βCourage is not the absence of fear but the resolve to act despite it.β
Those are the words Dr. Konstantina Stankovicβs surgical mentor, Professor Michael McKenna, told her years ago as a neurotology fellow. They left a deep impression on her, echoing what sheβd heard from her mother, a stomatologist, growing up in Yugoslavia.
Today, Dr. Stankovic is a professor and chair of head and neck surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine (@StanfordMed), leading research that has already helped bring the first FDA-approved gene therapy for hearing loss into clinical trials.
Dr. Stankovic discussed her pioneering work at my home last month as one of our featured panelists on brain health β including how the functioning of our five senses can improve cognition and the brainβs resilience, and how symptoms like loss of smell can precede Alzheimerβs by years and even decades. It was fascinating and inspiring to hear her explain how so much research is pointing the way to new and promising interventions.
Clearly, she took her mentorβs words to heart.
You can read more about Dr. Stankovic, her work, and her incredible journey β including her time as a 17-year-old exchange student in a small town in Massachusetts β in @CorD_Magazine: https://t.co/g4wmNAXOsI