New section chief to be appointed for Otolaryngology

Wendell G. Yarbrough, M.D., will be named chief of the Section of Otolaryngology at the School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH). He will also be director of the head and neck cancer program at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven as well as the co-director of the molecular virology research program at Yale Cancer Center (YCC).

Yarbrough, whose appointment begins August 1, comes to Yale from Vanderbilt University, where he is professor of otolaryngology and cancer biology and director of the Barry Baker Laboratory of Head and Neck Oncology. He is also the Ingram Professor of Cancer Research and co-leader of the thoracic and head and neck program at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center.

Yarbrough’s research concentrates on the identification of tumor suppressors in head and neck cancers and the understanding of tumor growth. Recently, his lab has focused on identifying subtypes of head and neck and salivary cancers and the use of models that the lab has developed to test targeted agents.

“I am confident that Dr. Yarbrough’s experience, leadership, and goals for head and neck cancer research and care will strengthen our head and neck cancer program at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven,” said Thomas J. Lynch Jr., M.D., director of YCC and physician-in-chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven.