Carol R. Bradford, MD, MS, FACS
Carol R. Bradford, MD, MS, FACS, joined The Ohio State University in October 2020. She serves as the dean of The Ohio State University College of Medicine and as vice president for Health Sciences at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. She is also the Leslie H. and Abigail S. Wexner Dean’s Chair in Medicine and a professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.
An internationally recognized head and neck cancer surgeon-scientist and leader in academic medicine, Dean Bradford has focused her research on developing therapies to combat certain types of head and neck cancer that are resistant to traditional forms of treatment. She also spearheaded the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy as a safe and reliable tool to stage patients with melanoma of the head and neck. She has published more than 330 peer-reviewed articles and more than 20 book chapters.
Dean Bradford earned her master’s degree in microbiology/immunology and her medical degree (cum laude) from the University of Michigan. She completed a general surgery internship at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital and a research fellowship and otolaryngology – head and neck surgery residency at the University of Michigan before joining the faculty there in 1992. While there, she served as chair of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery from 2009-16 and as executive vice dean for Academic Affairs from 2016-20. She also held the Charles J. Krause, MD, Collegiate Professorship in Otolaryngology from 2012-18.
Throughout her career, Dean Bradford has received many awards recognizing her dedication to education, research, patient care and mentorship. Those include a Distinguished Service Award, a Presidential Citation and the Margaret F. Butler Outstanding Mentor of Women in Head and Neck Surgery Award from the American Head and Neck Society (AHNS).
In 2012, Dean Bradford was elected as the first woman president of the AHNS. In 2020, she served a one-year term as president of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and was inducted into the academy’s Hall of Distinction in 2023. She also received the Helen F. Krause Memorial Trailblazer Award from the academy’s Women in Otolaryngology section.
Dean Bradford is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, American Head and Neck Society, The Triological Society and American Laryngological Association. She is also a member of the prestigious National Academy of Medicine, the Gold Humanism Honor Society and the Courage to Teach initiative, which is an integral component of the Humanism & the Arts in Medicine program at Ohio State.
Locally, she serves on the boards of the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, the largest food bank in the state of Ohio, and Pelotonia, an initiative that raises funds for innovative cancer research. In 2024, she was appointed to the Internal Scientific Advisory Board for the Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
Under Dean Bradford’s leadership, the Ohio State College of Medicine is committed to transforming the health of our communities through inclusive and innovative education, discovery and care. She believes staff and faculty recognition is crucial to the success of the college and its initiatives, and she strives to help foster a culture of appreciation where people feel valued and have the opportunity to thrive and excel.