Kiran Kakarala
University of Kansas School of Medicine
- Endocrine Surgery
- Head and Neck Research
- Head and Neck Surgeon
- Reconstructive Head & Neck Surgery
3901 Rainbow Blvd
Kansas City, KS 66160
United States
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Dr. Kakarala is Professor and Vice Chair for Patient Safety and Quality Improvement in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He is the Director of Fellowship in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Microvascular Reconstruction accredited by the American Head and Neck Society. Dr. Kakarala came to the University of Kansas in 2012 after completing medical school and residency at Harvard Medical School and a fellowship in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Microvascular Reconstruction at the James Cancer Center of the Ohio State University.
His clinical expertise includes the surgical management of benign and malignant conditions of the head and neck, including oral and throat cancers, thyroid, parathyroid, skin, and salivary gland tumors. He has a particular interest in microvascular free flap reconstruction after major head and neck surgery, as well as transoral robotic surgery for tumors of the back of the throat.
Dr. Kakarala is active in several professional organizations including the American Head and Neck Society, for which he serves as Chair of the Salivary Section and Chair of the Quality Committee for the Reconstruction Section. He is a member of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
His research interest centers around improving the quality of head and neck cancer care. He has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and has given presentations at local, regional, national, and international head and neck surgery meetings.
A Magna Cum Laude graduate of Princeton University in 2001, he went on to receive a Fulbright Fellowship to the United Kingdom where he earned a Masters in Health Care Ethics and Law with Distinction in 2002. He was awarded the Chief Resident Teaching award by the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School Department of Otolaryngology in 2011, and the Faculty Teaching Award by the University of Kansas Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery in 2015.