Yolanda D. Heman-Ackah, MD is a retired otolaryngologist, certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology, who subspecialized in professional voice care and laryngology. Her background as a trained musician, dancer, and singer makes her uniquely qualified to understand the vocal demands of the performing artist, and to tailor treatment of professional voice disorders based on this understanding. Her primary practice focus was in treating the professional voice user (singers, actors, public speakers, physicians, lawyers, teachers, etc.), but she also treated other voice and airway problems such as laryngopharyngeal reflux disease, spasmodic dysphonia, laryngeal papillomatosis, airway stenosis, vocal fold paresis and paralysis, arytenoid dislocation, and laryngeal cancer. Her approach to the care of the professional voice was multidisciplinary and included the active involvement of speaking voice therapists, acting voice therapists, singing voice therapists, gastroenterologists, neurologists, pulmonologists, general surgeons, and other healthcare professionals, as indicated by the individual patient's needs.
Dr. Heman-Ackah received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and her Doctor of Medicine degree from Northwestern University as part of the Honors Program in Medical Education. She completed a residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Minnesota and then completed a fellowship in Professional Voice Care and Laryngology under the preceptorship of Robert T. Sataloff, M.D., D.M.A. in Philadelphia, PA. Following her fellowship, she founded and directed the Voice Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she brought professional voice care to the Chicago voice community. She has also held the positions of Head of the Section of Laryngology and Co-Director of the Voice Center at the Cleveland Clinic and faculty appointments at Drexel University College of Medicine and Thomas Jefferson University Sidney Kimmel Medical College.
Dr. Heman-Ackah is known nationally and internationally for her pioneering research on the laryngeal chemoreflex, which furthered our understanding of how laryngeal reflexes can contribute to sudden infant death syndrome, as well as for her research in developing the cepstral peak prominence as a measure for voice analysis and in describing strobovideolaryngoscopic findings in singers. Dr. Heman-Ackah received numerous awards and grants for her research, including awards from the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, the American Laryngological Association, and the American Laryngological Voice Research and Education Foundation. She was elected to membership in the International Association of Phonosurgeons, the American Laryngological Association, the Triologic Society, and the American Broncho-Esophagological Society. She also held memberships in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the Voice and Speech Trainer's Association (VASTA), the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and of the Voice Foundation. She wrote numerous publications, including co-authoring the first textbook on laryngeal electromyography and the first physician written patient guide on voice care. She was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Voice and Voice and Speech Review and a reviewer for Laryngoscope, Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Journal, and Annals of Otology, Rhinology, and Laryngology. She was named a Top Doctor by America’s Top Doctor. She pioneered advancements in voice care through her basic science and clinical research, as well as through educational programs for medical students, residents, singing teachers, speech-language pathologists, otolaryngologists, and other physicians and voice professionals.