Feb 3, 2026
Kara D. Meister, MD, Chair of the AAO-HNSF Pediatric Otolaryngology Education Committee and pediatric ENT at Stanford Children's Health, shares how environmental exposures are shaping the future of pediatric otolaryngology. Learn about emerging evidence linking wildfire smoke to croup presentations, air quality's role in sleep-disordered breathing, and groundbreaking microplastics research in pediatric tonsils. Dr. Meister, whose personal journey includes losing both parents to cancer after growing up near industrial plants, explains why environmental health is firmly "in our lane" as otolaryngologists. Discover practical ways to integrate simple environmental health questions into your clinical workflow, counsel families on exposure reduction, and leverage AI and large datasets to understand population-level impacts. Get actionable strategies for staying current with this rapidly evolving field while meeting modern patients' questions about climate, air quality, and environmental toxins affecting their children's health.