Dr Babak Azizzadeh is the clinical chief of the division of Otolaryngology/facial plastic surgery at Cedars-Sinai and an Associate Clinical Professor at UCLA with a clinical focus on deep plane facelifts, facial reanimation, and rhinoplasty. After completing his fellowship at Harvard Medical School, Dr Azizzadeh joined Cedars-Sinai and developed multiple healthcare ventures dedicated to improving people’s lives through state-of-the-art medical care, clinical trials, advanced research, education, and patient empowerment entrepreneurship. Dr Azizzadeh is also the co-founder of Persana, an on-demand telemedicine aesthetic platform.  

For over two decades, Dr Azizzadeh has undertaken pro-bono surgeries in developing nations with Global Smile Foundation. Dr Azizzadeh's commitment extends beyond borders, as he serves on the boards of the Global Smile Foundation and the Facial Paralysis & Bell’s Palsy Foundation, advocating for those in need worldwide. Dr Azizzadeh has been featured on Oprah, NY Times, CBS Mornings, Doctors, CNN, People, and other media outlets. He has been chosen by his peers, Newsweek, and US News & World as one of the top physicians, and he treats dignitaries and heads of state worldwide. Dr Azizzadeh has been the organizer and invited keynote speaker at numerous national and international meetings and the lead editor of multiple plastic surgery textbooks. Dr Azizzadeh co-chairs the annual Cedars-Sinai Multispecialty Plastic Surgery Symposium. He is a board member of the California Society of Facial Plastic Surgery and the American Academy of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS). Dr Azizzadeh is also the co-director of the AAFPRS Fellowship Program and is involved in multiple leadership committees. He is the western regional director of the AAFPRS and President of the Sir Charles Bell Society. 

Dr Azizzadeh received his undergraduate and medical degrees from UCLA and completed his fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

Professor Bance was the inaugural Professor of Otology and Skull Base Surgery at the University of Cambridge, starting in 2017. Prior to that he was Professor and Chair of the Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Dalhousie University in Canada. He completed his residency in Toronto and UCLA in 1995, followed by a skull base fellowship in Manchester with Professor Ramsden.

Professor Bance is a clinician-scientist, and currently runs the SENSE lab at the University of Cambridge, as well as being very clinically active in all aspects of tertiary care otology.  He has supervised numerous clinical Fellows in Toronto, Halifax  and in Cambridge UK, as well has many PhD students and Postdocs.  His current research interests focus on cochlear implants, inner ear therapies and genetic hearing loss, and ear level wearables for health monitoring. Prior to this he ran a large middle ear mechanics and bone conduction hearing mechanics lab in Canada, as well as developing middle ear imaging tools using optical coherence tomography.

Professor Bance has published 236  peer reviewed papers currently, and several book chapters. He is immediate past President of the section of Otology of the Royal Society of Medicine in the UK, is current Chair of the British Cochlear Implant Group (BCIG), and has received a life-time achievement award from the Canadian Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Dr Velda Chow is Consultant and Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the Department of Surgery in Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong. She is currently Chief of the Division of Head and Neck Surgery, and the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 

 

She graduated from The University of Hong Kong with an M.B.B.S. in 2005. She obtained F.C.S.H.K. in 2012. She pursued post graduate training in Head and Neck Surgery at the Department of Surgery in The University of Hong Kong. She subsequently sub-specialized in head and neck oncology surgery. She obtained the degree of Master of Surgery from The University of Hong Kong in 2015.

 

Dr Chow’s clinical and research work is on pharyngo-esophageal cancer treatment, management of complex pharyngo-esophageal defects and swallowing outcomes. She is also interested in the management of nasopharyngeal tumours and applications of robotic surgery in the head and neck region. 

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She is currently a member of the Head and Neck Cancer International Group Guidelines and Protocols Committee, Hong Kong Nasopharyngeal Cancer Study Group, as well as Past President of the Hong Kong Head and Neck Society. 

Derek J. Lam MD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Oregon Health and Science University. He completed his medical school, residency, and Masters of Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle and a Pediatric Otolaryngology fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Lam is a clinician-scientist and studies the diagnosis and surgical management of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea, supported by two R61/R33 grants through the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. His other clinical interests include dysphagia management, airway reconstruction, and surgical management of adult sleep apnea, including upper airway stimulation.

Darlene Lubbe is an Associate Professor in the Division of Otolaryngology at Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, South Africa.  Her main interest is endoscopic sinus, skull base and transorbital surgery.

 

She currently runs the Karl Storz training programme in endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery for Sub-Saharan Africa. She has published 56 articles in peer reviewed journals and authored 10 book chapters on transorbital surgery.  She is also a co-inventor of the Trachealator non-occlusive airway balloon for the management of tracheal stenosis. This device was the Gold winner at the Medical Design Excellence awards in the USA in 2021.

Shazia is an Associate Professor in the Division of Otolaryngology, at the University of Cape Town, and is the Head of Paediatric Otolaryngology services at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. After completing a 2-year Paediatric Otolaryngology fellowship at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, Canada, she returned to Cape Town and has since established the Paediatric Reconstructive Airway Surgery Team, a multidisciplinary group of sub-specialists committed to advancing paediatric airway management in sub Saharan Africa. Shazia is the program director of the first paediatric ENT fellowship in Sub Saharan Africa, now in its 6th year. She is also the chair of PENTAfrica (Paediatric ENT society in Africa), and the founder of C.A.P.E (Centre for Advanced Paediatric ENT). Shazia started RRPAfrica.org, a web-based advocacy project aimed at raising awareness for HPV vaccination programmes in Africa to prevent the next generation of juvenile respiratory papillomatosis. Shazia is a leading voice and advocate for ENT-related conditions affecting African children.