DavidWitsellMD

Summary

• I am a Professor of Surgery in the Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and have been at Duke University Medical Center since 1995. I completed additional training in clinical research at the Duke University Medical School in 2000 where I earned my Master’s in Health Sciences for Clinical Research. I am a laryngologist with a complementary practice in general otolaryngology. I established the Duke Voice Care Center in 2006, and it has grown incrementally since then; there are now 3 laryngologists and 7 voice therapists evaluating over 5,000 patients annually at two locations in the Raleigh Durham area. My academic passion is the development of research infrastructure and methodologies for practice-based research in otolaryngology. My entire academic career has been focused on supporting collaborative research structure that matches research design and support with thought leadership. As such, my portfolio of research accomplishments is not disease-focused but methodology-focused; Included are projects from many of the sub-specialties in Otolaryngology. I am the PI on the grant which funded development of CHEER network (Creating Healthcare Excellence through Education and Research) that was funded through an NIH R21/33 grant 2007-2011) and refunded through a U24 mechanism (2012-2017). This project has developed a successful PBRN through a peer affiliation model between academic medical centers and private/community practice investigators and coordinators. This network remains intact; it is now engaged in research supported by private and public entities (NIH). Our work has also grown towards the Big Data methodologies for analysis of electronic health record administrative and clinical data.