Robert Thayer Sataloff

Robert Thayer Sataloff (born February 22, 1949) is an American otolaryngologist, musician, and author. He is currently a professor and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine. He also teaches on the faculty of the Academy of Vocal Arts, and is an adjunct professor at Thomas Jefferson University, and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is widely recognized for his treatment of voice disorders in professional singers, and has had many celebrity clients. A classically trained baritone, Sataloff has performed professionally as a singer. He is also a composer, and is the founder and longtime music director of the Thomas Jefferson University Choir.

A prolific writer, Sataloff is the author or co-author of 75 books and more than 1,000 publications in a variety of medical and music journals. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Voice, former editor-in-chief of Ear, Nose and Throat Journal (now editor emeritus), associate editor of the Journal of Singing, and serves on the editorial boards of various otolaryngology journals.

Early life The son of Joseph and Ruth Sataloff, Robert Thayer Sataloff was born on February 22, 1949, in Philadelphia. His father was a pioneering ear surgeon who contributed to the creation of the subspecialty of occupational hearing loss. He began watching his father perform surgeries when he was 8 years old, and began studying singing seriously at the age of 12. His voice teacher was tenor Howell Zulick. That same year he won the Tri-County Music Competition. At HC he studied music composition with Harold Boatrite and John Davison, harpsichord with Temple Painter, and conducting with William Reese. Not long after he was the bass soloist in Dave Brubeck's oratorio The Light in the Wilderness with Chorus pro Musica of Boston. This opera was a co-production of the music schools of HC and Bryn Mawr College, and it was reviewed well in the press when it was toured for performances at Riverside Church in New York City. In April 1970 he was a soloist in Bach's Peasant Cantata at Philadelphia's Bach Festival of the Main Line. He performed his senior recital as a baritone at Roberts Hall, HC on May 7, 1971. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music from HC later that year with an emphasis in music theory and music composition.

Graduate studies in medicine and music While studying music at HC, Sataloff pursued concurrent studies in medicine at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) where he initially was enrolled in an MD–PhD program. The chorus has occasionally served as the opera chorus for productions of operas staged by the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA).

Sataloff graduated with a Doctor of Medicine degree from TJU in 1975. He subsequently completed both a Residency and Fellowship in Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Michigan (UM). His fellowship was in neuro-otology and skull base surgery. They married on October 17, 1976. Dahlia M. Sataloff, a breast surgeon and concert pianist, Robert was the conductor of the Ann Arbor Community Singers while working and studying at UM. He also was trained by William F. House in cochlear implant surgery.

While working as a surgeon, Staloff pursued graduate studies in vocal music at Combs College of Music. He concurrently worked as an associate professor of otolaryngology at TJU during the 1980s. During this period he became a pioneer in the field of performing arts medicine in relation to care of the professional voice, and was the author of the first medical textbook material written on the subject. He was the founder and director of the Arts Medicine Center (AMC) at TJU when it was established in 1986. At that time he was one of the few medical doctors who specialized in the care of professional singers. He was featured on CBS Sunday Morning on January 4, 1987.

By 1987 Sataloff was also an instructor at the Curtis Institute of Music in addition to his other work, He became a pioneer in cosmetic voice surgery, and was appointed Chairman of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia. By 2007 he was working as a professor and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine. He remains in that position as of 2026, and concurrently works as an adjunct professor at TJU, and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Sataloff is a past president of the International Association of Phonosurgeons, and is the inventor of more than 100 laryngeal surgical instruments. He performed surgeries on coach and athlete Bill Cartwright after his larynx was fractured in a basketball game. He also treated author Martha Grimes for spasmodic dysphonia. He is the author or co-author of 75 books and more than 1,000 publications in a variety of medical and music journals. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Voice, former editor-in-chief of Ear, Nose and Throat Journal (now editor emeritus), associate editor of the Journal of Singing, and serves on the editorial boards of various otolaryngology journals.

With his father and L. A. Vasallo, Sataloff co-authored the book Hearing Loss (1980), There are also multiple editions of another book they co-authored, Occupational Hearing Loss, which was also published by Taylor & Francis. Father and son also co-authored a paper published inTexas Medicine in 1984 that described hearing loss as "the nation's most prevalent industrial disease" while simultaneously stating it was entirely preventable at little cost. In an interview, Robert Sataloff discussed the need for scientific evidence to influence politicians in their decision making in passing legislation to protect American workers from hearing damage. Many companies, he stated, failed to protect their workers by providing in-expensive ear protection unless they were forced to do so.

Personal life Robert Sataloff and his wife Dahlia Mishell have twin sons, John is a psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. Ben is a healthcare consultant.

Partial list of publications Books

Journal articles