Message From the Chair
Message from the Chair
The Year of the Crane
In the Chinese zodiac this is the Year of the Horse. At UCSF, though, I think it is the Year of the Crane. That’s because there are construction cranes all over campus.
Steel girders are being placed for the new hospital at Parnassus Heights. Also at Parnassus, the structure for our new Barbara and Gerson Bakar Research and Academic Building (BRAB) is being completed. In Oakland, our new children’s hospital building is rising, and the former Potrero Power Station is being transformed into a new clinical building at Mission Bay.
Notably, as you may have seen on page 1 of this issue of Heads Up!, the UC Board of Regents has approved plans for our Bakar Ear and Hearing Institute (BEHI). The building has a mature architectural plan, and a lot at Mission Bay is being cleared for the start of construction. Charles Limb, MD, is the department’s director of that ambitious project. You will be hearing from him about the build out of the BEHI over the next few years.
Dr. Limb’s Division of Neurotology has launched a neurotology fellowship at UCSF. Interviews for this year’s match were recently completed, and we are looking forward to welcoming the inaugural fellow in 2027. On the subject of the ear and hearing, Michael Merzenich, PhD, was recognized with the Broad Institute’s 2026 Merkin Prize, which was shared with other scientists for career work on the cochlear implant. This is the most recent honor for Mike, who was the 2016 recipient of the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience and the 2015 recipient of the Russ Prize in Bioengineering.
Three new faculty have joined our department: David Schoppy, MD, PhD, in our Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery Division; Krista Schoppy, MD, in our Pediatric Otolaryngology Division; and Montana Upton, MD, in our Division of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
In other faculty news, John Houde, PhD, recently retired. We thank John for his extraordinary contributions to UCSF and the field of speech neuroscience. I also want to recognize Dan Johnson, PhD, who retired this past summer. He was our outstanding Vice Chair of Research, and we will miss him in that role. Succeeding Dan as vice chair is Dylan Chan, MD, PhD, who brings his outstanding expertise in pediatric otolaryngology, hearing research, and mentorship to the position.
Congratulations are in order on the following achievements: Steven D. Pletcher, MD, was named the Roger Boles, MD, Chair in Otolaryngology Education. Reflecting her dedication to training residents and medical students every day, Megan Durr, MD, has been elected to the Class of 2026 of the elite Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators at UCSF.
New faculty member Tokunbo Ayeni, MD, was named a 2026 UCSF Watson Scholar. Caroline Schlocker, MD, is in the first class of the Triological Society’s Leadership Academy and was recently appointed to a leadership position in administration of the UCSF Health Contact Center. Nicole Jiam, MD, is adding to a growing list of achievements with her selection to the 2026 UCSF Health Network Leadership Academy. And Jovanka Gencel-Augusto, PhD, was recently awarded a K99 grant from the NIH to support her work as a post-doctoral fellow in the Head and Neck Cancer Lab under the mentorship of Jennifer Grandis, MD. You can acquire Jennifer’s newly released book Harsh Medicine on Amazon.
Finally, please note the following dates: The Combined Sections Meeting of the Triological Society will take place in Huntington Beach, California January 21-23, 2027. The Pacific Rim Otolaryngology Update will be in Honolulu, Hawaii during Washington’s Birthday week next February. Our Sooy Graduation Weekend is scheduled for June 11-12, 2027, and our visiting Sooy Professor will be Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, professor of otolaryngology at Georgetown University School of Medicine. I hope to see you at one of these upcoming events.
Warmly,
Andrew H. Murr, MD, FACS
Professor and Chair
UCSF Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery