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Elina Toskala MD, PhD, Joins Temple as Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Elina Toskala, MD, PhD, an internationally recognized specialist in respiratory allergy and immunology, has joined Temple University School of Medicine as Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. She comes to Temple from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Dr. Toskala was recently named the recipient of the 2012 Presidential Award of the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy for "serving as a model to your colleagues, an inspiration to your community, and a leader in the improvement of allergy education."
"We are thrilled to have an international physician-scientist of Dr. Toskala's caliber joining our faculty," said John H. Krouse, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Temple University School of Medicine. "She has a worldwide reputation not only as an otolaryngologist but as an allergist and respiratory immunologist, and has been a key leader in drafting international guidelines for the treatment of allergic and non-allergic rhinitis, as well as in investigating the effects of occupational exposures on the upper and lower airways."
A surgeon who specializes in ear, nose and throat problems, Dr. Toskala has a special interest in rhinology (the study of the nose and sinuses), allergic disorders, and immunotherapy. At Temple, in addition to clinical duties, she is planning to combine her skills in both basic science and patient care to conduct translational research in upper airway disease, particularly in allergic rhinitis and sinusitis and their relationship to asthma, with a focus on the underlying disease genetics and the development of new therapies.
Dr. Toskala has held numerous faculty positions at institutions in both Europe and the United States. She serves as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Helsinki School of Medicine in Finland. She was also Division Chief of Otorhinolaryngology and Respiratory Diseases at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, where she specialized in occupational and environmental respiratory diseases, including asthma. She was a Senior Scientist at the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia since 2010.
Dr. Toskala also serves as Adjunct Professor of Allergology in the Department of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania.
After earning her M.D. in 1992 from Kuopio University in Kuopio, Finland, she completed her Ph.D. in respiratory medicine there in 1994. She did her residency in otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Tampere University Hospital in Finland, and subsequently completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Wake Forest University and the University of California, Davis. Following her postdoctoral research, she also completed a two-year allergy fellowship at Helsinki University.
An author of more than 80 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, Dr. Toskala has lectured at institutions around the world. She is an associate editor of the International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology, and serves as a reviewer for many prestigious journals. She serves as a member of the Committee on Allergy, Asthma and Immunology of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and on the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Asthma and Rhinitis. A member of numerous professional groups, she is past president of the Finish Rhinologic Society and the Finnish Society of Allergology and Immunology, and was recently elected to the international honor society for otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum.
For more information or to schedule an appointment with a Temple physician, call 1-800-TEMPLE-MED (1-800-836-7536).
Date Published: Friday, October 05, 2012
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