A Message from TRIO’s New President

I am pleased and honored to serve as Triological Society president this year. This Society, founded in 1895, has always represented the best of the specialty of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery, and the Society is responsible for many historic “firsts.” I am pleased to report that in 2026, the Triological Society continues to lead and provide resources to enhance the specialty, its providers, trainees, and patients.

Of course, we continue to sponsor three outstanding publications, each with its own distinct mission, as well as two excellent scientific meetings per year. In addition, the Society continues to fund research, which both moves the field forward and helps the careers of young investigators who are future leaders. Our education committee also provides outstanding content outside of our two annual meetings, including the “Beyond the Otoscope” webinars, which address medicine-adjacent topics such as resilience and navigating change.

Recently, the Society has taken on two important new initiatives. To improve access to residency training opportunities and increase awareness of the uniqueness of our specialty to students, the ELEVATE-ENT (Empowering Leadership and Education through Visibility, Advocacy and Technical Skill) program is jointly sponsored by the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and the Triological Society and was officially launched in 2026, with tremendous energy and excitement. You can read more about this program in the next issue of ENTtoday, and I am very proud that the Society helped initiate this and that we are working with our Academy on maintaining it.

In addition, the Society is launching an interactive and immersive leadership course, the TRIO Leadership Academy, to assist with leadership training and experiences for future leaders in the specialty (ENTtoday. https://www.enttoday.org/article/society-debuts-trio-leadership-academy/). Other businesses often do a better job than we in medicine do of providing formal training, tools, and networking for leadership development, and these skills are usually not formally taught in residency and fellowship, or early in employment. The Society is uniquely positioned to help because we are not subspecialty-specific or academic-specific. We have members and leaders from the entire specialty and from different practice models. Said another way, many otolaryngologist leaders from practices, departments, cancer centers, hospitals, medical schools, and health systems are actually members of the Triological Society. The TRIO Leadership Academy is led by Dr. Myles Pensak and Dr. Maie St. John and is starting this year. Again, I am proud to be part of a Society that provides services like this.

Thanks for your interest in the Society. I hope to see you at one of our upcoming meetings.     

Dr. Stewart is professor and chair of the department of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery, senior associate dean of international affairs and affiliates, and professor of population health sciences at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, otolaryngologist-in-chief at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, both in New York, and president of the Triological Society.