Walter Kutz, M.D. is a professor of Otolaryngology and Neurological Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center and serves as Director of the Neurotology Fellowship. He completed his neurotology fellowship at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles, following residency training in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. With extensive experience in treating acoustic neuromas, Dr. Kutz is dedicated to providing personalized care to help patients achieve the best possible outcomes, including preserving hearing and improving quality of life. He frequently speaks at national and international events to share his expertise and advancements in managing acoustic neuromas. Dr. Kutz’s research focuses on innovative treatment approaches for acoustic neuroma, and he has authored over 100 publications and book chapters aimed at improving patient care and outcomes.

Robert Timmerman, MD

Brandon Isaacson, MD

Daniel Killeen, MD is an Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center specializing in Neurotology/Otology and Skull Base Surgery (medical and surgical treatment of diseases and tumors of the ear and lateral skull base, as well as hearing and vestibular disorders) at University Hospitals within the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. He is dual board-certified in Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery and Neurotology and Otology (adult and pediatric), and is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and the American Neurotologic Society. He has expertise in endoscopic ear surgery and surgical approaches for lateral skull base tumors such as Acoustic Neuromas/vestibular schwannomas. Dr. Killeen’s clinical interests include acoustic neuroma/vestibular schwannoma treatment -- both microsurgical resection and radiosurgery, endoscopic ear surgery for surgical treatment of hearing disorders such as stapedotomy for otosclerosis, cochlear implantation, treatment of chronic ear disease, and skull base surgery including surgical treatment of tumors of the ear. Daniel Killeen is a graduate of Harvard University, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Molecular and Cellular Biology (cum laude with departmental High Honors), and then earned his Doctorate of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Killeen subsequently completed an Otolaryngology residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in Neurotology/Otology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He worked at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he served as an Assistant Professor and the Director of Endoscopic Ear Surgery from 2021-2022. Most recently, he worked as an Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve Medical Center and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

Hitomi Sakano, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Sakano earned her medical degree and a doctoral degree in Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of Washington in Seattle through the Medical Scientist Training Program. She completed residency in Otolaryngology at the University of Washington Medical Center and fellowship in Neurotology at the University of California San Diego Medical Center. She is certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology in Otolaryngology and in Neurotology. She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Triological Society and the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. She specializes in disorders of the ear and skull-base tumors and her research focus is on auditory brainstem development and auditory processing. She has delivered invited lectures, contributed book chapters, and published numerous academic articles related to her areas of expertise.

Matthew Sun, M.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He specializes in the treatment of skull base tumors including meningiomas, vestibular schwannomas, pituitary tumors, and other brain tumors. He offers treatments through all modalities, including conventional open cranial surgery, endoscopic minimally invasive surgery, and radiosurgery.
Dr. Sun earned his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. He completed a residency in neurological surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles. Then, he completed a combined cerebrovascular and skull base fellowship at the University of Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital with Dr. Jacques Morcos. He joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2023.
Dr. Sun’s research focuses developing novel immunotherapies for meningiomas and other skull base tumors. He has authored over 60 publications in neurosurgery and winning numerous awards from national neurosurgery and neuro-oncology organizations. Outside of work, Dr. Sun enjoys traveling, simulated racing, Formula 1, going to the gym, hiking, and spending time with family.

Zabi Wardak, M.D., Associate Professor, Chief of Central Nervous System Radiation Oncology Service, and Medical Director of the Gamma Knife Program, earned his medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University in New York and completed his residency training in radiation oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he served as Chief Resident. He has additional advanced training and certification in the use of Gamma Knife Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiotherapy. He is director of the UT Southwestern Gamma Knife Training Program and Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Training Program which educates physicians from around the world. Dr. Wardak specializes in treating benign and malignant brain and spinal cord tumors for both adults and pediatric patients with a focus on stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).

Samuel Barnett, M.D., is Professor of Neurological Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, and received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He completed his neurosurgery residency at UT Southwestern and then a clinical fellowship in skull base and cerebrovascular neurosurgery at the University of South Florida working with Harry R. van Loveren, M.D., a prominent skull base surgeon.
As Co-director of the Comprehensive Skull Base Surgery Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dr. Barnett has extensive experience in lateral skull base surgery, particularly acoustic neuromas. Dr. Barnett is also specially trained in radiosurgery and utilizes this, along with open surgery and observation, to offer his patients the best possible management of their particular need.

Ankur Patel, MD

Shin Beh, MD is the Founder and Director of the Beh Center for Vestibular & Migraine Disorders. He completed his neurology residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and a unique fellowship in neuroimmunology, neuro-otology, and neuro-ophthalmology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University Medical Center, and New York University Medical Center. Dr. Beh was then recruited as Assistant Professor of Neurology at UT Southwestern, where he founded the Vestibular & Neuro-Visual Disorders Clinic. He has published numerous papers, including many articles on vestibular migraine, and the use of neuromodulation devices on the condition. Dr. Beh is also the author of Victory Over Vestibular Migraine, The Migraine Manual, Disembark: Overcoming Mal de Debarquement Syndrome, and PREVAIL over PPPD, and is the co-author of The Mediterranean Migraine Diet.

Dr. Kelly Martin, Au.D., CCC-A is a clinical audiologist and faculty associate with the department of Otolaryngology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Sciences and Disorders, minor in Africana Studies, and ASL certificate before completing her Doctorate of Audiology at the University of Pittsburgh. Her clinical interests and areas of expertise include the diagnosis and management of hearing loss, adult hearing aids, osseointegrated devices, and cochlear implants. Some of Dr. Martin's occupational passions include on-ear measurements with use of real-ear-to-coupler difference and transitioning adult hearing aid users into cochlear implant users. Dr. Martin is also a fellow of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) and has her Certification of Clinical Competence from the American Speech & Hearing Association (ASHA).

