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 2023 nomination process will be open January 4 – March 15. Submit your nomination today!
2022 WIO Helen F. Krause, MD Trailblazer Award Recipient
This year’s awardee is Andrea Vambutas, MD, who has been referred to as a true advocate for women in otolaryngology-head and surgery, working to promote and further the role and interests of women in the specialty through scholarship, advocacy, leadership, and mentorship. She is described as being approachable with a distinguished leadership style, not seeking personal recognition but working behind the scenes to help others in the field succeed.
Dr. Vambutas is considered a role model to many women otolaryngologists as a leader, a successful and well-recognized physician-scientist, and a mother. One resident recalled how she took immediate action upon witnessing unfair treatment and provided ongoing support and showed empathy.
Currently, she is professor and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, chair of the Department of Otolaryngology at both Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Medical Center, and senior vice president and executive director of the Otolaryngology Service line. She is nationally recognized for her work in immune-mediated hearing loss and in the restoration of natural hearing in corticosteroid-resistant patients.
Dr. Vambutas completed her medical school training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine with a medical degree with distinction in research. She is also an investigator in the Center for Autoimmune Disorders at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and professor of molecular medicine. In 2019 she delivered the Howard House Memorial Lecture on Advances in Otologic Research at the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting.
Past Recipients:
- 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
