Pediatric Airway Disorders Symposium: from the Nose to the Lungs

• Thoroughly review, in a systematic fashion, the various pediatric airway disorders encompassing the respiratory system from the nose to the lungs such as tumors, airway stenosis, anaesthetic considerations for surgical patients, cystic fibrosis and others
• Learn about the approach to history taking, diagnosis, physical examination and the different diagnostic tests of pediatric patients with airway pathologies
• Formulate a differential diagnosis of the various conditions affecting the pediatric airway at each level
• Discuss and become familiar with modern diagnostic testing and therapeutic options including medical, endoscopic, surgical and interventional radiologic techniques
• Discuss and learn about the current literature and future research directions in the field
• Emphasize multidisciplinary care in the management of complex airway disorders
• Engage in an interactive discussion of interesting cases with audience participation to emphasize all the above
• Build bridges among various health care professionals and institutions

Chairs

This event is designated for a maximum of or up to 4.2 credits Department of Health-Abu Dhabi Category 1 credit hours.

• Dr. Alain Sabri

  Dr. Alain Sabri is currently the chairperson and the residency program director of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery (ENT) at SSMC. He has lectured extensively throughout the world, and organized and chaired many scientific meetings. After receiving the degree of doctor of medicine at the American University of Beirut, he completed his residency at Georgetown University in surgery and Case Western/University Hospitals of Cleveland in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. He went on to pursue two subspecialty fellowships in head and neck oncologic/microvascular reconstructive surgery, and in Otology/Neurotology and Skull base surgery at Vanderbilt. He has also completed a master’s degree in health and hospital management. He is American Board-certified in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. He has practiced in several regions around the world and has held several leadership positions including chairing four departments, serving as associate chief of staff and assistant dean. He has received the title of Professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine and other medical schools. Dr. Sabri was granted the Teacher of The Year Award at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, United States where he worked as a consultant. He was also the recipient of the honor award of the American Academy of Otolaryngology. He is currently working on two textbooks due to be published in 2022.
• Dr. Haile Dawitn

  Dr. Haile Dawit currently serves as the director of Pediatric Anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic. He has practiced and studied anesthetic and critical care areas. He is also the current chair of the Division of Pediatric Anesthesia and the Vice-Chair of the Children’s Surgical & Procedural Committee that oversees the surgical and procedural aspects of the Mayo Children’s Center.
  
  Dr. Dawit’s research interests have focused on ECMO in pediatric patients in the past, spinal anesthesia for infants, and the development of regional analgesia techniques such as paravertebral catheters for chest wall surgeries and spine surgeries. He has a quality and safety project undergoing in reducing iatrogenic tracheal injuries from routine anesthetic care. In addition, he studies and cares for children and adults with spinal muscular atrophy and provides an intrathecal injection of Spinraza. His greatest passion is the quality and safety of sick children, which drives his efforts to improve the process and services they receive.
• Dr. Sofia Konstantinopoulou

  Dr. Sofia Konstantinopoulou is an American-board certified pediatric pulmonologist and sleep medicine physician. For the past six years, she has been serving as a pediatric pulmonology consultant at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC). Prior to her work with SKMC, Dr. Sofia trained and worked at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia during her appointment as assistant professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
  
  Dr. Konstantinopoulou’s main clinical focus is taking care of patients with sleep-disordered breathing, and more specially those who are dependent on long-term (non-invasive and invasive) mechanical ventilation. She is passionate about medical education and serves as core faculty of SKMC’s ACGME-accredited pediatric residency program. In addition, she was recently appointed as adjunct professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Khalifa University.
  
  Dr. Konstantinopoulou has been invited as a speaker in several national and international conferences. She is the author of book chapters and articles published in peer reviews journals, and is an active member of several professional societies including the ETS, ATS, CHEST and the AASM.
• Dr. Hani Rifai

  Dr. Hani Rifai currently serves as a consultant pediatric otolaryngologist at Danat Al Emarat Women and Children Hospital, part of the Mubadala Health network. Prior to his role at Danat Al Emarat, Dr. Hani worked with Tawam Hospital in Al Ain.
  