Ariel Frost, MD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She specializes in head and neck microvascular reconstructive surgery, facial plastic surgery, and facial nerve disorders. Dr. Frost graduated cum laude from Princeton University and earned her medical degree at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She completed a residency in otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was inducted into the national medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha and awarded the Carniol Prize for Excellence in Facial Plastic Surgery. She gained advanced training through a fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

Eli A. Gordin, M.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He specializes in facial plastic and microvascular reconstructive surgery.
Dr. Gordin earned his medical degree at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He completed residency in otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and received advanced training in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery and microvascular surgery through an accredited AAFPRS fellowship at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center under Dr. Yadranko Ducic.
Certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology and the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Dr. Gordin joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2017. Dr. Gordin’s research and clinical interests include plastic and reconstructive surgery of the face, head, and neck, with an emphasis on microvascular free tissue transfer, rhinoplasty, facial trauma, and facial paralysis.

Egle Richards, PhD
Egle Richards received her Doctor of Physical therapy degree at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 2013. She did a neurological physical therapy residency for 15 months and became board-certified in Neurologic Physical Therapy in 2016. Her current area of clinical practice is in an outpatient neurological physical therapy clinic at UT Southwestern where 50 % of her time she spends treating patients with various vestibular pathologies and 50 % treating patients living with other various neurological conditions. Dr. Richards’s has over 10 years of experience in treating patient with vestibular pathologies. She is a member of Neurologic APTA sections as well as Vestibular Disorder’s Association. She received her vestibular rehabilitation certificate in 2017.

Dr. Kenneth Dekleva holds the McKenzie Foundation Chair in Psychiatry I at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, where he is a professor of Psychiatry and director of Psychiatry-Medicine Integration; he is also a Salzburg Global fellow and Senior fellow, George HW Bush Foundation for US-China Relations. He is a graduate of UTSW Medical School, where he also trained in adult psychiatry. From 2002 to 2016, he served as a senior U.S. diplomat and regional medical officer/psychiatrist with the U.S. Department of State, mostly overseas, but also in a leadership role (from 2013 to 2015) as director of the U.S. State Department’s worldwide diplomatic mental health program, providing mental health support to 60,000 U.S. diplomats and family members based overseas and in the United States. He has published widely in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, The Hill, The Cipher Brief, 38 North and The Diplomat and given numerous interviews, podcasts, and lecture presentations in academic, media, private sector, and U.S. government settings.

Michael Youssef, M.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology and the Department of Hematology and Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He specializes in neuro-oncology.
Dr. Youssef earned his medical degree at the Medical University of South Carolina. He completed a residency in neurology at Baylor College of Medicine and then received advanced training in neuro-oncology through a fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He joined the neurology faculty in 2020.
Dr. Youssef’s clinical and research interests include glioblastoma; primary brain tumors; rare brain tumors, including ependymoma and medulloblastoma; neurologic complications of systemic cancer therapy; brain metastasis; and leptomeningeal disease. He also is clinically interested in neurofibromatosis, schwannomatosis, and sees patients with genetic predisposition to neurologic cancers.
He is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, the American Brain Tumor Association, the Society for Neuro-Oncology, and the American Society for Clinical Oncology.

1 year after surgery; 30 months after surgery

September of 2007, I had just turned 19 years old, happy, healthy, but I thought I had an ear infection because I couldn’t hear out of my left ear very well. So after a few days , I went into a walk-in Clinic, where the doctor that saw me, told me that I had an ear infection… and prescribed me ear drop medication. He told me that if I felt like it didn’t help within a couple of days, that I should come back. It never got better so I went back and they prescribed me different medication, and told me that if that didn’t heal it, that they would refer me to a ENT.
So, after getting the referral to a ENT, they immediately had me do a MRI. That’s when they found my Acoustic Neuroma… I didn’t know what to think, being that young, I was in shock , i was devastated.
Thankfully my ENT in Visalia, Ca, referred me to an absolute amazing place called the HOUSE EAR INSTITUTE in Hollywood, Ca. That’s where I met my Neurologist, Dr.Slattery. This man and his team as I would like to think, saved my life, January 11th, 2008, at St.Vincent Medical Center. 16 years later, tumor free, and I am alive and healthy! It has not been an easy journey by any means, but I am so incredibly thankful to be here today, and send this to you all.

3 years postop middle fossa and living life to the fullest!

This picture was 4 days before my surgery at our son’s wedding that we were thankfully able to attend before I had surgery.

Danielle with grandson Walker!

Yoga on a (parked) houseboat was a fun balance challenge during my vacation.
I am celebrating 9 years since my surgery for my 3cm tumor- looking forward to year ten soon. Very grateful for my body's ability to heal and learn new things.

This Sunday 16th June it will be my 1 year post retrosigmoid craniotomy for my 3.6cm AN. 80% was successfully removed last year. On a follow up scan we saw regrowth of the remaining 20% which I had radiation for in March of this year.
I am currently doing a running challenge- 5k a day for the month of June to raise funds for Beaumount Hospital Dublin where I have received all my treatment. This photo was taken at the end of my 8th run, with my dogs Mylo and Callie, today I will be half way through my challenge.
Extremely lucky and very grateful!

For the first time my ANniversary of treatment came and went without my noticing. Eleven years!

Denise and amazing husband and copilot Bob