Maja Svrakic, MD

About Andrea Vambutas MD, FACSDr. Andrea Vambutas is the Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital. She is also Director for the Center of Hearing & Balance at the New York Head & Neck Institute. She is also the Medical Director of the Apelian Cochlear Implant Program and Professor of Otolaryngology & Molecular Medicine. She was instrumental in developing the Apelian Cochlear Implant Center, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2011. The center cares for infants and adults. The cochlear implant team is comprised of surgeons, audiologists, speech pathologists, social workers, sign language interpreters and deaf educators who provide all aspects of evaluation prior to, and rehabilitation following cochlear implantation. The center has been the recipient of many complicated otologic cases, and difficult clinical problems. Dr. Vambutas is a clinician-scientist that studies immune responses and their effect on hearing. There are three unique forms of hearing loss that may be amenable to medical therapy for recovery of natural hearing: Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease, Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Meniere s Disease. Timely treatment with steroids results in hearing recovery in about 60% of cases. Unfortunately, that response is lost over time with repetitive treatment. For those that fail to respond to corticosteroids, there are no alternate treatments. Deteriorating hearing is rehabilitated with hearing aids or cochlear implants. Despite how beneficial these devices are, they do not select for what we want to hear, unlike our brains that do it naturally and seamlessly. Her research interests are in the restoration of natural hearing in these steroid resistant patients. To this end, her laboratory has identified the critical role of an inflammatory protein, interleukin-1 (IL-1), in this disease. Her research group is running a NIH-sponsored phase I open-label clinical trial to determine if blockade of IL-1 can prevent further hearing loss in these steroid-resistant individuals (www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01267994). Her laboratory is also trying to better understand the molecular mechanisms behind these diseases, specifically in distinguishing steroid sensitive and resistant hearing loss which would identify new biologic markers of disease. Awards and Recognition:Castle Connolley, Best DoctorsBest Doctors in AmericaOutstanding Teacher Awards, North Shore-LIJ Health System & Montefiore Medical CenterService Award, American Academy of Otolaryngology HNSProfessional Affiliations:Diplomat: American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Fellow: American College of Surgeons Fellow, American Neurotology SocietyElected Member: New York Otologic SocietyElected Member: Henry Kunkel SocietyElected Member: American Association of Immunologists

Dr. Gantwerker sees all ranges of pediatric ENT conditions but has special interest in complex pediatric patients with aerodigestive/airway problems including stridor, laryngomalacia, subglottic stenosis, tracheomalacia, tracheo-esophageal fistulas, and laryngeal clefts. He performs a wide range of ENT surgeries including more complex airway surgeries including laryngotracheoplasty, supraglottoplasty, cricoid split, laryngeal cleft repairs, and others. He also has special interest in pediatric patients with persistent sleep apnea after adenotonsillectomy and perform complex sleep surgery including lingual tonsillectomy, tongue base reduction, epiglottopexy, and lateral expansion pharyngoplasty. Also see routine pediatric otolaryngology patients including otitis media, sleep apnea/sleep-disordered breathing, neck masses, dysphagia, neck infections, and others.He also has a special interest in education and holds a Master of Medical Science (MMSc) in Medical Education with a special focus on educational technology, educational research, and game-based learning from Harvard Medical School and a Master of Science in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University. He has a special interest in faculty development and has been a speaker or faculty member at hundreds of local, national, and international courses and conferences. He is recognized as an expert on the implementation of educational technologies and gaming with a foundation in educational theory for health professions education. He was honored to be inducted as an Associate Member of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Academy of Master Surgeon Educators and as an Associate Fellow of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE).

Dr. Neha A. Patel is a pediatric otolaryngologist of the Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology at the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York. Dr. Patel received her medical degree with a distinction in research from Albany Medical College and completed residency training at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. She then completed a fellowship in Pediatric Otolaryngology Seattle Children's Hospital with subspecialty training in pediatric craniofacial, vascular anomalies and advanced pediatric head and neck surgery. Dr. Patel's clinical interests include velopharyngeal insufficiency surgery, surgical management of lesions of the head and neck including lymphatic malformations and hemangiomas. Dr. Patel's current research also focuses on the management of pediatric thyroid cancer. Dr. Patel has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications. Most importantly, Dr. Patel's focus is on delivering the highest quality care to all children ranging from premature infants to adolescents in a family friendly environment.