Konstantina M Stankovic MD , PhD, FACS

Neurotology

Bertarelli Foundation Professor and Chair, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine

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300 Pasteur DrStanford, CA 94305
Phone+1 650-723-4000

Summary

I am the Bertarelli Foundation Professor and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine. I am a Harvard-trained ear and skull-base surgeon and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained auditory neuroscientist. My clinical focus is in otology and neurotology, and I previously served as Chief of the Division of Otology and Neurotology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. In addition to my clinical and administrative duties, I direct a basic science laboratory focused on improving diagnostics and therapeutics for sensorineural hearing loss and vestibular schwannoma. I have initiated and led successful cross-departmental, national, and international collaborations to develop and deploy novel molecular diagnostics and therapeutics for hearing loss and otologic diseases in general while educating the next generation of leaders in surgery and science.

Education & Training

Mass General Brigham/Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical SchoolFellowship, Neurotology, 2006 - 2008
Mass General Brigham/Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical SchoolResidency, Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2000 - 2006
Massachusetts General HospitalInternship, 1999 - 2000
Harvard Medical SchoolClass of 1999

Certifications & Licensure

CA State Medical License 2021 - 2025
MA State Medical License 2006 - 2022
American Board of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Otolaryngology
American Board of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Neurotology

Awards, Honors, & Recognition

H. Brian Neel, III, MD, PhD Distinguished Research Lecture American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, 2022
Iee Ching Wu Anderson, MD Women in Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery Leadership Lecture Johns Hopkins University, 2022
John Niparko MD Memorial Lectures American Cochlear Implant Alliance, 2021
First incumbent, Bertarelli Foundation Endowed Chair Stanford University School of Medicine, 2021
Boston's Best Doctors Boston Magazine, 2020-2021
Guest of Honor Lecture American Otological Society, 2018
First incumbent, Sheldon and Dorothea Buckler Endowed Chair in Otolaryngology Massachusetts Eye and Ear, 2017
Honorary Howard House, MD Lectureship for Advances in Otology American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, 2015
Benjamins Prize Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum, 2015
Thomas A. McMahon Mentoring Award Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, 2014
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Clinical Trials

Study of Aspirin in Patients with Vestibular Schwannoma Start of enrollment: 2018 Jun 11
RECRUITING
PHASE2

Publications & Presentations

PubMed

Why Consider Aspirin for the Treatment of Vestibular Schwannoma? A Brief Review and Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study Proposal.
D Bradley Welling, Brian A Neff, Fred F Telischi, Neil Patel, Konstantina M Stankovic
Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology. 2025-04-01
NF2 is Essential for Human Endoderm Development.
Minjin Jeong, Dongjun Han, Preetida Bhetariya, D Bradley Welling, Miodrag Stojkovic
Advanced Science. 2025-02-08
Immune profiling of human vestibular schwannoma secretions identifies TNF-α and TWEAK as cytokines with synergistic potential to impair hearing.
Sasa Vasilijic, Richard Seist, Zhenzhen Yin, Lei Xu, Konstantina M Stankovic
Journal of Neuroinflammation. 2025-02-08

