Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery was launched in 1993. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The fields of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery are divided into 11 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Journal's Section Editors for this issue. Section Editors Peter C. BelafskyPeter C. BelafskyDr Belafsky grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA. He graduated cum laude from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. After Vassar he completed a joint MD/MPH program from The Tulane University Medical School and the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, USA. He then completed his otolaryngology residency at Tulane and received a PhD in epidemiology from the Tulane University Graduate School. After his residency, Dr Belafsky attended Wake Forest University, USA, for a fellowship in laryngology and bronchoesophagology. He is now Director of the Center for Voice and Swallowing of the University of California at Davis in Sacramento, USA. Lisa BuckmillerLisa BuckmillerDr Lisa Buckmiller is an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, USA. She is the Vice-Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Arkansas Children's Hospital, USA. Dr Buckmiller completed her undergraduate training in molecular biology & biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA, and went on to do her medical training at the University of California, Irvine College of Medicine, USA, and her residency in otolaryngology at the University of California, Davis in Sacramento, USA. She then accomplished her fellowship training in pediatric otolaryngology at Arkansas Children's Hospital, and has continued on as faculty there since 2001. Dr Buckmiller is the director of two multidisciplinary teams, including the Cleft Lip & Palate Team as well as the Vascular Anomalies Team at Arkansas Children's Hospital. In 2005, she was awarded the Benjamin & Milton Endowed Chair in Pediatric Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery for her work to better the lives of children with facial deformities. She also is dedicated to serving overseas on medical missions several times a year and performs surgeries for both cleft lip and palate as well as hemangiomas and vascular malformations on these trips. She is board certified and is an active member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies, American Cleft Palate Association, and the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology. Dr Buckmiller's research interests are in the areas of vascular anomalies as well as treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency and primary rhinoplasty for cleft patients.