Mike Toth Head and Neck Cancer Research Center

Overview

The Mike Toth Head and Neck Cancer Research Center was established in 2019 with a goal of improving the lives of head and neck cancer patients through innovative, bold, practice-changing research. Made possible by a gift from long-time friends of Mass Eye and Ear, Michelle and Bob Atchinson, in honor of their friend, Mike Toth, our investigations are trail-blazing a path toward life-changing discoveries.

Research Projects

Our scientists, surgeons and surgeon-scientists are pioneering new ways to diagnose, monitor and treat head and neck cancer. Some of our current ongoing projects include:

• Developing liquid biopsies to screen, diagnose and monitor head and neck cancers through a blood draw.
• Identifying tissue biomarkers to understand and predict responses to immunotherapy.
• Innovating minimally invasive and robotic approaches for head and neck surgery.
• Exploring novel methods to improve the completeness of oral resections while optimally preserving functional tissue.
• Developing innovative treatment strategies to maximize benefits and limit side effects of treatments for advanced and high-risk skin cancers.
• Engineering artificial intelligence models to improve our understanding of head and neck cancer and skin cancer.
• Designing software to improve clinical management and treatment of advanced head and neck cancer and skin cancer.
• Leveraging single cell genomics and epigenetics to develop novel targeted therapies (precision medicine).
• Developing optical imaging techniques to enhance the accuracy of tumor resections during surgery.
• Developing non-invasive optical imaging techniques for predicting responses to novel targeted treatments for head and neck cancer such as immunotherapy.

Daniel G. Deschler, MD, FACS
Mass Eye and Ear
Daniel_Deschler@meei.harvard.edu

Kevin S. Emerick, MD
Mass Eye and Ear
Kevin_Emerick@meei.harvard.edu

Daniel L. Faden, MD, FACS
Mass Eye and Ear
dfaden@mgb.org

Allen L. Feng, MD
Mass Eye and Ear
Allen_Feng@MEEI.HARVARD.EDU

Derrick T. Lin, MD, FACS
Mass Eye and Ear
Derrick_Lin@meei.harvard.edu

Rahul Pal, PhD
Mass Eye and Ear
Rahul_Pal@meei.harvard.edu

Jeremy D. Richmon, MD
Mass Eye and Ear
Jeremy_Richmon@MEEI.HARVARD.EDU

Sophia Z. Shalhout, PhD
Mass Eye and Ear
Sophia_Shalhout@meei.harvard.edu