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Blackwell, Keith M.D.




Medical School Education
Institution: Northwest University Medical School
Year: 1988

Board Certified

Keith E. Blackwell, M.D. graduated with distinction from Northwestern University Medical School in 1988 and then completed a residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine in 1994. Following a one-year fellowship in the field of Microvascular Head and Neck Reconstructive Surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1995, He became a full time faculty member at University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine.

The vast majority of Dr. Blackwell’s clinical practice is devoted to the treatment of head and neck cancer and reconstruction of the head and neck region. He is among the busiest surgeons in the southwestern United States in the subspecialty. He has been fortunate to gain national and international recognition of his work. Blackwell has achieved a career success rate that exceeds 99 % in the field of free flap head and neck reconstruction, which is the highest success rate reported in the world’s literature in this specialty.

In 1998 Dr. Blackwell was appointed by his peers to be a founding member of the Microvascular Surgery Committee, which is the primary advisory committee to the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery for issues related to microvascular surgery. In addition, during the past years, visiting scholars from universities in Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, and the Philippines have traveled to UCLA to learn surgical techniques, which have been perfected under his tutelage at UCLA.

Dr. Blackwell directs a laboratory where the focus of investigation is the development of novel and improved methods of microvascular surgery. One major area of work is directed towards laryngeal transplantation, which may some day become the ideal method for rehabilitation of laryngeal cancer patients who undergo total laryngectomy, or surgical removal of the voice box.

As a faculty member, Dr. Blackwell’s contributions have focused on the creation of a strong research and clinical experience in the field of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery for medical students and postgraduate physicians. To foster interest and expertise in facial plastic surgery, he has organized and become Co-director of a postgraduate fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at UCLA, which was inaugurated in July 1998. He has also acted as Director or Co-director of a number of instructional courses in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. Additionally, he was awarded the Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Teaching Award in 1996, 1999 and 2000. In 1997, Dr. Blackwell was one of four faculty members nominated from a medical staff of over 1,000 physicians to receive the UCLA School of Medicine Outstanding Physician Award.

Postdoctoral Education
Institution Level (Intern,
Resident, Fellow)
Department Year
Mount Sinai Fellow Microvascular Surgery 1994-95
University of California Resident and Intern Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery 1990-94
University of California Resident General Surgery 1988-90

Research Interests

  • Microvascular Surgery

Clinical Interests

  • Microvascular Reconstruction
  • Skin Cancer Reconstruction
  • Facial Bone Fracture Reconstruction

Honors and Awards

  • Faculty Teaching Award

Hospital Staff Appointments

  • UCLA
  • Greater Los Angeles VA Medical Center

Academic/Teaching Appointments

  • Associate Professor

Titles

  • Associate Professor of Surgery

Memberships in Scholarly or Professional Societies

  • Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Medical Society
  • Fellow American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
  • Microvascular Surgery Study Club, American Academy of Otolarngology-Head and Neck Surgery
  • President, Paul Ward Society
  • Fellow American College of Surgeons
  • Fellow American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstractive Surgery
  • American Head and Neck Society

Head and Neck Surgery Division


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