AHNS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Division

I am honored and excited to be the inaugural chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Division, and am happy to work with Dr. Melonie Nance as Vice-Chair. The Division includes the following services: International Advisory Service, Diversity Service, Young Members Service, Global Outreach Service, Women in HNS Service, Membership and Credentials Service. The mission of this Division is to advance Education, Research, Quality of Care, and Community Outreach for the head and neck oncology patients and clinicians with empathy, equity, and inclusion.

At the recent Executive Committee Retreat, we discussed many ways to broaden the reach of AHNS by increasing inclusion through the organization. From webinars to leadership appointments, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Division will champion transparency and advocate for processes to increase the breadth and depth of involvement of all members, including the pipeline to leadership.

This Division will continue to lead the AHNS Mentorship program which is open to all AHNS members. Exciting enhancements to the International Advisory Service are planned. We are also examining substantive changes to integrating our multidisciplinary colleagues in AHNS. After all, our head and neck cancer patients are treated by a multidisciplinary team, our fellows are taught in a multidisciplinary clinical environment, and thus, AHNS is striving to be more multidisciplinary as well, while preserving our history of surgeons’ founding this society.

We are also looking to update the mission/values statement to align with its vision. It’s an exciting time to enhance many of the great things that AHNS 2.0 is already doing, and we are grateful to the AHNS leadership for this opportunity. More to come, and please contact Dr. Nance or me if you have comments and/or suggestions.

Amy Y. Chen, MD, MPH

AHNS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Division Chair

[email protected]

Melonie Nance, MD

AHNS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Division Vice-Chair

[email protected]

Update from the Cancer Prevention Service:

April is Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Month and we are proud to partner with the Head
and Neck Cancer Alliance (HNCA; www.headandneck.org) to spread the word about this year’s
annual Oral and Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week, April 3-9, 2022. All members are
encouraged to host a screening (COVID permitting) or awareness event within your community.

This year, as a part of this, Dr. Andrew Holcomb and members of the Cancer Prevention Service
have been working with Drs. Alex Malone and Samuel Frasier (AHNS Member), and the staff of
the HNCA, to create a mobile device Self-Exam App. This program provides the user with
information on risk factors, as well as signs and symptoms of head and neck cancer and will
walk them through how to perform their own self-exam. It is complete with a lesion library of
normal and abnormal findings and has resources for where to go if there is an area of concern.

In addition, a narrated HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer slide deck, led by Drs. Todd Brickman
and Geoffrey Young, was created, and features these CPS members along with Samer Al-
Khudari and Michael Moore. This 26-minute educational session outlines the epidemiology of
HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer and its typical presentation, as well as appropriate
treatment and associated side effects. Lastly, emphasis is placed on the use of HPV vaccination
as a means for disease prevention.

Finally, CPS Members Dr. Andrew Birkeland, Dr. Deepak Kademani, and Dr. Elizabeth Blair
have led the development of a survey that was disseminated to otolaryngologists and oral
surgeons to evaluated practice patterns for the assessment of oral leukoplakia. Survey results
have been studied and the manuscript is being prepared for submission.

Please reach out to us if you would like to partner on these or other efforts focused on the early
detection of prevention of head and neck cancer.

Sincerely,

Michael Moore, MD
Chair, Cancer Prevention Service

Ann Gillenwater, MD
Co-Chair, Cancer Prevention Service