Dr. Contrera specializes in removing and reconstructing tumors of the mouth, throat, thyroid, voice box, skin, and nasal cavity. As a microvascular surgeon, he performs “free flap/tissue” reconstruction while always emphasizing functional optimization of his patients. His research focuses on advancing head and neck oncology through clinical trials and has received over a dozen national research awards, including from the American College of Surgeons, NRG Oncology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
- MD Anderson Cancer Center, Fellowships in Advanced Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Microvascular Reconstructive Surgery
- Cleveland Clinic, Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery Residency
- Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, MPH
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, MD
- Xavier University, BS
Education & Training
Rapid and Sensitive Digital Droplet PCR Assays for Detecting HPV16 DNA in Liquid Biopsies. Loo SK, Feng J, Reeder C, Elias DA, Xu Z, Huang Y, Contrera KJ, Zevallos JP, Ferris R, Gao SJ.
J Med Virol. 2025 Jan;97(1):e70146. doi: 10.1002/jmv.70146.
Emerging Proximal Liquid Biopsy Approaches for Detecting Residual Disease and Predicting Recurrence in Head and Neck Cancer: A Review and Proposal of Novel Liquid Staging. Helou V, Smith JD, Harris M, Earland N, Contrera KJ, Chaudhuri AA, Zevallos JP. Head Neck. 2025 Mar 21. doi: 10.1002/hed.28138
Distinct CD8+ T cell dynamics associate with response to neoadjuvant cancer immunotherapies. Li H, Zandberg DP, Kulkarni A, Chiosea SI, Santos PM, Isett BR, Joy M, Sica GL, Contrera KJ, Tatsuoka CM, Brand M, Duvvuri U, Kim S, Kubik M, Sridharan S, Tu F, Chen J, Bruno TC, Vignali DAA, Cillo AR, Bao R, Wang JH, Vujanovic L, Ferris RL. Cancer Cell. 2025 Apr 14;43(4):757-775.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.02.026. Epub 2025 Mar 13.
Use of Tranexamic Acid in Head and Neck Free Flap Reconstruction. Bengur FB, Harris MK, Hu MS, Mualla R, Samadi A, Bourguillon O, Smith J, Nguyen VT, Gimbel ML, Contrera K, Spector M, Solari MG, Kubik MW, Sridharan SS. Microsurgery. 2025 Mar;45(3):e70046. doi: 10.1002/micr.70046.
The Evolution of Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Treatment. Contrera KJ, Reddy PD, Helou V, Myers JN, Skinner HD, Ferrarotto R, Myers EN. Laryngoscope. 2025 Feb 17. doi: 10.1002/lary.32064.
Dr. Contrera's research focuses on advancing head and neck oncology through clinical trials and has received over a dozen national research awards, including from the American College of Surgeons, NRG Oncology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.