Eugene B. Kern, MD,MS

About Dr. Kern

Dr. Eugene B. Kern
In the early 1970s at Mayo Clinic, listening to patients learning the enduring lessons of Rhinology.
Dr. Eugene B. Kern
In traditional Mayo surgical scrubs. Senior surgeions often wore their surgical mask on their forehead between operations.

Eugene B. Kern, MD, MS is Professor Emeritus of Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. During more than five decades in academic medicine I authored over 200 scientific publications and six textbooks, performed more than 10,000 major surgical procedures, including over 1,000 trans-nasal pituitary operations in cooperation with neurosurgeon Edward R. Laws, Jr., MD.

“The best surgery begins with understanding normal function.” EBK

Throughout my career I emphasized that successful nasal surgery depends on preserving physiologic function as much as correcting anatomy. My recent work focuses on the relationship between nasal anatomy, sensory physiology and the conscious perception of the sense of breathing. I directed the Mayo Clinic Rhinology Laboratory, where, over the years, 31 physician-scientists from around the world advanced modern concepts of nasal physiology and surgery.

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