David Witsell is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at Duke University Medical Center (DUMC). He was recruited to DUMC in July 1995 after finishing his residency at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

During his residency, he excelled in clinical work, as well as teaching and research. At the end of his residency at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he was given the Nathan A. Womack Scholarship Award. This award is given to the Chief Resident in Surgery who is felt to be clinically solid and focused, a superior educator, and has demonstrated a strong commitment to the values of academic medicine.

Since his arrival at Duke, Dr. Witsell has grown in his understanding of the pathophysiology of diseases of the ear, nose, and throat and has explored old, new, and emerging treatment options, and continues to work to understand the evidence that supports clinical decision making. He has worked to build an academic career that accesses his motivations and his individual skills in a productive way that benefits Duke University and the specialty of otolaryngology, and has earned the respect of his colleagues for his ambition and enthusiasm for his multi-center clinical research approach.

He earned his Masters in Health Science in clinical research while balancing clinical productivity, didactic work, and research, and now uses that degree and the skills that were built with it in his academic career.

Through the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), and support of the Department of Surgery, Dr. Witsell has been able to expand his vision of his career from one of local accomplishments to one that boasts of collaboration through clinical research. Initially, he established the Surgeons’ Outcomes Research Cooperative (SOURCE) in 1996 with Dr. Rowena Dolor. The idea behind this initiative was to build a research network to explore outcomes and health-related quality of life for ENT patients. Originally, he drew upon the Duke alumni to establish the network, but then expanded the network to other alumni of colleagues at other institutions. Over the course of approximately two years, the SOURCE network became a network of nearly 600 physicians who accurately identified the need in otolaryngology to collaborate, and created an operational structure that was effective and attracted support from research sponsors.

Dr. Witsell is now the Medical Director for the Research Department of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF), the research division that is called the National Center for the Promotion of Research in Otolaryngology (NCPRO).

While clinical research has been Dr. Witsell’s academic niche at Duke University Medical Center, the clinical aspects of his career have grown and become more focused since he joined Duke in 1995. Dr. Witsell’s area of expertise is in Voice Disorders but also enjoys seeing a wide variety of patients as a general otolaryngologist.