My philosophy
Our faces are of the utmost importance, helping us establish first impressions as we move through our daily lives, conveying emotions and intentions and helping us to connect with others. At the forefront of my motivation as a physician is my drive to understand my patients as individuals. I am committed to understanding each person’s unique background, goals and concerns, and to collaborate to achieve the best possible outcomes, whether it be for reconstructive or aesthetic purposes. As a facial plastic & reconstructive surgeon, my goal is to help individuals align their internal self-concept with their external appearance through both non-surgical and surgical methods.
Training and experience
Dr. Bigelow completed her undergraduate degree at Princeton University, majoring in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology with a concentration in the Classics. She went on to complete her medical degree at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, from which she graduated Magna cum Laude. She then completed a 7-year residency program in Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins University, during which time she completed a 2-year NIH T32 research fellowship, focusing on head and neck cancer survivorship and treatment decision making. Currently, she is completing her fellowship in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at UCSF, where she focuses clinically on techniques in rhinoplasty, Mohs reconstruction, facial paralysis, facial gender affirmation surgery, free tissue transfer for head and neck cancer reconstruction, facial trauma, and treatment of the aging face.
Honors & Awards
Dr. Bigelow was selected as a junior member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and to the Gold Humanism Honors Society during medical school, where she also received the William C. Gray. M.D. Memorial Price for medical student excellence in otolaryngology, as well as the Joanne Hatem, M.D. Award for her humanism in the practice of clinical medicine. During residency at Johns Hopkins, she served as Administrative Chief Resident, and also received the Henkel Chief Resident Teacher of the Year Award and the Duane Sewell Resident Award for Professionalism and Humanitarianism.
Research & Innovation
Dr. Bigelow’s research interests include examining how patients use information to make decisions about their surgical treatment options, with the ultimate goal of helping patients feel confident in their decisions. She also has interest in outcomes of treatments for facial paralysis and local and microvascular surgical reconstruction.
Selected Publications
1. Windon MJ, Le D, D’Souza G, Bigelow EO et al. Treatment decision-making among patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer: A qualitative study. Oral Oncol. 2021;112:105044. doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2020.105044
2. Zhang Y, D’Souza G, Fakhry C, Bigelow EO et al. Oral Human Papillomavirus Associated With Differences in Oral Microbiota Beta Diversity and Microbiota Abundance. J Infect Dis. 2022;226(6):1098-1108. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiac010
3. Scott-Wittenborn N, D’Souza G, Tewari S, et al. Prevalence of human papillomavirus in head and neck cancers at tertiary care centers in the United States over time. Cancer. 2022;128(9):1767-1774. doi:10.1002/cncr.34124
4. Fakhry C, Tewari SR, Zhang L, et al. RTOG-0129 risk groups are reproducible in a prospective multicenter heterogeneously treated cohort. Cancer. 2021;127(19):3523-3530. doi:10.1002/cncr.33682
5. Drake V, Bigelow E, Fakhry C, et al. Biologic and behavioral associations of estrogen receptor alpha positivity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Oral Oncol. 2021;121:105461. doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2021.105461
6. Bigelow EO, Windon MJ, Fakhry C, Kiess AP, Seiwert T, D’Souza G. Development of a web-based, patient-centered decision aid for oropharyngeal cancer treatment. Oral Oncol. 2021;123:105618. doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2021.105618
7. Bigelow EO, Seiwert TY, Fakhry C. Deintensification of treatment for human papillomavirus-related oropharyngeal cancer: Current state and future directions. Oral Oncol. 2020;105:104652. doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2020.104652
8. Bigelow EO, Harris J, Fakhry C, et al. Risk stratification after recurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related and non-HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer: Secondary analysis of NRG Oncology RTOG 0129 and 0522. Head Neck. 2022;44(1):158-167. doi:10.1002/hed.26915
9. Bigelow EO, Blackford AL, Eytan DF, Eisele DW, Fakhry C. Reply to Survivors of cancer despite poor quality of care are heroes. Cancer. 2020;126(14):3373-3374. doi:10.1002/cncr.32924
10. Bigelow EO, Blackford AL, Eytan DF, Eisele DW, Fakhry C. Burden of comorbidities is higher among elderly survivors of oropharyngeal cancer compared with controls. Cancer. 2020;126(8):1793-1803. doi:10.1002/cncr.32703
Invited Speaking Engagements
“What I Wish My PD Knew,” Society for University Otolaryngologists, Washington, DC, 4 Nov 2023.
Invited panelist to speak on a trainee’s perspective on humanism in medicine at the Johns Hopkins Symposium on Humanism and Medicine, 14 Dec 2019.
Grand Rounds, Johns Hopkins University Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
• “Survivorship in oropharyngeal cancer,” 8 Jul 2019
• “Impact of comorbidity on survivorship in oropharyngeal cancer,” 2 Feb 2019