American Head & Neck Society

Advancing Education, Research, and Quality of Care for the Head and Neck oncology patient.

AHNS Research Announcements and Opportunities

The links below provide information about AHNS grants being offered to researchers, reports from those already funded, resources sponsored by AHNS or its members, new discoveries in clinical and basic science research pertinent to head and neck cancer along with information about grants from NIH, ACS and other sources.

Congratulations to Past AHNS Award Winners!

AHNS Pilot Grant
2024 – Radhika Duggal, MA
Entitled work: Targeting E6/E7 in HPV+ oropharyngeal cancer with therapeutic RNA nanovaccines
2023 – Farhoud Faraji, MD, PhD
Entitled work: Targeting novel YAP-driven oncogenic and immune evasive networks in HNSC

AHNS ENDOCRINE SURGERY SECTION ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association Award for Thyroid Cancer Research Grant
2024 – Radhika Duggal, MA
Entitled Work: Therapeutic personalized RNA-LPs for dab/tram-tolerant anaplastic thyroid cancer

AHNS Alando J. Ballantyne Resident Research Pilot Grant
2024 – Lauran Kazuko Evans, MD, MPH
Entitled Work: Cutaneous melanoma margin detection via Dynamic Optical Contrast Imaging

AHNS Alando J. Ballantyne Resident Research Pilot Grant
2024 – Tolani Olonisakin, MD, PhD
Entitled Work: CXCL14-mediated immunomodulation and IP-SNSCC malignant progression

AHNS Presidential Award: Understanding Long-Term and Late Toxicities of Treatment in Head and Neck Cancer
2024 – Hoang Bui Nguyen, MD, PhD
Entitled Work: MXD3 as a determinant of immunoproliferative response to immunotherapy in HNSCC

AHNS Presidential Award: Understanding Treatment Resistance in Head and Neck Cancer
2024 – Harit Panda, PhD
Entitled Work: Mechanistic insights into Nrf2-mediated treatment resistance in HNSCC

AHNS Presidential Award: Novel Therapeutic Targets and Combinations in Head and Neck Cancer
2024 – Barry A. Kriegsman, MD, PhD
Entitled Work: Evaluating Head and Neck Cancer Therapies using Precision-Cut Tumor Slices cancer

AHNS/AAO-HNSF Young Investigator Combined Award sponsored by AHNS Translational Innovator Award
2023 – Katherine Wai, MD
Entitled Work: Deciphering the Immune Response to Checkpoint Inhibitors in Head and Neck Cancer

AHNS/AAO-HNSF Young Investigator Combined Award 
2023 – Michael Topf, MD
Entitled Work: Mixed Reality Surgery to Guide Head and Neck Cancer Re-resection

AAO-HNSF Resident Research Award sponsored by AHNS Alando J. Ballantyne Resident Research Pilot Grant
2023 – Jaclyn Lee, MD
Entitled Work: Antibody-labeled PET for Head and Neck Carcinomas of Unknown Primary

AHNS Presidential Award: Understanding Long-Term and Late Toxicities of Treatment in Head and Neck Cancer
2023 – David Lee, MD
Entitled Work: Screening Protocol for Late and Long-Term Ototoxicity in H&N Cancer Survivors

AHNS Presidential Award: Understanding Treatment Resistance in Head and Neck Cancer
2023 – Kevin Brown Chandler, PhD
Entitled Work :Tumor-Derived Immunoglobulin Driven Resistance to anti-PD1/PDL1 Axis Therapy

AHNS Presidential Award: Head and Neck Cancer in Underserved Populations
2023 – Samantha Tam, MD
Entitled Work:Increasing equity in patient reported outcome measure completion in cancer

AHNS Endocrine Surgery Section Stryker Research award
2023 – Annie Moroco, MD
Entitled Work: Reimagining Consent: Comprehension & Decision-Making in Thyroid Surgery

AHNS Endocrine Surgery Section Eisai Research Grant
2023 – Nimesh Nagururu, BS
Entitled Work: Spatially Resolved Immunometabolic Features of Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Myers’ Summer Travel Fellowship in Otolaryngology for Under-Represented Minority Medical Students

This program is sponsored by the American Head and Neck Society Research and Education Foundation, thanks to the very generous contributions of Dr. Eugene Myers and Dr. Jeffrey Myers, as well as other AHNS donors.  It is intended to expose an under-represented minority medical student to the field of Head and Neck surgery specifically and Otolaryngology in general.
A grant of $5,000 will be awarded to a medical student to cover travel, lodging and food expenses for the summer experience.  This summer program offers the interested candidate the opportunity to work in a Department of Academic Excellence in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology that has an approved Fellowship Training Program from the Advanced Training Council of the AHNS.  Participants will be assigned to a clinical faculty mentor and will rotate on his or her clinical service and have the chance to participate in the care of Head and Neck Cancer patients in the outpatient setting, inpatient environment, as well as the operating room.  Summer fellows will also have the opportunity to perform basic, translational, clinical, or population-based research under the guidance of a chosen/assigned research mentor.
We are requesting applicants to submit: 
  • A personal statement, not more than 500 words (one page, single-spaced) detailing why you want this fellowship experience. Please include in the personal statement your underrepresented minority status
  • A copy of your CV to be included with the personal statement
  • A letter of recommendation
  • Students must be in good standing at an accredited US medical school

The 2025 Myers’ Summer Travel Fellowship Application is now closed!

 See Criteria and Apply Here!

Recipients of this travel fellowship award will be expected to engage in a research project with a mentor of their choosing or one of our volunteer mentors from the AHNS. This could be a new project, or an ancillary project nested within an ongoing investigation.
At the end of the fellowship, the awardees are expected to provide a summary of their experience in its totality, a brief summary of what they learned and the most impactful experiences throughout the summer. This should include feedback on what worked well and what did not.
In addition, the awardees will be required to submit an abstract-like document summarizing their research project including objectives, methods, results and conclusions. Submission to an otolaryngology-related meeting is encouraged but not required and this would be at the discretion of the mentor.

Congratulations to the recipients:

2025: Hailie C. Hayes
Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
MD Candidate, Class of 2027

2024: Gabrianna Andrews
Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine
DO Candidate, Class of 2026
2023: Laura E. Jackson
University of Kansas School of Medicine
MD Candidate, Class of 2026
2022: Priya Arya
Mercer University School of Medicine in Savannah, GA
MD Candidate, Class of 2025
2021: Symone V. Jordan
University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY
MD Candidate, Class of 2024
“Parathyroid Carcinoma: An NCDB Analysis to Understand Diagnostic Challenges and
Outcomes of a Rare Endocrine Tumor”
2020: Derrick B. Lewis
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, Minnesota
MD Candidate, Class 2023
“Improving Care for Patients with HPV+ Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma”
2019: Ezinne U. Agwaramgbo 
University of Miami Florida, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
MD Candidate, Class of 2022
“Determining correlation between point of care and ELISA tests in detecting P16 biomarker protein”
2018: Frantzlee LaCrete
University of Nebraska Medical Center
MD Candidate, Class of 2024