Dr. Said Sönmez, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology at Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. He specializes in otology and neurotology, with clinical and research interests including chronic otitis media, cholesteatoma, endoscopic ear surgery, hearing restoration, and skull base pathologies. Dr. Sönmez has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and actively contributes to national and international ENT congresses as a speaker and panelist.

Prof. Director: Otology & Skull Base Surgery department, Eye Ear Nose & Throat Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Chair: 11th International Conference on Cholesteatoma and Ear Surgery

Member of the board of directors: the Politzer Society and the Prosper Meniere Society

President elect: Shanghai Hearing and Vestibule Medicine Association.

Associate Editor: Journal of International Advanced Otology

Member of Editorial Board: Otology &Neurotology

Member of Editorial Board: Journal Neurological Surgery: Skull Base

Dr. Tutar is a Professor of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Gazi University Faculty of Medicine in Ankara, Türkiye. He graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 2001 and completed his residency training in Otorhinolaryngology at Gazi University in 2007. Throughout his career, he has undertaken clinical observerships at various international institutions, gaining further experience in advanced otologic, neurotologic and skull base surgery.

His principal clinical and academic interests include otology and neurotology, cochlear and auditory brainstem implantation, chronic otitis and cholesteatoma surgery, vestibular disorders, facial nerve surgery and lateral skull base pathology. He holds both the Turkish Board Certification and the European Board Examination qualification in Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.

He has published extensively in national and international peer-reviewed journals and contributed to several academic book chapters. He continues his academic, educational and surgical work at Gazi University.

I am a Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology, Director of the University of Miami Ear Institute, and Director of the ACGME-accredited Neurotology Fellowship Program. I hold two Board Certifications in Otolaryngology and Neurotology. Specific to this course, I am highly experienced in clinical and translational research in hearing loss and clinical research in genetic hearing loss. I am a cholesteatoma surgeon, have taught countless of surgical training courses both nationally and Internationally, and have carried out clinical studies on cholesteatoma outcomes in patients, both pediatric and adult subjects, from diverse backgrounds.