Neurotologist Bryan Ward specializes in treating disorders of the ear and skull base, such as chronic ear disease, obstructive and patulous eustachian tube dysfunction, and conditions that cause dizziness, such as superior canal dehiscence syndrome, Meniere’s disease and bilateral vestibulopathy.
Dr. Ward earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed residency training in otolaryngology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, followed by fellowship training in eustachian tube disorders at Boston Children’s Hospital. He returned to Johns Hopkins for additional fellowship training in otology and neurotology.
He has research interests in vestibular physiology and pathophysiology, with a particular focus on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and interactions between strong magnetic fields and the inner ear.
The magnetic fields of MRI machines can induce a force in the inner ear that may cause dizziness and vertigo. This is a fundamentally new way of stimulating the vestibular system, and he is studying how the brain adapts to this stimulus. Dr. Ward is interested in understanding novel disorders of the inner ear vestibular system by developing improved MRI and via temporal bone histopathology.
His clinical research interests include eustachian tube disorders, the pathophysiology of inner ear disorders such as superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome, Meniere’s disease and bilateral vestibulopathy, as well as novel treatments, including the development of a vestibular implant (led by Charles Della Santina).