Dr. Hee-Young Kim, MD, MS, PhD, is an otolaryngology specialist based in Seoul, Republic of Korea, with a longstanding clinical and research focus on Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) and middle ear physiology. He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Otolaryngology–ENT Research.
Dr. Kim’s research focuses on middle ear pressure (MEP), pressure regulation, and their clinical relevance to Eustachian tube–related disorders, as well as patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in their diagnosis and management. His recent scholarly work increasingly emphasizes mechanism-based approaches to ETD and the integration of middle ear physiology into precision diagnostics and AI-assisted clinical reasoning.
Dr. Kim is affiliated with the Department of Professional, Corporate, and Continuing Education at Harvard Medical School and the Center for Executive and Continuing Professional Education at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in addition to his clinical affiliation with Kim Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic in Seoul. He serves as an Academic Learning Mentor (ALM) in the Principles and Practice of Clinical Research (PPCR) program, where he contributes to the mentorship of clinical researchers and the development of research questions, study design, and methodological reasoning. His educational activities also extend to medical education and professional development.
He is the author of multiple peer-reviewed publications and book chapters addressing ground-level alternobaric vertigo, swallowing disorders related to ETD, and ETD-associated hearing loss. His scholarly work seeks to connect clinically observable physiology with mechanistic interpretation, with the broader goal of improving diagnostic accuracy and advancing individualized approaches to otologic disorders.
Outside his academic commitments, Dr. Kim enjoys playing the violin and contributing to scientific communication and medical education.
Dr. Mayte Pinilla Urraca is Medical Specialist in Otorhinolaryngology Hospital Puerta de Hierro Madrid (Spain) from 1996. She obtained the degree in Medicine and Surgery at the University Autonoma of Madrid (Spain) in June 1991 and performed the Residency Training Program in Otorhinolaryngology in the ENT Department, Clinica Puerta Hierro of Madrid (Spain) from January 1992 to December 1995. Dr Pinilla is General Practitioner in the Spanish National Health System, as well as in the Public Social Security Systems in the other Member States of the European Communities since October 1994. She is Doctor in Medicine and Surgery University Autonoma of Madrid (Spain) with the Doctoral Thesis: "Implants in middle ear ossicular replacement A morpho-functional in humans and experimental animal study" in 1998. She has participated as researcher collaborator in different projects F.I.S.S since 1993 until 2002 about induced immune inner ear pathology and Biomaterials implanted in the middle ear. She is also clinical collaborator professor of the Department of Surgery in Medicine Faculty of the UAM from 1992 to the present time and in the eight theoretical and practical courses motorized endoscopic sinus surgery from 2007 until today .She is member of the Spanish Society of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery since 1992 and actually is member of occupational european working group ECRHS III.
Research Interest
Sinonasal and ear pathology its medical and surgical treatment.
