It's been a busy year at the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF OHNS)! Take a trip down memory lane with us as we revisit ten of the most exciting department announcements in 2022.
1. We welcomed our incoming class of residents on Match Day!
In March, we were excited to find out which five medical school students would continue their careers here at UCSF: Nikhil Arora, MD, Shaghauyegh Azar, MD, Alexandra Bourdillon, MD, Emma Djabali, MD, and Michelle Florentine, MD.
2. Our chief residents matched at prestigious fellowships across the country.
This month, we were pleased the share the next steps of our three incredible chief residents, Kara Brodie, MD, MPhil, Abel David, MD, and Gaelen Stanford-Moore, MD, MPhil, who will all pursue competitive fellowships next year.
3. Steven Pletcher, MD, contributed to "The Otolaryngology Resident Program Preference Signaling Experience" in the journal Academic Medicine.
Dr. Pletcher, professor and director of the UCSF OHNS resident program, was the first author on a paper about the "signaling" experience for residency applicants to provide applicants with a more equitable way to stand out.
4. We welcomed three accomplished clinicians to our faculty throughout the year.
Caroline Schlocker, MD, joined our faculty in August after a full career in the United States Navy. In October, Grace Banik, MD, came to us from a fellowship at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Megan Durr, MD, FACS, joined our faculty in November from an appointment as a senior physician at Kaiser Permanente.
5. Our department placed in the top ten on two national rankings.
We are proud that UCSF OHNS retained our #4 national ranking for NIH grant funding for OHNS departments. We were also proud to rank sixth in the nation among Ear, Nose and Throat Hospitals, according to the 2022 US News Best Hospital ranking!
6. Jacqueline Harris, MD, was awarded an ASPO CORE grant and Neil Patel, MD, was awarded an ARS Resident Research Grant.
Dr. Harris, a resident at UCSF OHNS, was awarded a grant for a study that aims to address disparities in hearing loss genetics by re-classifying variants that have been identified in under-represented minority children with sensorineural hearing loss. Dr. Patel, also a resident, received a grant on behalf of the ARS, the AAO-HNSF and the CORE Study Section for his proposal titled "Role of Chemosensory Tuft Cells in the Pathogenesis of Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps."
7. Many faculty members were recognized with awards and honors in 2022, including…
- Charles Limb, MD, was recognized as the Distinguished Clinical Research Scholar at the NIH
- Christoph Schreiner, MD, PhD was the recipient of the ARO Award of Merit
- Patrick Ha, MD, was named editor-in-chief of Head and Neck
- Jolie Chang, MD, and Megan Durr, MD, FACS, were named Associate Editors of Laryngoscope
- Andrew N. Goldberg, MD, MSCE, FACS, was named President-Elect of the Triological Society
- Steven Cheung, MD, is the current Chair of the UCSF Academic Senate
- Clark Rosen, MD, completed his term as President of the American Laryngological Association
- Kristina Rosbe, MD, received the American Academy of Pediatrics Advocacy Award
- Daniel Knott, MD, Dr. Chang, Dr. Durr and VyVy Young, MD, became fellows of the Triological Society
8. Jennifer Grandis, MD, authored an article on gender equity in medicine and was featured in a video series on women mentors.
On top of her work as a professor at UCSF OHNS, Dr. Grandis conducted research on gender equity in medicine, authored an article about ongoing gender bias in academic medicine, worked a forthcoming book on the subject and was featured in the Charting the Course: Interviews with Women Mentors video series.
9. Matthew Spitzer, PhD, was awarded an NIH R01 grant to study immune determinants from OED to OSCC.
Dr. Spitzer received the grant for a study which will "harness multiplexed ion beam imaging technology to answer fundamental questions" about the immune response and to guide treatment decisions for patients with oral epithelial dysplasia, said Dr. Spitzer.
10. Last but not least, we got to spend time with each other throughout the year!
In the spring, members of our team attended the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings 2022 in Dallas. We had a great time connecting with colleagues, meeting future residents, attending talks and presenting research. We can't wait until the next meeting!
Recently, our residents had the chance to get together at the 2022 OHNS Resident Holiday Party, and we all got to celebrate together at the department holiday party! We are so grateful to everyone in our department for their diligent work every single day!
We hope you enjoyed this recap of 2022, which was another productive and impactful year for UCSF OHNS. We are excited to continue our work in 2023. To read more about what we've been up to over the past year, visit our blog, our Twitter profile and our LinkedIn page!
