Roland named Professor Emeritus of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery

By Gregg Shields

Dr. Peter Roland, the second Chairman of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a pioneer in the field of cochlear implants who helped draft the first treatment guidelines for swimmer’s ear, has been appointed Professor Emeritus.

Dr. Peter Roland
Dr. Peter Roland

Dr. Roland, also former Professor of Neurological Surgery at UT Southwestern and Chief of Pediatric Otology at Children’s Medical Center Dallas, performed cochlear implants on 1-year-old twins in 2003, which at the time made it one of the first such surgeries in the nation.

Dr. Roland also made important findings showing that MRI offered better diagnostic information for cochlear ear implants than more commonly used high-resolution CT scans and demonstrating that antibiotic ear drops performed better than oral antibiotics for children with ear tubes. Dr. Roland was among a select dozen physicians in the nation that helped develop treatment guidelines that became the first official recommendations for dealing with the common, infection called Swimmer's ear (acute otitis externa). He also served as Medical Director for the Dallas Cochlear Implant Program, collaboration between UT Dallas, UT Southwestern, and Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

“Dr. Roland embodied the characteristics of a great Chairman. He served as a role model who set the standard within our Department for what is expected of a great physician, teacher, and scientist,” said Dr. Bradley Marple, Chairman of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery who succeeded Dr. Roland, and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education at UT Southwestern Medical School. “It was under his leadership that the Department of Otolaryngology grew to the national stature it now enjoys.”

Dr. Roland, who joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 1985, served as Chairman from 2002 to 2014. Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery is recognized as one of the nation’s leading clinical and research centers for audiology and cochlear implantation, balance and facial nerve disorders, head and neck cancer, sleep disorders, and other specialties. The Department, which has trained nearly 200 physicians who practice worldwide, was recognized as high-performing in Otolaryngology, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2014–15 best hospitals listing.

“UT Southwestern is one of the world’s premier medical centers,” said Dr. Roland. “I am extremely gratified that I can continue my association with such an outstanding institution.”

Dr. Roland has written four books, 60 book chapters, and 226 peer-reviewed articles on ear surgery, cochlear implants, hearing loss, balance disturbance, facial nerve injury, acoustic neuroma, and tumors of the skull base. In addition to his clinical and research accomplishments, Dr. Roland served on more than 20 university committees and chaired five.

A Rockford College graduate, Dr. Roland completed graduate coursework in philosophy at UT Austin, earned his medical degree from UT Medical Branch at Galveston, and finished otolaryngology residency training at The Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Roland then spent four years in the U.S. Navy stationed at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD. During his tour in the Navy, he was on the faculty of the Uniform Services University of the Health Sciences and served as a consultant to the National Institutes of Health, after which he spent a year in fellowship training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

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Dr. Marple holds the Arthur E. Meyerhoff Chair in Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery.