Colleen Hochfelder

Division of Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery

Education

• Bachelor’s of Science in Biotechnology with minors in Anthropology and Chemistry, University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Medical Doctorate (MD), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx New York
• Master’s of Science in Clinical Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx New York
• Otolaryngology Residency, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Fellowship in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Microvascular Reconstruction, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Clinical Specialties

Dr. Hochfelder is a board-eligible otolaryngologist through the American Board of Otolaryngology and is a fellowship-trained head and neck surgical oncologist and microvascular reconstructive surgeon. She specializes in the care of patients with head and neck cancers, including cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx and larynx, salivary gland cancers, and endocrine cancers of the thyroid gland. She completed her fellowship in head and neck surgical oncology and microvascular reconstruction and offers complex reconstruction of the head and neck. Her specific areas of expertise include head and neck cancer (all mucosal, upper aerodigestive tract, anterior skill base, and skin), reconstruction (both free tissue transfer and local flaps), Mohs reconstruction, neck mass, thyroid mass, and parotid mass. She also specializes in robotic surgery.

Dr. Hochfelder provides a wide range of services including airway dilation, airway reconstruction, endoscopic partial laryngectomy, esophageal dilation, facial nerve repair, fine needle aspiration (FNA), free flap, free tissue transfer, functional neck dissection, laryngeal surgery, laser procedures, leukoplakia laser treatment, open partial laryngectomy, parotidectomy, repairs of skull base defects, skin cancer reconstruction, skull base surgery, thyroid lobectomy, thyroid surgery, total laryngectomy, total thyroidectomy, tracheostomy, transnasal esophagoscopy (TNE), transoral robotic surgery, Zenker’s diverticulectomy.

Research Interests

Dr. Hochfelder is a clinical researcher interested in outcomes among patients with head and neck cancer. She completed a Master of Science in clinical research while still a medical student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and was the recipient of The Louis Ritter Memorial Research Fellowship for Biomedical Research which helped to fund her graduate work. Her graduate thesis work focused on the management of hypopharyngeal cancer and utilizing large databases to explore treatment modalities and outcomes. She is specifically interested in clinical trials and novel treatments for head and neck cancer. Dr. Hochfelder has a research interest in potential environmental exposures which may be clinically relevant in head and neck cancer. She is currently investigating the granular relationship between PFAS in public water supply and cancer incidence using multiple large databases of PFAS in public water sources and county-level cancer incidence data. She is broadly interested in how emerging environmental exposures, such as PFAS and microplastics, may affect risk for head and neck malignancies among the population, and the interaction of rurality with these exposures.

Publications

More PubMed publications