Research Training Opportunities

The University of Washington’s Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery is fully dedicated to training the next generation of academic surgeons who seek to improve healthcare through scientific curiosity, innovation, inquiry, and public sharing of data and ideas. 

Our program provides NIH-funded (R25) intensive research training and education to five residents annually in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery and to medical students (one per year). We have created an environment that supports the systematic refinement of a physician trainee’s analytical and research skills, and facilitates the potential for a productive research-oriented career in academic medicine. This is accomplished by:

1. Selecting individuals with previously demonstrated commitment to biomedical research. For our residents, this includes a commitment to extend their residency training one year beyond the five-year norm. For our medical students, this entails taking a full year away from medical school, usually after MS2 or MS3.

2. Sustaining and expanding a departmental culture in which research is an integral part of the mission among the otolaryngology-head and neck surgery (Oto-HNS) faculty, residents and staff.

3. Exposing and facilitating research involvement throughout the residency period.

4. Teaching teamwork and acceptance of critical and supportive input from peers and mentors.

5. Exposing trainees to successful junior faculty and established senior scientist mentors.

6. Providing exposure to issues and methodologies at the cutting edge of biomedical fields related to Oto-HNS and communication disorders.

7. Instilling concepts of biomedical ethics and the excitement of lifelong questioning as a source for personal growth and career satisfaction.

We also recognize that this is an ongoing process through which we must continually refine the program based on immediate needs and an ongoing evaluation.

R25 Program Directors

Jenny Stone, PhD  stoner@uw.edu
Jay Rubinstein, MD, PhD rubinj@uw.edu
David Horn, MD, Msc dlhorn@uw.edu

All residents who enter our clinical training program are automatically enrolled in the research training program.

We offer an NIH-funded opportunity (R25) for medical students who: have completed their first year of clinical training (MS3); are intending to apply for an otolaryngology residency; are seeking a career as a surgeon-scientist; and are a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident.  This 9-month long research training and education period takes place on the Seattle campus. It involves both mentored research and structured research didactics, discussions, and workshops, including training in grant writing. We provide a stipend and funds for travel to present your research, as well as support for your research project, training, and education. We may also offer clinical clerkship/sub-internship training in otolaryngology at either the start or the end of the 9-month period, as available.

Recommended Schedule to Apply

Submit an inquiry to the Medical Student Clerkship Director as soon as possible using this RedCap survey. A team member will contact you within 2-4 weeks to discuss your interests, gauge your candidacy for the program, and, if appropriate, start you on the process of identifying a primary research mentor. Then, you will work with your mentor to define your project, generate the 5-page application, and submit the application to the program directors by the deadline.
 
Medical Student Clerkship Director: Emily Marchiano ejm1014@uw.edu

Application deadline: March 1 

For undergraduate and medical students interested in exploring additional research opportunities with our department, please contact Dr. Jennifer Stone (stoner@uw.edu) or Dr. Emily Marchiano (ejm1014@uw.edu).

PROGRAM CO-DIRECTORS:

Jennifer Stone, PhD, has been the program director of our T32-funded Clinician-Scientist Research Training Program for 4 years. She served as program co-director from 2017-2019, receiving extensive mentorship on program leadership and administration from past program directors Drs. Rubel and Weaver. She has been engaged in clinician-scientist research training for over 20 years.

Dr. Stone is a research professor in Oto-HNS and the department’s director of research. She chairs the Oto-HNS research committee. She is an affiliate of the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center (VMBHRC) and the Institute on Human Development and Disability. She serves on the VMBHRC Executive Committee with Jay Rubinstein and David Raible. She is an executive committee member for UW's Auditory Neuroscience T32 Grant for non-clinical pre- and postdoctoral fellows.

Dr. Stone studies regeneration of vestibular hair cells and recovery of vestibular function in adult mammals. She has held R01 funding since 1998. She also serves as a co-investigator on three projects funded by the National Science Foundation, the Hearing Health Foundation, and Decibel Therapeutics.

Dr. Stone served on the NIH Communications Disorders Research Committee, reviewing training grants from 2005 to 2009. She is currently a standing member and the chair of the NIH AUD study section.

Jay T. Rubinstein, MD, PhD, is the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Professor & director of the VMBHRC and professor of otolaryngology and bioengineering. Dr. Rubinstein’s laboratory engages in computational, physiologic, and behavioral studies of cochlear and vestibular implants and behavioral characterization of pertinent inner ear mutations. He has been a PI, Co-PI, and Co-I on numerous NIH, other federal, foundation, and industry grants and has been continuously funded by the NIDCD since 1995. He was a standing AUD study section member, served on the NIDCD Board of Scientific Counselors and Strategic Plan Working Group and on countless ad-hoc review panels, and he chaired a T32 review panel. He has engaged in the Oto-HNS Research Training Program for nearly 20 years.

David Horn, MD, is an associate professor of otolaryngology and holds an adjunct appointment in Speech and Hearing Sciences. He is an affiliate of the VMBHRC and a member of the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Horn’s Lab, the Prosthetic Auditory Development Lab, studies how infants with cochlear implants develop auditory acuity. He is currently PI on one NIDCD R01 and Co-I on another NIDCD R01 with colleagues at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. Horn also serves at the co-director of the Seattle Children’s Hospital Cochlear Implant Program, which consolidates his clinical and research interests.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH MENTORS:

Alberto Aliseda, PhD, is the PACCAR Endowed Professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Aliseda studies the role of fluid mechanics in human physiology and disease.

