in the beautiful city of Cape Town.