About the Holt Leadership Award for Residents and Fellows-in-Training
The Holt Leadership Award is awarded annually to the Resident or Fellow-in-Training who best exemplifies the attributes of a young leader: honesty, integrity, fairness, advocacy, and enthusiasm. The Award recognizes exemplary efforts on behalf of the Section for Residents and Fellows-in-Training of the AAO-HNS/F for the promotion of the missions and goals of the association.
Nominees are brought forward annually from the SRF. The award, a check for $500 and a medal, is presented at the annual SRF General Assembly and the awardee is announced during the Annual Meeting Opening Ceremony.
2023 Holt Leadership Award Recipient
This year’s recipient of the AAO-HNS Holt Leadership Award for Residents and Fellows-in-Training, Shannon D. Fayson, MD, completed her residency training in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan in June 2023, and is a first-year pediatric otolaryngology fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. She is founder and CEO of The Black Otolaryngologist Network.
The Holt Leadership Award recognizes a member who displays honesty, integrity, fairness, advocacy, and enthusiasm in their work throughout the specialty. At Michigan, Dr. Fayson initiated sensitive discussions about diversity and inclusion, even while a junior resident. She is dedicated to increasing diversity in otolaryngology, mentoring students from underrepresented backgrounds, advocating for equitable healthcare for all patients, and eliminating health disparities.
She completed her biochemistry undergraduate degree at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. In May 2018 she received her medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine after completing the Medical Careers Pathway Post Baccalaureate Program (MEDPATH). As a resident at Michigan, she cochaired the Diversity Committee, founded Cultural Humility Grand Rounds, was inducted into the Gold Humanism Society, received the Charles J. Krause Resident Professionalism Award in 2021 and 2023, and participated in the Healthcare Equity and Quality Scholars Program.
In 2020, Dr. Fayson was featured live on the Today Show for International Women’s Day, where she was highlighted as a woman who is changing the field of surgery. She is also the 2023 recipient of the Women in Otolaryngology (WIO) Exemplary Senior Trainee Award.
Previous Awardees:
- 2022: Hayley L. Born, MD
- 2021: Carla V. Valenzuela, MD, MSCI
- 2020: Aurora G. Vincent, MD
- 2019: Claire M. Lawlor, MD
- 2018: Peter M. Vila, MD
- 2017: David S. Cohen, MD
- 2016: John M. Carter, MD
- 2015: Nikhila P. Raol, MD, MPH
- 2014: Jayme R. Dowdall, MD
- 2013: Mark E. Zafereo, Jr., MD
- 2012: Jeffrey C. Liu, MD
- 2011: Vasu Divi, MD
- 2010: Lily Love, MD
- 2009: Spencer C. Payne, MD
- 2008: Jacob D. Steiger, MD
- 2007: Monica Tadros, MD
- 2006: Angela M. Powell, MD and Mark E. Boston, MD
- 2005: Adam T. Ross, MD
- 2004: Paul L. Leong, MD
- 2003: Liana Puscas, MD and Robert Puchalski, MD
- 2002: F. Christopher Holsinger, MD