Sarah Benki-Nugent, PhD, is a clinical assistant professor in global health& who studies the impact of infectious pathogens and environmental exposures on neurodevelopmental outcomes in children in resource limited settings, considering impacts on hearing. Her research is supported by NIH R01 funding.

James T. Bennett, MD, PhD, is an associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Genetic Medicine, and investigator at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute. His lab studies mosaic mutations in pediatric vascular malformations, which can impact communication. He is PI on R01 and P01 grants to discover somatic mutations, working collaboratively with Dr. Perkins.

Slobodan Beronja, PhD, is an associate professor at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and an affiliate assistant professor in the UW Departments of Oral Health Sciences, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, and Biochemistry. He studies how stem cell renewal and differentiation contribute to cutaneous and head and neck squamous cell cancer using patient-derived xenografts and mouse models, with NIH R01 funding.

Andrew Brown, PhD, is an associate professor in speech and hearing sciences whose research addresses binaural hearing in normal and hard of hearing listeners, including those with cochlear implants. He has had R-level funding from the NIDCD and is seeking new funding. Dr. Brown is a new Preceptor in our Program.

Shyamnath Gollakota, PhD, is the Thomas J. Cable Endowed Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. He works across machine learning, signal processing and hardware to build intelligent systems to address important medical conditions. His group has created computing tools for ear infection testing using smartphones and newborn hearing screening using earbuds.

Holly Ruth Harris, MPH, SCD, is an associate professor of epidemiology in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Dr. Harris is a cancer and nutritional epidemiologist conducting analyses on dietary risk factors for oral cancer in collaboration with head and neck surgeon Dr. Brittany Barber in Oto-HNS.

Mary-Claire King, PhD, is a professor of medical genetics and an affiliate of the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center. Dr. King discovers and characterizes genes responsible for complex human conditions. Since 1991, she has carried out NIH-supported research to define genes responsible for human hearing loss. She is active in graduate education in the Department of Genome Sciences and as Associate Director of the Medical Sciences Training Program.

Yoshiko Kojima, PhD, is a research assistant professor in Oto-HNS who studies compensatory saccades, a part of a central vestibular rehabilitation process that improves visual acuity and suppresses oscillopsia, in non-human primates under support of NIH grants.

Bonnie K. Lau, PhD, is a research assistant professor in Oto-HNS who studies auditory brain and perceptual development, with a focus on deaf and hard of hearing and autistic children with NIH funding.

David Perkel, PhD, is a professor in the departments of Biology and Oto-HNS. He co-directs the UW Auditory Neuroscience Training Program (ANTG) T32 Program for PhD predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees. Dr. Perkel studies the cellular mechanisms underlying learning and production of vocal signals, with the goal of linking cellular and synaptic events with behavior, supported by NIH grants. He also studies mechanisms of bipedal upright posture in birds.

Jonathan A. Perkins, DO, is a professor in Oto-HNS and an investigator at the Seattle Children's Research Institute. He studies molecular genetics of vascular and lymphatic anomaly diagnosis and pathophysiology, which impact communication.

James O. Phillips, PhD, is a research professor in Oto-HNS and affiliate of the VMBHRC, National Primate Research Center, and Institute on Human Development and Disability. Dr. Phillips’ laboratory studies development and adaptation of vestibular and oculomotor function and development of vestibular implants, with NIH support.

Paul Phillips, PhD, is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences who investigates the role of dopamine transmission in normal and pathological mental function under support from the NIH.

David W. Raible, PhD, is the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Professor of Basic Hearing Science, and professor of otolaryngology and biological structure. He studies hair cell death and regeneration in the zebrafish lateral line system, using genetics, small molecule screening and live imaging techniques.

Cristina Rodriguez, MD, is a professor of medicine in the Division of Oncology. She is a principal investigator for National Clinical Trials Network studies and industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated studies. Her interests involve novel therapeutics in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and rare head and neck cancers.

Eric J. Siebel, PhD, is a research professor in mechanical engineering with expertise in conceiving and managing novel endoscope development projects. His work is funded by the NSF and NIH.

Ruikang Wang, PhD, is a professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington with a joint appointment in ophthalmology. He has a long research history in designing and implementing OCT systems for biomedical applications in the brain, eye, ear, and skin.

Edward M. Weaver, MD, MPH, was the co-director of the T32 research training program from 2015-2024. He is a professor of otolaryngology-HNS and director of the Oto-HNS Outcomes Research Group. His research interests are in clinical epidemiology, health services research, and outcomes research of Oto-HNS, with a focus on obstructive sleep apnea. He has been funded by the NIH, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, other federal grants, foundation grants, institutional support, and gifts.

Mark E. Whipple, MD, MS, is an associate professor in Oto-HNS and bioinformatics and is assistant dean for curriculum in the School of Medicine. Dr. Whipple studies probabilistic models and uses machine learning techniques and big data to study various topics, including use of recorded voice data to enhance the diagnosis of laryngeal disorders.