Who is the ABOHNS?

Board of Directors 2022

Board of Directors

The ABOHNS Board of Directors helps establish the strategic direction and sets the policies that guide the board in all its activities. Members are elected by the board based on personal qualities, leadership abilities, collegiality, previous engagement with the ABOHNS activities and initiatives, as well as geography and diversity. Each member lends their unique expertise and experience to the leadership of the board, serving and working in tandem with standing committees including Credentials and Ethics, Exam, Continuing Certification, Information and Liaison, Finance, Audit, Education, and Strategic Planning. The board of directors is comprised of 18 directors and each is eligible to serve two consecutive five-year terms. All directors serve as volunteers, except for a few that receive a small honorarium based on the large amount of work required to fulfill their roles and responsibilities.

Board of Directors

C. Gaelyn Garrett, MD, MMHC, President
Nashville, Tennessee

Jeffrey M. Bumpous, MD, President-Elect
Louisville, Kentucky

Kathleen C. Y. Sie, MD, Past-President
Seattle, Washington

Ronald B. Kuppersmith, MD, MBA, Treasurer
College Station, Texas

John P. Carey, MD
Baltimore, Maryland

Edward H. Farrior, MD
Tampa, Florida

Howard W. Francis, MD, MBA
Durham, North Carolina

Marlan R. Hansen, MD
Iowa City, Iowa

Sonya Malekzadeh, MD
Washington, DC

Bradley Marple, MD
Dallas, Texas

Andrew H. Murr, MD
San Francisco, California

Cherie-Ann O. Nathan, MD
Shreveport, Louisiana

Krishna G. Patel, MD, PhD
Charleston, South Carolina

Jennifer Parker Porter, MD
Bethesda, Maryland

Timothy L. Smith, MD, MPH
Portland, Oregon

Travis Tollefson, MD, MPH
Sacramento, California

Gregory J. Wiet, MD
Columbus, Ohio

Physician Volunteers

The ABOHNS physician volunteers serve in a combination of appointed and elected positions, lending their experience and skills to many board-related functions and initiatives. The Oral Exam process in particular, so vital to the board’s mission, is made possible by the hard work and dedication of our leadership team and more than 200 volunteers. Most volunteers begin their experience with the ABOHNS as Item Writers, and from there have the opportunity to serve as Oral Examiners, Senior Examiners, committee and task force members, as well as members of the board of directors.

Senior Councilors

The ABOHNS Senior Councilors are distinguished volunteers who have completed their terms of service on the board of directors. While no specific duties are associated with this honorary position, Senior Councilors have gained a deep understanding of the purpose, goals, and values of the board through their many years of involvement with board activities at every level of the organization, and are available to provide strategic advice and consultation.

Senior Councilors
Byron J. Bailey, MD Galveston, Texas	Gerald S. Berke, MD Pacific Palisades, California
C. Ron Cannon, MD Brandon, MIssissippi	Robert W. Cantrell, MD Charlottesville, Virginia
Richard A. Chole, MD, Ph.D St. Louis, Missouri	Roger L. Crumley, MD, MBA Orange, California
Charles W. Cummings, MD Baltimore, Maryland	Ramon M. Esclamado, MD, MS Durham, North Carolina
David W. Eisele, MD Baltimore, Maryland	Willard E. Fee, Jr., MD Redwood City, California
Ellen M. Friedman, MD Houston, Texas	Bruce J. Gantz, MD Iowa City, Iowa
A. Julianna Gulya, MD Locust Grove, Virginia	James A. Hadley, MD Naples, Florida
Gerald B. Healy, MD Wellesley, Massachusetts	Peter A. Hilger, MD Edina, Minnesota
G. Richard Holt, MD, MPH, MABE, DBE San Antonio, Texas	Michael E. Johns, MD Atlanta, Georgia
Herbert C. Jones, MD Atlanta, Georgia	Paul R. Lambert, MD Charleston, South Carolina
Wayne F. Larrabee, Jr., MD Seattle, Washington	Paul A. Levine, MD Charlottesville, Virginia
Jesus E. Medina, MD Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	Robert H. Miller, MD, MBA Houston, Texas
Richard T. Miyamoto, MD Indianapolis, Indiana	Eugene N. Myers, MD Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
H. Bryan Neel, III, MD, Ph.D Rochester, Minnesota	Robert H. Ossoff, MD, DMD Nashville, Tennessee
Ira D. Papel, MD Baltimore, Maryland	Stephen S. Park, MD Charlottesville, Virginia
Harold C. Pillsbury, III, MD Chapel Hill, North Carolina	John S. Rhee, MD, MPH Milkwaukee, Wisconsin
Robert J. Ruben, MD Bronx, New York	David E. Schuller, MD Columbus, Ohio
Clough Shelton, MD Salt Lake City, Utah	Michael G. Stewart, MD, MPH New York, New York
M. Eugene Tardy, Jr., MD Naples, Florida	Steven A. Telian, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan
James N. Thompson, MD Davidson, North Carolina	Dean M. Toriumi, MD Chicago, Illinois
Neil O. Ward, MD Phoenix, Arizona	Randal S. Weber, MD Houston, Texas
Mark C. Weissler, MD Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Gayle E. Woodson, MD Merritt Island, Florida

