Buchman named new head of otolaryngology​

Buchman

Craig A. Buchman, MD, a nationally recognized leader in otolaryngology and head and neck surgery, has been named the Lindburg Professor and head of the Department of Otolaryngology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The appointment was announced by Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.

Buchman comes to the university from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he served as vice chair of the Department of Otolaryngology. He replaces Richard A. Chole, MD, PhD, who, after leading the department for 17 years, is stepping down to focus on research and patient care.

“I am confident that under Craig’s leadership, the Department of Otolaryngology will continue to grow as it has for nearly two decades under Rick Chole,” Shapiro said. “I thank Rick for his distinguished service and vision for the department and look forward to Craig continuing to guide the department along paths to clinical, educational and research
excellence.”

Said Buchman: “I am honored to be chosen to lead this department. I look forward to working with the outstanding faculty and continuing the legacy of excellence that has been cultivated by Richard Chole.”

Buchman’s clinical and research interests span otology, neurotology, and skull base surgery, including acoustic tumors, cochlear implants and hearing preservation in the management of disease. His research program includes clinical trials investigating outcomes, in adults and children, following cochlear implant and auditory brainstem implant surgery.His work is supported by major grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as private foundations and industry partners. He holds a number of U.S., European and Canadian patents.

Buchman began his academic career at the University of Miami School of Medicine. He later joined the faculty at North Carolina, where he led the Ear & Hearing Center and served as medical director of the Carolina Children’s Communicative Disorders Program and chief of the Division of Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery. He was named vice chairman for clinical affairs in 2008 and the Harold C. Pillsbury Distinguished Professor in 2012.

In addition to his active research program, Buchman is a leader in his field in education and training, teaching numerous courses
nationally and internationally, including many with a focus on temporal bone and lateral skull base surgery dissection. He has been a senior and certifying examiner for the American Board of Otolaryngology. He served on the Otology Neurotology Education Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation, on the Education Task Force on New Materials for the American Board of Otolaryngology, and as continuing education faculty for the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.

Buchman also chairs the implantable hearing devices committee for the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and represents the organization on the Joint Commission on Infant Hearing (JCIH). He has served in leadership positions for the American Cochlear Implant Alliance, William House Cochlear Implant Study Group, the American Laryngological, Otological and Rhinological Society, the American Neurotology Society and the American Otological Society. He is a past president of the North Carolina Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

He has authored hundreds of scientific publications, including book chapters, abstracts and more than 140 articles in peer-reviewed
scientific journals. He serves as an associate editor of JAMA-Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery and has served on the editorial boards
of numerous journals.

Of his accomplishments, Buchman is perhaps most proud of the impact he has made on his patients’ lives. In recognition of the development of a comprehensive Ear & Hearing program and for personally placing more than 1,000 cochlear implants over the last 15 years, he received the 2014 Ling Award, which is given by the North Carolina chapter of the Alexander Graham Bell Association to
recognize the lasting impact of this work on the lives of the deaf and hard of hearing.

Buchman earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Georgia in 1986 and a medical degree from the University of Florida in 1990. After a surgical internship at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he continued his training there with a research fellowship in otolaryngology, followed by an otolaryngology residency. He also completed a surgical fellowship in otology, neurotology and skull base surgery at the House Ear Institute and Clinic in Los Angeles.


Washington University School of Medicine’s 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient-care institutions in the nation, currently ranked sixth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.