The Ralph Butler Endowed Professorship for Medical Research

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This Professorship was established in 2017 within the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. Ralph Butler, MD (1873-1954) was a 1900 graduate of the Perelman School of Medicine faculty who become nationally known as an ear and throat specialist. Dr. Butler joined the Penn faculty in the early 1900s, and served as Vice Dean of the School of Laryngology from 1918 to 1946.

Dr. Butler was one of several prominent Pennsylvanians to come from a Quaker farming family in Chester County. He was the nephew of Samuel Butler, who became a teacher, State Representative, and State Treasurer, and William Butler, a federal judge. Dr. Butler’s sister Dr. Margaret Butler was also an otorhinolaryngologist and served on the faculty of the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. She was elected Honorary President of the International Congress of Laryngology and Rhinology in 1908, making her the first woman to hold such a position at an international medical organization.

Dr. Ralph Butler was Chair of the Section of Otolaryngology of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. He was honored for his 50 years of service and many contributions to otorhinolaryngology by both the Medical Society of Pennsylvania and the Physicians College of Philadelphia.


 

Noam CohenCurrent Chairholder
Noam Cohen, MD, PhD

Noam Cohen, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and Director of Rhinology Research at The Perelman School of Medicine.  Additionally, he is an Adjunct Member of The Monell Chemical Senses Center, and a Staff Surgeon at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center.  His research interests include host-microbe interactions in the upper airway with a focus in sinonasal innate defenses focusing on airway taste receptors and mucociliary clearance, microbial biofilms, and the development of novel sinonasal topical therapies.  His current efforts focus on correlating the genetics of bitter taste receptor functionality in the context of chronic rhinosinusitis and the therapeutic implications of stimulating sinonasal bitter taste receptors, using bitter tastants, to activate production of local nitric oxide or release of antimicrobial peptides as alternatives for conventional antibiotics in the management of acute and chronic sinus infections. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic he focused on coronavirus infections of human nasal epithelial cells using many of the established techniques in the lab. He has authored over 200 publications, given multiple presentations around the world and has been principal investigator on NIH and VA grants as well as Industry-sponsored studies.

Dr. Cohen received his medical and doctorate degree in Neuroscience from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1998, and completed his General Surgery Internship as well as his Otorhinolaryngology Residency (2003) and Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery Fellowship (2004) at The University of Pennsylvania.