Who is the ABOHNS?

BOD 2024

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

Jeffrey M. Bumpous, MD, President
Louisville, Kentucky

Ronald B. Kuppersmith, MD, MBA, President-Elect
College Station, Texas

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

Jennifer Parker Porter, MD, Treasurer
Bethesda, Maryland

John P. Carey, MD
Baltimore, Maryland

David O. Francis, MD, MS
Madison, Wisconsin

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

Marlan R. Hansen, MD
Iowa City, Iowa

Sonya Malekzadeh, MD
Washington, District of Columbia

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

Diego A. Preciado, MD, PhD
Washington, District of Columbia

Gavin Setzen, MD
Albany, New York

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	Edward H. Farrior, MD Tampa, Florida
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
Kathleen C. Y. Sie, MD Seattle, Washington	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. This 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, LA	Meredith Adams, MD Minneapolis, MN
Yuri Agrawal, MD Aurora, CO	Christina Baldassari, MD Norfolk, VA
Deidra Blanks, MD Fayetteville, NC	Jonathan Bock, MD Milwaukee, WI
Anthony Brissett, MD Houston, TX	Gretchen Champion, MD Allen, TX
Swapna Chandran, MD Louisville, KY	Rakesh Chandra, MD, MMHC Nashville, TN
David H. Chi, MD Pittsburgh, PA	Robert H. Chun, MD Milwaukee, WI
Joseph M. Clark, MD Chapel Hill, NC	Chris Discolo, MD, MSCR Indianapolis, IN
Marc Dubin, MD Towson, MD	Carole Fakhry, MD MPH Baltimore, MD
Alexander Gelbard, MD Nashville, TN	Paul W. Gidley, MD Houston TX
Steven Goudy, MD Atlanta, GA	Jed Grisel, MD Wichita Falls, TX
Samuel Gubbels, MD Aurora, CO	Nathan W. Hales, MD San Antonio, TX
Amy C. Hessel, MD Houston, TX	Brandon Isaacson, MD Dallas, TX
Stacey L. Ishman, MD, MPH Cincinnati, OH	Gina Jefferson, MD, MS Jackson, MS
Michael M. Johns, III, MD Los Angeles, CA	Romaine F. Johnson, MD, MPH Irving, TX
Lamont Jones, MD, MBA Detroit, MI	Brad Kesser, MD Charlottesville, VA
Samir S. Khariwala, MD Edina, MN	P. Daniel Knott, MD San Francisco, CA
Greg A. Krempl, MD Oklahoma City, OK	J. Walter Kutz, MD Dallas, TX
Walter Lee, MD Durham, NC	Amber U. Luong, MD, Ph.D Houston, TX
Richard Manes, MD New Haven, CT	Benjamin Marcus, MD Madison, WI
Chris McMains, MD San Antonio, TX	Anna H. Messner, MD Houston, TX
Tanya K. Meyer, MD Seattle, WA	Stephanie Misono, MD Minneapolis, MN
Sarah Mowry, MD Cleveland, OH	Jeffrey S. Moyer, MD Ann Arbor, MI
Shawn D. Newlands, MD, Ph.D, MBA Rochester, NY	Krista Olson, MD Houston, TX
Julina Ongkasuwan, MD Houston, TX	Ashli K. O'Rourke, MD Charleston, SC
Alpen Patel, MD Baltimore, MD	David Poetker, MD, MA Milwaukee, WI
Brianne Roby, MD Saint Paul, MN	Ravi N. Samy, MD Cincinnati, OH
Jennifer Shin, MD, SM Boston, MA	Taha Z. Shipchandler, MD Indianapolis, IN
Richard V. Smith, MD Bronx, NY	Masayoshi Takashima, MD Houston, TX
Marc C. Thorne, MD, MPH Ann Arbor, MI	Elizabeth Toh, MD Burlington, MA
Catherine P. Winslow, MD Carmel, IN	Sarah Wise, MD Atlanta, GA
Troy Woodard, MD Cleveland, OH	Charles Woodard, MD Durham, NC
Wendell G. Yarbrough, MD, MMHC Chapel Hill, NC	Jose Zevallos, MD Pittsburgh, PA

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 the Task Force for New Materials. 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 ABOHNS assessments (see About Our Certifications). Item Writers serve on the Task Force for new materials for a three year term.

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	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	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	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
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

**Marisa Zarate**
*Administrative Assistant*
mmz@abohns.org

**Michelle Ortiz**
*Administrative Coordinator*
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