Exam Council Members

The ABOHNS Exam Council is composed of volunteers who lend their diverse personal and professional experience to preparation and administration of exams, as well as development of exam content. Members of the Exam Council are elected, and those who serve are eligible for nomination to be a director. There are 51 Exam Council positions and the group has representation from all specialty practice areas. Each Exam Council member serves a three-year term, with up to two consecutive terms permitted.

Exam Council Members
Moises A. Arriaga, MD, MBA Marrero, Louisiana	Nikolas H. Blevins, MD Stanford, California
Jonathan Bock, MD Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Trinitia Y. Cannon, MD Durham, North Carolina
Rakesh Chandra, MD, MMHC Nashville, Tennessee	David H. Chi, MD Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
John J. Chrisophel, MD Charlottesville, Virginia	Robert H. Chun, MD Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Joseph M. Clark, MD Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Chris Discolo, MD, MSCR Indianapolis, Indiana
Marc Dubin, MD Towson, MD	Eric J. Dobratz, MD Norfolk, Virginia
Carole Fakhry, MD MPH Baltimore, Maryland	David O. Francis, MD Madison Wisconsin
Alexander Gelbard, MD Nashville, Tennessee	Paul W. Gidley, MD Houston Texas
Steven Goudy, MD Atlanta, Georgia	Jed Grisel, MD Wichita Falls, TX
Nathan W. Hales, MD San Antonio, Texas	Amy C. Hessel, MD Houston, Texas
Brandon Isaacson, MD Dallas, Texas	Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH Cincinnati, Ohio
Gina Jefferson, MD, MS Jackson, MS	Stephanie A. Joe, MD Chicago, Illinois
Michael M. Johns, III, MD Los Angeles, California	Romaine F. Johnson, MD, MPH Irving, Texas
Lamont Jones, MD, MBA Detroit, MI	Joseph E. Kerschner, MD Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Brad Kesser, MD Charlottesville, VA	Samir S. Khariwala, MD Edina, Minnesota
P. Daniel Knott, MD San Francisco, California	Greg A. Krempl, MD Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
John D. Kriet, MD Kansas City, Kansas	Charles Limb, MD San Francisco, California
Robin W. Lindsay, MD Winchester, Massachusetts	Amber U. Luong, MD, Ph.D Houston, Texas
Chris McMains, MD San Antonio, TX	Anna H. Messner, MD Houston, Texas
Tanya K. Meyer, MD Seattle, Washington	Jeffrey S. Moyer, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan
Shawn D. Newlands, MD, Ph.D, MBA Rochester, New York	Johns S. Oghalai, MD Los Angeles, California
Julina Ongkasuwan, MD Houston, Texas	Ashli K. O'Rourke, MD Charleston, South Carolina
Alpen Patel, MD Baltimore, Maryland	Dennis S. Poe, MD, Ph.D Boston, Massachusetts
David Poetker, MD, MA Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Diego A. Preciado, MD, Ph.D Washington, DC
Ravi N. Samy, MD Cincinnati, Ohio	Gavin Setzen, MD Albany, New York
Jennifer Shin, MD, SM Boston, Massachusetts	Taha Z. Shipchandler, MD Indianapolis, Indiana
Richard V. Smith, MD Bronx, New York	Masayoshi Takashima, MD Houston, Texas
Theodoros N. Teknos, MD Cleveland, Ohio	Marc C. Thorne, MD, MPH Ann Arbor, Michigan
Elizabeth Toh, MD Burlington, MA	George Wanna, MD New York, New York
David R. White, MD Charleston, South Carolina	Catherine P. Winslow, MD Carmel, Indiana
Sarah Wise, MD Atlanta, GA	Troy Woodard, MD Cleveland, Ohio
Charles Woodard, MD Durham, NC	Wendell G. Yarbrough, MD, MMHC Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Oral Examiners

