91˿Ƶ

Annual Herbert S. Birkett Memorial Lecture

Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery

34thAnnual James D. Baxter Lectureship

Dr. Anthony Nichols

Guest Lecturer

Dr. Anthony C. Nichols, MD

Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and
Department of Oncology, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Western University

Biography:

Dr. Anthony Nichols is a Head and Neck Surgical Oncologist, Facial Plastic Surgeon, and Surgeon-Scientist at London Health Sciences Centre and Western University. He completed his undergraduate training at McMaster University (first in class, Physics), his medical degree at the University of Toronto (AOA honours), and his residency and fellowship training at Harvard Medical School through the Harvard Combined Otolaryngology Program, with advanced fellowship training in Head and Neck Oncology, microvascular reconstruction, and molecular biology under the mentorship of Dr. Jim Rocco at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Since joining Western University in 2009, Dr. Nichols founded the Translational Head and Neck Cancer Research Program, a multi-faceted laboratory that bridges molecular discovery and clinical application. He is the youngest faculty member in his department's history to achieve the rank of Full Professor. His research program has trained over 70 students, generated more than 190 peer-reviewed publications, and secured over $13 million in research funding. He established the first Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) program in Canada and led the landmark ORATOR and ORATOR2 randomized controlled trials — the only completed trials comparing surgery with radiation for oropharyngeal cancer — published in Lancet Oncology and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Beyond oncology, Dr. Nichols operates a private facial plastic surgery practice and leads Scientific Aesthetics, an evidence-based platform applying surgical research methodology to aesthetic medicine.

վٱ:“Borrowed Science, New Answers: Applying Translational Oncology Methods to Non-Malignant Disease in Head & Neck Surgery”


Objectives:

1.Describe the molecular and immunological mechanisms underlying idiopathic subglottic stenosis, including fibroinflammatory pathways implicated in disease recurrence, and evaluate how transcriptomic and single-cell approaches are informing novel treatment strategies beyond serial dilation.

2.Explain how molecular profiling and cellular biology have expanded our understanding of laser-induced skin rejuvenation, including the mechanistic basis of fractional CO₂ and erbium laser effects on dermal remodeling, collagen neosynthesis, and emerging targets for adjunctive pharmacological enhancement.

3. Analyze the immunological heterogeneity of tonsillar disease — distinguishing recurrent tonsillitis from obstructive tonsillar hypertrophy at the cellular and transcriptomic level — and discuss how single-cell RNA sequencing is being applied to identify disease-specific immune signatures with potential diagnostic and therapeutic relevance.

4. Apply a translational research framework — traditionally used in oncology — to benign otolaryngologic and aesthetic conditions, recognizing how rigor in molecular study design, biomarker validation, and evidence hierarchies can elevate the quality of investigation in non-malignant disease.

5. Understand the important role of the surgeon-scientist in advancing patient-centred medical research— including identifying concrete institutional, departmental, and funding strategies that academic medical centres can adopt to recruit, protect, and sustain surgeon-scientists

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Date:Thursday June 4, 2026

Time: 4:10p.m.

Place:MUHC (RVH) SITE - Room Block ES1.1129

All staff and residents are welcome!

For an invite make a request tootlhns.med [at] mcgill.ca

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