Regan Bergmark, MD, of the Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, was selected as the 2021 H. Richard Nesson Fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her project, “Disparities in Timely Access to Quality Surgical Care at Brigham Health and in the Boston Community,” focuses on understanding inequities in timely access to local surgical care to improve access for local communities of color and individuals of low socioeconomic status.
Established in 1997, the H. Richard Nesson Fellowship is a two-year fellowship awarded to health care professionals interested in health care policy, local or state community health research, or other community clinical care that addresses society’s critical and emerging health care needs.
Delayed access to surgical care can lead to increased morbidity and mortality and are inequitably experienced by communities of color and individuals of low socioeconomic status. Moreover, people of color and those of low socioeconomic status are less likely to receive high-quality surgical care even if eminent services are nearby. Through the Nesson Fellowship, Dr. Bergmark aims to study inequities and barriers to timely surgical care at the Brigham and across Mass General Brigham and then design an RO1 intervention trial to improve access for communities of color and individuals of low economic status in the Boston area.
Regan Bergmark, MD, FARS
Associate Surgeon, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Instructor in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Bergmark is a sinus and endoscopic skull base surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a John Gardner Public Service Fellow prior to earning her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. At Harvard Medical School, Dr. Bergmark received the Hollis Albright Award for Excellence in the Surgical Sciences, presented to one Harvard Medical School student annually. After her internship in general surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she completed residency training in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery at Harvard Medical School – Massachusetts Eye and Ear. She then completed fellowship surgical training in rhinology and anterior skull base surgery at Harvard Medical School – Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. Bergmark was then the Gliklich Healthcare Innovation Scholar at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, as well as a visiting scholar at the American Board of Medical Specialties, prior to joining the Brigham faculty.
She is board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. She additionally has advanced expertise in the evaluation and treatment of patients with sinonasal and skull base disorders, including chronic sinusitis, recurrent sinus infections, nasal polyps, septal deviation, nasal obstruction, turbinate hypertrophy, tumors of the sinuses or nasal passage, aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease and patients with sinus disorders requiring revision sinus surgery.
Dr. Bergmark works closely with physicians in related fields such as allergy and immunology, pulmonology, neurosurgery and oncology to provide compassionate multidisciplinary care to her patients. Her research and writing has been published in journals such as Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Rhinology, Laryngoscope, Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, JAMA-Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
In addition to her research on sinus and skull base diseases, Dr. Bergmark investigates how health outcomes measures, such as patient reported outcomes measures, can be better used and implemented across diverse patient populations. Her work has focuses on underserved populations within and beyond the U.S. She is on faculty at the Harvard Center for Surgery and Public Health, where she works with a large team of surgeons and researchers to understand how to provide better access to quality care and better health to people worldwide.