The ABOHNS Oral Examiners perform the essential role of conducting the Oral Certifying Examinations, which all Otolaryngologist - Head and Neck Surgeons are required to pass to become board certified (see About Our Certifications). During an Exam administration, Oral Examiners spend two days administering the Exam to candidates, and an additional half-day of training and review of protocols. More than 200 Oral Examiners help administer the Oral Certifying Exam each year and their dedicated involvement is critical to the success of the certification process. Oral Examiners are appointed by the board of directors from nominations received as well as a review of all eligible volunteers based on prior service to the ABOHNS.

Item Writers

The ABOHNS Item Writers are members of either the Task Force for New Materials or Complex Pediatric Otolaryngology Item Writing Workgroup. These volunteers are essential contributors to the exam process. Appointed by the board of directors, they create, review, and revise the multiple choice questions used for the resident inservice exams, written qualifying exams, and continuing certification assessments (see About Our Certifications). Item Writers submit questions monthly for six-months each year during their three-year term. More than 70 Item Writers are active at any given time.

2023-2024 Item Writers
Al-Waleed Abuzeid, MD Seattle, Washington	Meredith Adams, MD Minneapolis, Minnesota	Omar Ahmed, MD Houston, Texas
Elton Ashe-Lambert, MD Houston, Texas	Karthik Balakrishnan, MD Stanford, California	Fuad Baroody, MD Chicago, Illinois
Rodrigo Bayon, MD Iowa City, Iowa	Deidra Blanks, MD Fayetteville, North Carolina	Selena Briggs, MD Washington, D.C.
Marisa Buchakjian, MD Iowa City, Iowa	Neal Burkhalter, MD West Columbia, South Carolina	Matthew Bush, MD Lexington, Kentucky
Anna Butrymowicz, MD San Francisco, California	Clarice Clemmens, MD Charleston, South Carolina	Shelagh Cofer, MD Rochester, Minnesota
Christine DeMason, MD Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Karuna Dewan, MD Shreveport, Louisiana	Christine Dinh, MD Miami, Florida
Erynne Faucett, MD Sacramento, California	Valerie Flanary, MD Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Jamie Funamura, MD Sacramento, California
Laura Garcia-Rodriguez, MD Detroit, Michigan	Soha Ghossaini, MD Flushing, New York	Jonathan Grischkan, MD Columbus, Ohio
Nidhi Gupta, MD Baltimore, Maryland	Michael Harris, MD Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Angela Haskins, MD Houston, Texas
Paul Hoff, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan	Matthew Hoffman, MD Salt Lake City, Utah	David Horn, MD Seattle, Washington
Agnes Hurtuk, MD Maywood, Illinois	Wen Jiang, MD San Diego, California	Andrew Johnson, MD Annapolis, Maryland
David Kent, MD Nashville, Tennessee	Sung-Won Kim, MD Olympia, Washington	Erin Kirkham, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan
Robbi Kupfer, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan	Claire Lawlor, MD Washington, D.C.	Meredith Lind, MD Columbus, Ohio
Che Liu, MD Tucson, Arizona	Catherine Lumley, MD Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Kimberly Luu, MD San Francisco, California
Benjamin Malkin, MD Oakland, California	Amy Manning, MD Columbus, Ohio	Alison Maresh, MD New York, New York