Journal Articles

Association of Plasma Metabolomic Biomarkers With Persistent Tinnitus: A Population-Based Case-Control Study.
Zeleznik OA, Welling DB, Stankovic K, Frueh L, Balasubramanian R, Curhan GC, Curhan SG, JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, 2023
Genome-wide screen of otosclerosis in population biobanks: 27 loci and shared associations with skeletal structure.
Rämö JT, Kiiskinen T, Seist R, Krebs K, Kanai M, Karjalainen J, Kurki M, Hämäläinen E, Häppölä P, Havulinna AS, Hautakangas H; FinnGen; Mägi R, Palta P, Esko T, Metspa..., Nat Commun, 2023
Polystyrene nanoplastics affect transcriptomic and epigenomic signatures of human fibroblasts and derived induced pluripotent stem cells: Implications for human health.
Stojkovic M, Ortuño Guzmán FM, Han D, Stojkovic P, Dopazo J, Stankovic KM., Environ Pollut., 2023
Cahill G, Wang AA, Lee K, Sakagami M, Welling DB, Stankovic KM
Cahill G, Wang AA, Lee K, Sakagami M, Welling DB, Stankovic KM, JAMA-OHNS, 2022
A fluorescent photoimmunoconjugate for imaging of cholesteatoma.
Early S, Saad MA, Mallidi S, Mansour A, Seist R, Hasan T, Stankovic KM., Sci Rep., 2022
Toward Personalized Diagnosis and Therapy for Hearing Loss: Insights From Cochlear Implants.
Sagi V, Stankovic KM., Otol Neurotol., 2022
Magnetic stimulation allows focal activation of the mouse cochlea.
Lee JI, Seist R, McInturff S, Lee DJ, Brown MC, Stankovic KM, Fried S., Elife., 2022
Sporadic Vestibular Schwannoma Size and Location Do not Correlate With the Severity of Hearing Loss at Initial Presentation.
Brown A, Early S, Vasilijic S, Stankovic KM., Front Oncol., 2022
Choice of vector and surgical approach enables efficient cochlear gene transfer in nonhuman primate.
Andres-Mateos E, Landegger LD, Unzu C, Phillips J, Lin BM, Dewyer NA, Sanmiguel J, Nicolaou F, Valero MD, Bourdeu KI, Sewell WF, Beiler RJ, McKenna MJ, Stankovic KM, V..., Nature Commun., 2022
Accelerated Long-Term Hearing Loss Progression After Recovery From Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.
Early S, van der Valk JC, Frijns JHM, Stankovic KM., Front Neurol., 2021
Direct SARS-CoV-2 infection of the human inner ear may underlie COVID-19-associated audiovestibular dysfunction.
Jeong M, Ocwieja KE, Han D, Wackym PA, Zhang Y, Brown A, Moncada C, Vambutas A, Kanne T, Crain R, Siegel N, Leger V, Santos F, Welling DB, Gehrke L, Stankovic KM., Commun Med (Lond)., 2021
TMPRSS3 Gene Variants With Implications for Auditory Treatment and Counseling.
Moon IS, Grant AR, Sagi V, Rehm HL, Stankovic KM., Front Genet., 2021
Endomicroscopy of the human cochlea using a micro-optical coherence tomography catheter.
Iyer JS, Yin B, Stankovic KM, Tearney GJ., Sci Rep., 2021
Losartan prevents tumor-induced hearing loss and augments radiation efficacy in NF2 schwannoma rodent models.
Wu L, Vasilijic S, Sun Y, Chen J, Landegger LD, Zhang Y, Zhou W, Ren J, Early S, Yin Z, Ho WW, Zhang N, Gao X, Lee GY, Datta M, Sagers JE, Brown A, Muzikansky A, Stemm..., Science Transl Med., 2021
Cochlin Deficiency Protects Against Noise-Induced Hearing Loss.
Seist R, Landegger LD, Robertson NG, Vasilijic S, Morton CC, Stankovic KM., Front Mol Neurosci., 2021
Special Series: Stem Cells and Hearing Loss.
Lako M, Stankovic KM, Stojkovic M., Stem Cells., 2021
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Press Mentions

Thousands Believe Covid Vaccines Harmed Them. Is Anyone Listening?May 3rd, 2024
Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Linked to Tinnitus? What We KnowApril 30th, 2023
Covid Vaccines and Tinnitus: What We Know so FarApril 24th, 2023
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Grant Support

Multimodality Micro-Optical Coherence Tomography for Imaging the Functional Microanatomy of the Human CochleaSTANFORD UNIVERSITY2025–2029
Targeting HMGB1 to improve hearing andenhance therapy for Vestibular SchwannomasMASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL2023–2028
Human Ear Cellular AtlasSTANFORD UNIVERSITY2022–2027
Human Ear Cellular AtlasSTANFORD UNIVERSITY2022–2027
Human Ear Cellular AtlasSTANFORD UNIVERSITY2022–2027
Human Ear Cellular AtlasSTANFORD UNIVERSITY2022–2027
Human Ear Cellular AtlasSTANFORD UNIVERSITY2022–2027
Human Ear Cellular AtlasSTANFORD UNIVERSITY2022–2027
Human Inner Ear Cellular AtlasNational Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders2022–2027
Preclinical validation of photobiomodulation therapy for sensorineural hearing lossProject Geneva/ Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences2020–2023
Miniature Intracochlear Imaging Probe Based on Micro Optical Coherence Tomography for Cellular-Level Diagnosis and Therapy of Hearing LossDepartment of Defense2020–2023

Research History

Director, Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing LossThe mission of the Stanford Initiative to Cure Hearing Loss (SICHL) is to identify fundamental mechanisms by which the inner ear functions and use this information to develop novel approaches toward preventing damage, repairing and one day replacing damaged inner ear tissue. https://med.stanford.edu2021 - Present
Director, Molecular Neurotology LaboratoryWe are a molecular neurotology laboratory dedicated to improving diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics for hearing loss and vestibular schwannoma by combining insights from molecular biology, biotechnology, and clinical otology and neurotology. https://med.stanford.edu/stankovic-lab.html2008 - Present