The Ear Community Organization Welcomes Newest Advisory Board Member – Dr. Ron Eavey

Dr. Eavey holding his Microtia and Atresia Awareness Day coffee mug.

Introducing, Dr. Ron Eavey!
– Ear Community’s newest Advisory Board Member!

The Ear Community Organization is incredibly proud and absolutely honored to introduce and welcome our newest Advisory Board Member – Dr. Roland “Ron” Eavey!

First, I just have to say a little bit about Dr. Ron Eavey “The Legend”, before sharing his bio and welcoming him as our newest Advisory Board Member. Ron is an incredible person who has dedicated decades of his work and care to the microtia and atresia community! He is my friend that I hold near and dear to my heart and someone that I am proud to call my mentor. Our organization is lucky to have him join our Board!

Ron has attended lots of Ear Community picnics over the years, seeing the joy microtia and atresia families find coming together at our events! Our picnics mean so much to Ron that he has brought his beautiful wife, Dr. Sheila Desmond, and his father, with him to our events. Getting to know Ron has been wonderful over the years! He is someone who takes you under his wing and is willing to offer support wherever he can! In 2016, Ron gave me an opportunity to work for him at Vanderbilt, helping launch the first all options microtia and atresia clinic at VUMC, which was an absolute honor! In 2018, Ron was right by my side when our organization presented before the FDA during a listening session about microtia and atresia.

For years, Ron has dedicated much of his work to helping our community. In fact, many of you may recall the research where an ear was grown on the back of a mouse. Well, Dr. Eavey was one of the researchers collaborating with Vacanti Labs on this work, which proved that complex tissues could be engineered in labs, laying the groundwork for modern organ regeneration and reconstructive medicine. AMAZING! Ron has also researched hearing loss and microtia for years with Drs. Jon and Christine Seidman at Harvard! Knowing all of the incredible things that Ron has worked on for our community, imagine my excitement when he asked me what else would I like to work on! Of course, I said I wanted to know why microtia happens! The next day, Ron had a call scheduled for us with Dr. Jon Seidman, which began our collaborative research that has since yielded new findings on microtia genetics due to damaging variants on FOXI3.

Ron Eavey’s bio:
“The pediatric ear has been the major career focus of Dr Roland (Ron) Eavey.

He is trained and double-boarded in both Pediatrics and Otolaryngology (Ear, Nose,Throat). He founded the Pediatric Otolaryngology Service at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and served in that capacity for three decades where he was also a Full Professor at Harvard Meical School. He also has a degree in healthcare management from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr Eavey was appointed the position at Vanderbilt University as the Director of the Bill Wilkerson Center for Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences as well as the Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery where he held the Guy M. Maness endowed Professorship. The Bill Wilkerson Center consistently has achieved the #1 national rankings for educational and training for Otolaryngology, Audiology, and Speech-Language Pathology, as well as #1 ranking in research funding from the NIH.

Most of Dr Eavey’s research collaborations have been oriented to the pediatric ear such as tissue engineering, – ‘the mouse with the ear on its back’ – in the Vacanti Lab, genes for sensorineural hearing loss and microtia in the Seidman Lab, epidemiology of hearing loss with the Curhan lab, and surveys for perception of hearing loss with MTV courtesy of Ms. Shari Redstone and Viacom. These publications have appeared in medical publications such as the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association of the as well as in media contributions such as Rolling Stone Magazine, CBS News, The BBC, Oprah, and the New York Times.

Internationally, for many years Dr. Eavey served as the US representative to the World Health Organization in Geneva concerning Ear disorders. He has traveled dozens of times globally, educating physicians about ear conditions.

He is a proud father and grandfather.”

Melissa Tumblin and Dr. Ron Eavey at the FDA presenting on microtia and aural atresia during a listening session in 2018.

Thank you for all that you have done for the microtia and atresia community, Ron, and thank you for liking what the Ear Community Organization does to help give back the microtia and atresia community! It is an absolute honor to have you join our organization’s Advisory Board!
Melissa Tumblin
Founder – Executive Director
Ear Community