Steven M. Zeitels, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Director
Eugene B. Casey Professor of Laryngeal Surgery
Harvard Medical School
Phone: 617-726-0218
zeitels.steven@mgh.harvard.edu

View full CV

Steven M. Zeitels, MD, FACS, is the Eugene B. Casey Professor of Laryngeal Surgery at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and the Director of the Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).  Dr. Zeitels serves as Laryngologist to various voice departments in Boston, as well as to the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University, the Boston Lyric Opera, and the Boston University Huntington Theatre.

Dr. Zeitels has been a productive surgical innovator designing more than 20 new laryngeal and pharyngeal procedures as well as three laryngoscope patents.  His major research interests include laryngeal microsurgery, especially as it relates to minimally-invasive surgical oncology; phonosurgery and voice disorders; medical and surgical management of performing artists; design and development of endoscopic instruments; and the history of laryngology and head and neck surgery.  Dr. Zeitels has contributed more than 150 scientific articles, book chapters, and videotapes in these areas as well as presenting over 300 papers and lectures.  His single-author Atlas of Phonomicrosurgery is considered by many surgeons to be the definitive text in microsurgery of the larynx.  He serves or has served on the editorial board of 5 national and international journals.  He has been the visiting professor at over 20 departments, universities, and hospitals including, Memorial Sloan Kettering, University of Cincinnati, University of Utah, Vanderbilt University, University of Navarra - Pamplona / Spain, Tel Aviv University / Israel, and Aukland University / New Zealand, Kumamoto University / Japan, Dalhousie University / Canada, and The Julliard School.

Dr. Zeitels has received more than 50 awards and honored lectureships for his achievements including the Casselberry Award from the American Laryngological Association.  Among his many national and international lectureships, he has served as the Lewis H. Wright Memorial Distinguished Lecturer for the American Society of Anesthesiology, Sylvan Stool History of Medicine Lecturer - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and the Arnold Grossman Lecturer in Laryngology - McGill University, as well as honored guest of the British Voice Association, Japan Laryngological Association, Pan-European Voice Conference, Collegium Medicorum Theatri, Australian Voice Association,  Spanish Head and Neck Society, the 1st annual meeting of the Brazilian Society of Laryngology and Voice, New Zealand Society of Otolaryngology, Chilean Head & Neck Society, and the British Academic Conference in Otolaryngology.

Dr. Zeitels is a committed academic surgeon working locally, nationally and internationally to advance laryngology and head and neck surgery.  His work has been featured in the Harvard Medical Alumni Journal, the Harvard Magazine and the BU Alumni Journal and discussed extensively in print media, radio, and television both nationally and internationally [i.e. Good Morning America, Today Show, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, London Sunday Times, USA Today, Boston Globe, NPR, BBC, National Geographic, Nightline, Boston – New York – LA television news]  He conceived and directs the Voice Restoration Research Program, which is a collaborative effort of investigators at HMS, MGH, MIT, and Julie Andrews.  He has served as President of the American Broncho-Esophagological Association.  In 2004, the first endowed Chair in Laryngeal Surgery at Harvard Medical was created for him while he re-established a Harvard Laryngeal Surgery service at the MGH, which had not been present since the 1920s.  Dr. Zeitels was a member of the 1st class of Boston University (BU) Trustee Scholars, attended the BU 6-year medical program, and graduated from the BU School of Medicine in 1982.  He completed the Boston University - Tufts University combined Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Program in 1987 as well as a Head & Neck Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Boston University and the Boston Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 1988.  He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award form the BU School of Medicine in 2007.