Dr. Simon Best
USA
M.D. - 1982 - Universidad Libre Barranquilla, Colombia ENT (Otolaryngologist) - 1987 - University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica Fellowship in Otology - 1988 - Bordeaux University, France Mini Fellowship in Laryngology - 2012 - Emory University, USA
Dr. Antonio Ballestas is an ENT surgeon with more than 30 years of experience providing care to his patients. He founded Voicefem - Voice Feminization Colombia in 2014, pioneering voice feminization surgery in Latin America with a modified Wendler Glottoplasty technique, changing the lives of hundreds of patients.
Dr. Ballestas completed his residency in 1987 in University of Costa Rica and his fellowship in 1988 in Bordeaux University in France. He completed a mini-fellowship in Laryngology in Emory University in 2012 and has been a visiting doctor at Harvard University (USA), Hospital San Lucas (Brasil) and Hospital Quiron (Spain).
Dr. Ballestas has published his work in the Journal of the Colombian Ear Nose and Throat society. His work has been presented in USA, Colombia, Brasil, Argentina and Germany among others. He has served as president of Colombia’s Atlantico Society of ENT.
Mr Chadwan Al Yaghchi is a consultant Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon with a subspecialist interest in adult and paediatric laryngology. He manages the full spectrum of laryngeal disorders including airway stenosis, voice disorders, swallowing difficulties. He completed his higher surgical training in Ear Nose and Throat in London North Thames regional rotation where he worked in some of the most prestigious teaching hospitals including Charing Cross Hospital, University College London Hospital and Royal London Hospital. His NHS practice is based at National Centre for Airway Reconstruction and Imperial Complex Laryngology service, Charing Cross Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Mr Al Yaghchi holds a PhD in Molecular Oncology from Queen Mary’s University of London with a special research interest in oncolytic viruses in head and neck cancers. In addition he has an active clinical research program in voice, airway and swallowing disorders.
Mr Al Yaghchi is a founding member of the British Laryngological Association and served on the council since 2013 and the associate honorary treasurer. He is a borad member of the UK Swallowing Reasearch Group and has served as a Vice president of the Royal Society of Medicine Section of Laryngology and Rhinology.
Mr Al Yaghchi developed a special interest in transgender healthcare during his time working at Charing Cross Hospital in close proximity to the Gender Identity Clinic in London. He went on to introduce a number of voice feminisation procedures to the UK. This included his own modification to the WendlerGlottoplasty technique, which has since become the preferred method for voice feminisation. Mr Al Yaghchi is a founding member of the International Association of TransVoice Surgeons.
Associate Professor Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Dr. Hakan Birkent is a graduate of Gulhane Military Medical School, Ankara, Turkey. He completed his residency programme at the Otorhinolaryngology&Head and Neck Surgery Department of Gulhane Military Medical Academy in 2002, and has trained in laryngology at the Otolaryngology Department of University of Washington in Seattle,WA,USA between 2007-2008. He had the degree of Associate Professor in 2010, and Full Professor in 2019. He is now seeing his patients at Liv Hospital and teaching his students at Fenerbahce University. Dr.Birkent has over 60 papers published and indexed in the medical literature. He has recently described a new surgical technique for voice feminization which is called as “Tensioning Glottoplasty”. He has participated in many otolaryngologic events as speaker and moderator including main international meetings all over the world. He is a member of the European Laryngological Society, and the Union of the Europian Phoniatricians. He is a nationally recognized speaker on his areas of expertise.
Hyung-Tae Kim, MD, PhD, is the adjunct professor at the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea, and the president of Yeson Voice Center, Seoul, South Korea. He is the founder and chairman of the board of the Korean Foundation for Voice of Performing Arts. He has developed the endoscopic voice feminization surgery: Vocal Fold Shortening with Retroplacementof Anterior Commissure(VFSRAC), and he has been involved in an international trans healthcare organization and is currently vice president of the Korea International Medical Association.
Dr Marc Remacle is an Emeritus Academic Professor of the faculty of Medecine at the University of Louvain, Belgium. He is consultant in the department of ORL and Head & Neck surgery of CHL, Luxembourg. He is also director of the Voice and swallowing center.
Dr Remacle chaired the joint commission of the Free University of Brussels and the Catholic University of Louvain for the master’s degree in Logopedics.
His interest in Laser surgery led him to contribute to the development of dedicated devices as the micromanipulator and microinstruments. He initiated the new scanner and the new robotic micromanipulator for laser- assisted incision and dissection. He contributed to the development of the Co2 laser wave-guide.
Together with his colleague Prof Georges Lawson, they have initiated the TORS in Belgium
He presented numerous communications and published papers mainly on laser-assisted microsurgery and microphonosurgery.
