Michael J. Cunningham

Dr. Cunningham is a graduate of Princeton University (1977) and the Rochester University School of Medicine (1981). He completed pediatrics training at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Otolaryngology training at the University of Pittsburgh. He has practiced as a pediatric otolaryngologist since 1989, previously at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and presently at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is the current Otolaryngologist-in-Chief of the Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Enhancement, and a Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the Harvard Medical School.

His previous educational roles include Director of the Harvard Residency Program in Otolaryngology, and vice chair of the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education committee responsible for overseeing otolaryngology residency and fellowship training in the United States.

He has played an active role in many professional societies, most notably as past president of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology, and past chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and Surgery Advisory Panel.

In addition to graduate medical education, his principal clinical/research interests are congenital and neoplastic head & neck masses and pediatric sinus disease.

Selected Publications

1. Shin JJ, Page JH, Shapiro J, Gray ST, Cunningham MJ. Validation of a clinical practice ability instrument for surgical training. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010; 142:493-499.
2. Cunningham MJ, Lin AA. Pediatric otolaryngology: The maturation of a surgical subspecialty. (Triologic Society Candidate Thesis) Laryngoscope. 2011; 121: 194-201.
3. Sedaghat AR, Phipatanakul W, Cunningham MJ. Atopy and the development of chronic rhinosinusitis in children with allergic rhinitis. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2013; 1:689-691.e2. PMD: 24349965.
4. Shin J, Cunningham MJ, Editors. Otolaryngology: Prep and Practice. San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing, San Diego, CA, 2013.
5. Jabbour J, Doefer, KW, Robey T, Cunningham MJ. Trends in pediatric otolaryngology disparities research. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2018; 159:173-177.
6. Adil, EA, Medina G, Cunningham MJ. Pediatric tonsil cancer: A national and international perspective. J Pediatr. 2018; 197:255-261.
7. McKeon M, Medina G, Kawai K, Cunningham MJ, Adil E. Readmissions following ambulatory pediatric endoscopic sinus surgery. Laryngoscope. 2019; 129:2681-2686.
8. Thong G, Dombrowski ND, Kawai K, Cunningham MJ, Adil EA. Balloon sinuplasty utilization in the pediatric population: A national database perspective. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2019; 161:683-687.
9. Doody J, Adil EA, Trenor CC, Cunningham MJ. The genetic and molecular determinants of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma: A systematic review. Annals Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2019: 128:1061-1072.
10. Brooks JA, Cunningham MJ, Koempel JA, Kawai K, Huang JK, Weitzman RE, Osterbauer B, Hughes AL. “To drain or not to drain following a Sistrunk procedure: A dual institutional experience.” Int J Pediatr Otolaryngorhinol. 2019; 127:1-4.