Alexander Marston, MD Boston, Massachusetts	Jessica Maxwell, MD Washington, District of Columbia	Margo McKenna, MD Rochester, New York
David Melon, MD Hickory, North Carolina	Matthew Miller, MD Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Mia Miller, MD Los Angeles, California
Chris Miyamoto, MD Indianapolis, Indiana	Michael Moore, MD Indianapolis, Indiana	Robert Morrison, MD Ann Arbor, Michigan
Henry Ou, MD Seattle, Washington	Lewis Overton, MD Raleigh, North Carolina	Sam Oyer, MD Charlottesville, Virginia
Reema Padia, MD Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Nathan Page, MD Phoenix, Arizona	Andrea Park, MD San Francisco, California
Priyesh Patel, MD Nashville, Tennessee	Sapna Patel, MD Atlanta, Georgia	Rusha Patel, MD Morgantown, West Virginia
Yash Patil, MD Cincinnati, Ohio	Prasanth Pattisapu, MD Columbus, Ohio	Brian Perry, MD San Antonio, Texas
Anette Pham, MD Rockville, Maryland	Angela Powell, MD Plattsburgh, New York	Karthik Rajasekaran, MD Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Yin Ren, MD Columbus, Ohio	Ryan Rimmer, MD New Haven, Connecticut	Sarah Rohde, MD Nashville, Tennessee
Lauren Roland, MD San Francisco, California	Adam Rubin, MD Saint Clair Shores, Michigan	Babak Sadoughi, MD New York, New York
Breanne Schiffer, MD Salt Lake City, Utah	Minka Schofield, MD Gahanna, Ohio	Melissa Scholes, MD Jackson, Mississippi
Jeff Sharon, MD San Francisco, California	Jigar Sitapara, MD Bethesda, Maryland	David Smith, MD Cincinnati, Ohio
Jessica Smyth, MD Fort Bragg, North Carolina	Charles Stewart, MD Owing Mills, Maryland	Marita Teng, MD New York, New York
Kathleen Tibbetts, MD Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Julia Toman, MD Tampa, Florida	Ozlem Tulunay-Ugar, MD Little Rock, Arkansas
Seckin Ulualp, MD Dallas, Texas	Jennifer Villwock, MD Kansas City, Kansas	Esther Vivas, MD Atlanta, Georgia
Heather Weinreich, MD Chicago, Illinois	Mitchell Worley, MD Spartanburg, South Carolina	Shiayin Yang, MD Nashville, Tennessee
Michael Yim, MD Shreveport, Louisiana	Yu-Lan (Mary) Ying, MD Neward, New Jersey	Joe Zenga, MD Wawatosa, Wisconsin

Staff

Our staff members are here to support physicians and uphold our mission. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions you may have.

Administration

**Brian Nussenbaum, MD, MHCM**
*Executive Director*
bn@abohns.org

**Steve Telian, MD**
*Associate Executive Director*
sat@abohns.org

**Diana Harrell**
*Administrator*
dlh@abohns.org

**Michelle Ortiz**
*Administrative Assistant*
mo@abohns.org

**Carla Medlenka**
*Communications Specialist*
cam@abohns.org

**Giovanni Pedroza**
*Director of IT*
gp@abohns.org

Exam Development

**Heather Burnett**
*Senior Content Coordinator*
hib@abohns.org

**Catherine Landicho**
*Content Coordinator*
cvl@abohns.org

Training Programs / Otolaryngology Training Exam

**Shannon Lamkin**
*Senior Resident Coodinator*
sll@abohns.org

Primary & Subspecialty Certification

**Rosa La Neve**
*Certification Coordinator*
rml@abohns.org

**Aliyah Forte**
*Subspecialty Coordinator / Continuing Certification*
abf@abohns.org

Continuing Certification

**Amar Preet, MBA, MHA**
*Continuing Certification Specialist*
ap@abohns.org

**Nikki Ladet**
*Certification Specialist*
nl@abohns.org

Group