AAOA Annual Meeting 2017
Annual Meeting Highlights
The AAOA would like to sincerely thank the faculty, leadership, and attendees who helped make the 2017 Annual Meeting a tremendous success. The 2017 Annual Meeting was held at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, IL from September 8-10, 2017. The newly redesigned event focused on delivering winning practice management strategies based around Otolaryngology practices, interactive sessions for greater attendee involvement and learning, recap sessions for review of the Basic Principles of Allergy, and even offered discovering parts of the Windy City itself.
The 2017 Annual Meeting kicked off with a panel discussion on how to make SLIT part of an ENT practice. The Annual Business Meeting then followed where lunch was served on the same occasion. The content meets culture sessions blended a mix of educational case-based learning discussions with networking while discovering the city of Chicago. The Windy City Tours were followed by two keynote speakers; Attorney Kevin Glenn to discuss techniques to stay out of trouble with the law and Amal Assa’ad, MD discussing new food allergy prevention and treatments. The AAOA Soirée took the attendees to The Art Institute of Chicago where they enjoyed a private viewing of galleries, had the occasion to network, and learned about some of the latest research with the otolaryngology poster presentations. The following research posters were presented on that evening:
- 90 Years Of Otolaryngology-Allergy Literature: Where We’ve Been & Where We’re Going
Poster Presenter: Matthew Crowson, MD, Duke University - Nigella Sativa In The Treatment Of Allergic Rhinitis
Poster Presenter: Agnes Czibulka, MD, Yale University - Staff Training For Emergencies In Allergy Management (Steam)
Poster Presenter: Alexa Castellano, MD, Southern Illinois University - Readability Assessment Of Allergy Online Patient Education Materials
Poster Presenter: Samir Ballestas, MD, Emory University
Saturday was a day full of learning, alternating between keynote lectures and concurrent sessions where attendees could decide which topics discussed best matched the educational needs. These practice management and ReCAP sessions where broken down with lunch and coffee breaks. The day ended with the Taste of Chicago reception where attendees could enjoy local food and network with other physicians, faculty, and exhibitors. The food highlighted Lou Malnati’s famous deep-dish pizza, pasta dishes, Italian beef, hot dogs with some of the city’s favorite toppings, and more! The dessert table ranged from different flavors of cheesecake, the Palmer House’s iconic brownies, Garrett popcorn, and Dove ice cream bars.
Sunday was kicked off by the Scientific Breakfast, where attendees could learn about new research and findings while enjoying a warm breakfast. The following five researchers presented at the Scientific Breakfast on Sunday, September 10, 2017:
- Single vs. Multi-Allergen Sublingual Immunotherapy in the Polysensitized Patient
Oral Presenter: Alexandra Shams Ortiz, MD, SAUSHEC - Comparison of Physician Adherence to the Allergic Rhinitis Clinical Practice Guidelines
Oral Presenter: Adam Honeybrook, MD, Duke University - Airborne and Food Sensitivity Patterns in Children and Adults with Eosinophilic Esophagitis
Oral Presenter: Yu Ting He, MD, Cornell University - Effects of Allergy Testing Methods on Driving Immunotherapy Outcomes
Oral Presenter: Thomas Kaffenberger, MD, University of Pittsburgh - Air Pollutants May be Modifiable Factors in Allergic Rhinitis and Chronic Rhinosinusitis
Oral Presenter: Leila Mady, MD, University of Pittsburgh
Sarah Wise, MD, Board Member and the Director of Educational Programs reviewed the presenters’ manuscripts and awarded the first prize to Dr. Leila Mady and co-authors for their paper/presentation entitled “Air Pollutants May Be Modifiable Environmental Risk Factors in Chronic Rhinosinusitis Disease Progression” for the quality and level of innovation of research. The second prize was awarded to Dr. Adam Honeybrook and co-authors for their paper/presentation entitled “Physician Adherence to the AAO-HNSF Allergic Rhinitis Clinical Practice Guideline.”
In addition to their presentation at the meeting, all accepted research-based abstracts were submitted to the International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology (IFAR), the official journal of the AAOA. The success of the journal is due to the unyielding commitment of our editor and reviewers. The following AAOA members were noted as top IFAR reviewers from September 2016-2017 for their diligence and quality of review:
- Jeremy Alt, MD, PhD
- Amber Luong, MD, PhD
- Kent Lam, MD
- William Reisacher, MD
We would like to also congratulate the 2017 Annual Meeting Foundation travel grant recipients:
- Alexa Castellano, MD, Southern Illinois University
- Matt Crowson, MD, Duke University
- Andrew Victores, MD, Johns Hopkins University
The Exhibit Hall was the perfect place for food and coffee breaks between sessions. Attendees were able to learn about the Exhibitors’ latest products, network with other attendees, learn more about AAOA upcoming events and programs, while enjoying breakfast, lunch, or a cup of coffee with the Palmer House Hilton’s famous brownies. In effort to promote interaction in the Exhibit Hall, we repeated our “Exhibitor Expedition” game.
Congratulations to the following winners:
- Douglas Anderson, MD
- Nathan Deckard, MD
- Paul Juengel, MD
Our education committee devoted a tremendous amount of time to drastically redesign the 2017 Annual Meeting and worked tirelessly to offer new interactive formats conducive to learning, while ensuring that the content for this meeting was relevant to today’s environment, and highlighted by real patient cases. A special thank you to Cecelia Damask, DO, Matthew Ryan, MD, and the entire Education Committee for their involvement in planning the redesign of this meeting.
As we prepare for 2018 Annual Meeting, we encourage your involvement in next year’s program by submitting an instruction course or a scientific research abstract for consideration. Additional details will be available at www.AAOAllergy.org and by e-mail. Please reach out to meetings@aaoallergy.org if you have any question about the 2018 Annual Meeting.
We hope to see you next year at the Loews in Philadelphia, PA from September 14—16, 2018 at our 77th Annual Meeting!