About the WIO Helen F. Krause, MD Trailblazer Award
This award recognizes an individual who has furthered the interests of women in the field of otolaryngology.
The 2025 nomination cycle is now closed. Award recipients will be announced in June 2025.
2024 WIO Helen F. Krause, MD Trailblazer Award Recipient
This year’s awardee of the AAO-HNS Women in Otolaryngology (WIO) Helen F. Krause, MD Trailblazer Award is Cherie-Ann O. Nathan, MD. She is the Jack Pou Endowed Professor and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at LSU-Health Shreveport (LSUHS). She is also director of Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery and Research at the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center and has a gratis appointment in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Dr. Nathan’s passion is to improve outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer. She is a surgeon-scientist who maintains a busy practice treating head and neck cancer, thyroid, parathyroid, salivary gland tumors, and skin cancer, in addition to leading an active research team.
Her colleagues say she epitomizes what it means to be a trailblazing woman in medicine by defining a standard of excellence in a field where she has paved the way not only for women, but all aspiring otolaryngologists. Dr. Nathan’s professional pursuits, beginning at a time when women representation in otolaryngology was lacking, has set a formidable standard.
She completed her otolaryngology-head and neck surgery residency and fellowship at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, becoming the first woman to graduate from her program. She then joined the LSUHS Department of Otolaryngology where she became the first woman to attain full professorship. Dr. Nathan was named chair of her department at a time when only four women in the United States held this title and she continues to serve as the sole woman chair of her academic institution.
Dr. Nathan’s colleagues also recognize that she values differing perspectives while promoting diversity in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery thought leadership. This approach has seen her breakthrough many glass ceilings while cultivating a culture that supports the advancement of deserving others. Dr. Nathan is also a 2024 inductee to the AAO-HNS Hall of Distinction.
Past Recipients:
- 2023: Amy Y. Chen, MD, MPH, MBA
- 2022: Andrea Vambutas, MD
- 2021: Nancy M. Young, MD
- 2020: Kathleen L. Yaremchuk, MD, MSA
- 2019: Carol R. Bradford, MD
- 2018: Stacey L. Ishman, MD, PhD
- 2017: Amber Luong, MD, PhD
- 2016: Karen M. Kost, MDCM
- 2015: Sukgi S. Choi, MD
- 2014: Family of Linda S. Brodsky, MD
- 2013: Dana M. Thompson, MD
- 2012: Sujana C. Chandrasekhar, MD
- 2011: Ron B. Kuppersmith, MD, MBA, & Sonya Malekzadeh, MD