He organized the first European course on TORS in Head & Neck surgery in 2012
Later on, he developed the flex robotic system from Medrobotics,
He performed the first 2 procedures on Human for vocal fold lesions on June 16, 2016
He is an expert in voice feminization, practicing the Wendler glottoplasty for more than 15 years
He regularly takes part in International courses and conferences on laser microsurgery.
Markus Hess, MD, is a dedicated otolaryngologist and phoniatrician, subspecializing in laryngology, phonosurgery, and professional voice use. Since 1998 full professor position at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Phoniatrics. He is co-founder and Head of the first Voice Clinic in Germany since 2014, the MEDICAL VOICE CENTER in Hamburg.
He specialized in the care of the performing voice and the treatment of voice disorders. Dr. Hess brings a multidisciplinary approach to such patients as singers, actorsand public speakers. His surgical patients receive cutting-edge minimally invasive techniques in laryngeal microsurgery as well as office-based voice surgery in topical anesthesia. Dr. Hess has authored and co-authored over hundred peer-reviewed articles. Other positions comprise: chair of Pan European Conferences (PEVOC) since 2015, founding member of ‘German Society of Phonosurgery’, founder and Executive Board member of European Academy of Voice (EAV), Past-President of the international Collegium Medicorum Theatri (CoMeT) 2015-2018, Secretary General of International Association of Phonosurgery (IAP), co-founder and first president of the International Association of TransVoice Surgeons. He servesin multiple capacities on many international editorial and scientific boards and committees.Dr. Hess teaches regularly at national and international voice conferences and runs own courses in cutting-edge phonosurgery techniques.
James P. Thomas, M.D. subspecialized in laryngology in 1998. He enjoyed learning from pioneers in the field from Europe to China.
Known around the world for his YouTube channel, VOXDOC - the voicedoctor and website voicedoctor.net; offering referrals, photographs and video instruction on voice disorder diagnosis; for his teaching methods on diagnosing voice disorders and for his writing. His publication, “Why is there a frog in my throat? — A guide to hoarseness” offers young laryngologists insights into the function of the human vocal cords. Interactive teaching on diagnosis is online at https://www.voicedoctor.net/diagnosis
His controversial perspectives on the voice, including diagnosis by listening to the voice and the critisicm of overuse of anti-reflux medication in laryngology, lead to thoughtful discussion about the mechanisms of injury to the vocal cords. He has pioneered Feminization laryngoplasty, a transgender laryngeal surgery to alter comfortable speaking pitch and vocal range.
He has published in academic journals on denervation, reflux laryngitis (or lack thereof), spasmodic dysphonia treatment and transgender surgery. He has authored textbook chapters including the Nerurkar’s Laryngology, Salgado’s Gender Affirmation surgery, Prasad & Remacle’s Advances in neurolaryngology, Chandrsekar’s Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America Gender Affirmation in Otolaryngology: Compassion and Techniques.
Dr. Juan Carlos Casado Morente Medical Specialist in E.N.T. ENT Department in the Regional University Hospital "Reina Sofía" in Córdoba (1994-1997).
CURRENT PROFESSIONAL SITUATION:BOOK PUBLICATIONS:
1) The Clinical Evaluation of the Voice. Medical and speech therapy fundamentals.Kursat Yelken is a Professor of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery. He received his Laryngology training at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, and is a Fellow of the European Board of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery.
Prof. Dr. Kursat Yelken graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine in 2000. He became an ENT specialist with a thesis entitled ''a comparison of voices of singing students studying in different music types, by means of acoustic analysis'' in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Mehmet Kulekci in 2005.Prof. Dr. Yelken continued his academic career as a lecturer in Gaziosmanpasa University School of Medicine between 2006-2011. He was awarded with a scholarship from The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey and served as afellow at Harvard Medical School, MEEI Department of Laryngology between 2009-2010.
