Ryan Belcher, MD, MPH
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Topics: Cancer, Otolaryngology, Public Health, Surgery
Countries: Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, U.S.
Ryan H. Belcher, M.D. M.P.H. is originally from Walnut Ridge, AR. He received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Arkansas and his medical degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society. He then completed his otolaryngology-head and neck surgery residency at Emory University with global health honors. During his residency, he participated in a year-long Global Health Scholars Program that included spending a month in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, working alongside and teaching their otolaryngology staff and residents. He then completed his pediatric otolaryngology fellowship at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and subsequently joined the faculty as an assistant professor. Due to his passion for global surgery he obtained a Master's in Public Health from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine with an emphasis in global health graduating in 2021.
Dr. Belcher helped develop and is the Surgical Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Pediatric Thyroid Nodule and Cancer Program as well as a member of the Vanderbilt Cleft and Craniofacial team. His clinical interests are pediatric thyroids, head and neck masses, craniofacial syndromes including cleft lip and palate, velopharyngeal dysfunction and speech outcomes, mandibular distraction, and global health related endeavors. He has published several book chapters and over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles in these clinical areas. His passion for global health has led to performing surgery internationally for cleft lip and palate among other craniofacial syndromes in Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon, Philippines, Guatemala and Mexico. In 2021, Dr. Belcher was named by Nashville Business Journal to their annual 40 under 40 for young professionals in Nashville, TN who are making a difference in their business and community. He has served as a Senator for the Vanderbilt University Faculty Senate, representing the Vanderbilt School of Medicine and is a Next Generation Board Member for a local healthcare non-profit, Siloam Health, which provides medical care to the local refugee and uninsured of central Tennessee