  Dr. Rifai’s education includes medical school at the American University of Beirut Medical Center where he also completed his specialty training in general Otolaryngology-Head and Neck surgery. He then went on to complete a pediatric otolaryngology fellowship training in Canada at the University of Alberta Stollery Children’s Hospital. His work experience includes multiple JCIA-accredited hospitals in both Lebanon, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
• Dr. Iftikhar Jan Suleman

  Dr. Iftikhar Jan Suleman currently serves as consultant and acting division chair of Pediatric Surgery at SSMC. His areas of interest include minimally invasive pediatric and neonatal surgery, pediatric urology and endourology, and thoracic and thoracoscopic pediatric surgery.
  
  Dr. Suleman has over 30 years of broad-based clinical, educational, research, and leadership experience in premier institutions. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the American College of Surgeons, the European Board of Pediatrics Surgery, and leading surgical professional bodies in Pakistan and Japan. He has contributed to more than 75 research publications and book chapters, and has had numerous invited speakerships. Dr. Suleman is a referral physician for complex pediatric surgery and pediatric urology.
• Dr. Fares Zaitoun

  Dr. Fares Zaitoun currently serves as director of the Allergy Unit at Advanced CURE Diagnostic Center, where he has been since 2011. Prior to this, Dr. Fares was director of the Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Center in Beirut, Lebanon. His areas of interest include pediatric and adult allergy and immunology, allergic rhinitis, upper and lower airway allergic disorders.
  
  Dr. Zaitoun has held positions of assistant and associate professor at both the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University. During the course of his career, Dr. Fares has established his position as a key opinion leader, evident by the frequent invitations he receives to speak, chair or moderate national, regional and international panels, symposiums, and conferences. He is also the director and organizer of several allergy/immunology educational and research projects, with 20 publications as author or co-author in international peer-reviewed journals. He was the founding director of many Middle Eastern and international societies of allergy and immunology.
• Dr. Joshua Wiedermann

  Dr. Joshua Wiedermann is a pediatric otolaryngology faculty at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA. His areas of interest include the global burden of disease, global surgical training, global surgical outcomes, educational sustainability, rare pediatric head and neck diseases, and aerodigestive diseases in pediatric patients.
  
  One of his most note-worthy achievements occurred following his fellowship in pediatric otolaryngology, when he moved to Ethiopia and was part of a team that created an academic, self-sustainable otolaryngology residency program. Dr. Wiedermann is collaborating with a multidisciplinary surgical innovation team to advance the surgical technique of endoscopic and open airway surgery for diseases that result in airway narrowing in pediatric patients. This approach focuses on individualized 3D-printed technology to augment surgical techniques. Dr. Wiedermann aims to create a worldwide collaboration of international organizations to help pair local developing hospitals with unmet needs to global surgical missions from all over the world.
• Dr. Nadir Demirel

  Dr. Nadir Demirel currently serves as assistant professor of Pediatric Pulmonology at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and director of the Pediatric Program at the Mayo Clinic Cystic Fibrosis Center. His areas of interest include neuromuscular diseases, noninvasive ventilation, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasis and cystic fibrosis.
  
  Dr. Demirel graduated from the University of Istanbul, Turkey. He did his residency at Schneider Children’s Hospital in New York and fellowship at the University of Miami. He moved to Mayo Clinic in 2018 after working at the University of Minnesota for five years.
• Dr. Nadine Haykal

  Dr. Nadine Haykal is an assistant professor with the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Her areas of interest include surgical management of obstructive airway disease, acute and chronic ear diseases, hearing impairment and cochlear implantation, neck masses, vascular malformations, and sinus disease and allergy.
  
  Dr. Haykal has trained in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at The State University of New York in Buffalo and has undergone further fellowship training in pediatric otolaryngology at The University of Pittsburg Medical Center.