Prof. Dr. Kursat Yelken is an internationally well-known otolaryngologist. He publishedover 50 articles in international and national journals; continually gives lectures and makes presentations in international and national conferences.Located in Istanbul, Turkey, Prof. Yelken is known for his extensive research and studies in the field of voice disorders. Prof. Dr. Yelken has also received musical education and specialises in the acoustic analysis of professional sounds, especially for vocal artists. He is currentlyProfessor of Otolaryngology at Maltepe University Medicine Faculty, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey
Dr. Milind Kirtane is the Hon. Consulting ENT Surgeon at P. D. Hinduja National Hospital, Breach Candy Hospital, Saifee Hospital and Prince Ali Khan Hospital, Mumbai. He is Prof. Emeritus at Seth G. S. Medical College & KEM Hospital and is the Hon. ENT consultant to His Excellency The Governor of Maharashtra. He has been honoured with numerous awards, notably the Dr. R. A. F. Cooper Award of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India (AOI), Lifetime Achievement Award AOI, 2014, and the prestigious Dr. B. C. Roy award in the category of “Recognition of the best talents in encouraging the development of different branches of Medicine” in 2003. He was the first Indian to be elected to the Barany Society, Sweden. He received “Tato- Claussen Sponderpreis” award by the Japanese Neuro Equilibriometric Society for his work in Neuro-otology in 2002. He has been the Founder President of The Sinus Endoscopic Society of India, Past President of The Cochlear Implant Group of India and has been a member of the American Rhinology Society. He has authored books on endoscopic sinus surgery and has been the editor of a 6 volume textbook of otolaryngology. In recognition for his services in the healthcare sector he was awarded the PADMASHRI by the Govt. of India in 2014, The Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year award, and Times Health Care Achievers Award Mumbai in 2018for contribution to the field of Medicine. His main work today is in the field of Cochlear Implant surgery and he has performed more than 3000 surgeries. Dr Kirtane has mentored trainee surgeons from all over the country and helped them establish 30 such CI centres all over the country.
Prof. Dr. Dirk Mürbe is Professor for Audiology and Phoniatrics and head of the Department of Audiology and Phoniatrics at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
He studied medicine at the Universities of Rostock, Dublin and Dresden and graduated at the same time in vocal studies at the University of Music Dresden with an artistic diploma.
He is a specialist in Phoniatrics and Pedaudiology as well as in Otorhinolaryngology. He was appointed as Professor and head of the Division for Phoniatrics and Pedaudiology and the Saxonian Cochlear Implant Center at the TechnischeUniversität Dresden in 2010. Since 2018 he has been working as Professor, Head and Chairman for Audiology and Phoniatrics at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
His main focus is highly specialized phonosurgery and conservative treatment of patients with voice disorders, especially professional singers and actors. Another specialization is hearing with particular experience in musicians medicine. His research focuses on morphological and functional characteristics of professional voices.
Furthermore, for many years he has been working as head of the Voice research laboratory at the University of Music Dresden and lecturer at the University Mozarteum Salzburg.
Dr. Nupur Kapoor Nerurkar is an ENT surgeon, who has graduated in 1994 from KEM Hospital with a first rank in the Bombay University. Following her Laryngology training on the Hargobind Fellowship in 2003 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, she initiated a Voice Clinic at Sion Hospital, where she was an Associate Professor at that time.
Since 2004, she is practicing exclusively as a Laryngologist and is currently heading the Bombay Hospital Voice & Swallowing Center. Dr. Nerurkar is the DNB Co-ordinator of the ENT Department here, Director of the Laryngology Fellowship program and conducts annual Phonosurgery Workshops since the past 16 years.
Dr. Nerurkar is the only Indian to be a fellow of the American Broncho-Esophagological Association as well as the American Laryngological Association. She is an Executive Committee member of the International Association of Phonosurgeons, past President and Governing Council member of the Association of Phonosurgeons of India (APSI). She is a Founder and Board member of the International Association of Trans Voice Surgeons.
Nupur was awarded the prestigious David Howard prize in Laryngology 2012, the Gold medal and first prize in Junior Consultant Category and Video session at the National AOICON 2005, First prize in Phonocon 2006 and Senior Consultant Award AOICON 2007.
She is Chief Editor of the “Textbook of Laryngology” of the APSI, has authored “Atlas of Phonomicrosurgery” and is Associate Editor of the Laryngology Volume of “Otorhinolaryngology and H & N Series“. Dr. Nupur has over 100 publications and book chapters to her credit and has delivered over 250 presentations in India and Abroad.
Dr. Roychoudhary is the Professor and HOD department of ENT, Vivekananda Institute of medical Sciences, Kolkata. He is the President of the Association of Phonosurgeons of India (APSI). He is an expert laryngologist, Skull base surgeon and otologist and has been a mentor for many Cochlear implant programs all over the West Bengal and neighbouring states. He has authored several book chapters and articles in journals of repute and has been the co-editor of “Textbook of Laryngology”, the official textbook publication of the APSI.
Dr. Raman is a consultant ENT surgeon at Manipal hospital Bengaluru. His area of interest is pediatric airway and also skullbase surgeries. He has been invited for several prestigious international orations all over India and abroad. He also regularly conducts pediatric airway workshops. He is a member of the Aerospace Medicine Society of India and has received the Chief of Air Staff Silver medal.
Dr. Handa is the Chairman of ENT at MedantaMedicity, Gurgaon. Formerly an Associate Professor at AIIMS, Delhi, he has more than 27 years of experience and is an expert Cochlear implant surgeon and voice and laser surgeon. He is former President of the Association of Phonosurgeons of India and was the association’s Founder Secretary.