About Me
Ashok A. Jagasia, MD, PhD, is the director of Otolaryngology at Rush Oak Park Hospital. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy and medical degree from Rush University and completed his residency in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery at Rush University Medical Center. He is board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.
Jagasia practices the full scope of comprehensive otolaryngology in adult and pediatric patients and has expertise in the areas of paranasal sinus disease, endoscopic sinus surgery, thyroid, parathyroid and salivary gland tumors, skin cancers, tonsillectomy, otitis media and sleep apnea. He was one of the first to determine the p16 tumor suppressor gene's role in the development of chondrosarcoma. He pursued a two-year research fellowship in leukemia and lymphoma at Loyola Medical Center and published several articles establishing the role of p16 tumor suppressor gene in the pathogenesis of both solid and hematopoietic malignancies.
Jagasia is currently collaborating with the National Argonne Laboratory on research related to trans-tympanic delivery of topical antibiotics using nanopeptides to treat otitis media. He is the founder of the Center for the Underserved at Rush ENT (CURE), which provides care for underserved communities locally among unhoused people in Chicago, regionally in rural Illinois and internationally in the Dominican Republic and India.
As the director of the Rush ENT Global Health program, Jagasia has led many trips to the Dominican Republic and provided care to rural communities in Illinois. He is developing a sustainable hearing program for children in the Dominican Republic and initiated a Global Health Symposium at Rush University that brings together physicians from around the world to collaborate and address challenges and disparities in ENT care.
Jagasia has been working with the unhoused population in Chicago and established an ENT clinic within the Franciscan Homeless Shelter and remains engaged in addressing the disparities related to ENT care in rural communities of Illinois. He has authored many op-eds in U.S. News & World Report and Huffington Post on health care and community service.
Jagasia’s dedication to community service and mentoring has been recognized through several awards, including the Physician of the Year Award for Community Service by the Illinois State Medical Society, the Physician Mentor of the Year Award by the Albert Schweitzer Foundation and the Physician Excellence Award in Community Service at Rush University.