Facial Plastics
P. Daniel Knott, MD
Dr. P. Daniel Knott is director of Facial Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at UCSF Medical Center. Knott, who joined UCSF in 2011 after 10 years at the Cleveland Clinic, has training and experience in facial aesthetics and microvascular surgery. His expertise includes treatment of facial paralysis, facial rejuvenation, reconstruction of facial cutaneous malignancies, minimally invasive facial soft tissue augmentation, rhinoplasty and free tissue transfer.
In his research, he is helping develop new methods for palatal and orbito-maxillary reconstruction, microvascular treatment of osteonecrosis and cartilage bioengineering. He has won several national awards for his research, which includes studies of head and neck tissue transplantation. Knott earned a medical degree at the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego and completed a five-year surgical residency at the Cleveland Clinic in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. He also completed a fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at UCLA Medical Center.
Andrea Park, MD
Dr. Andrea Park is a fellowship trained facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon who loves helping her patients to look and feel their very best. She specializes in facial rejuvenation, rhinoplasty, and reconstruction of the face and neck to help restore both form and function after ablative surgery.
She is highly trained in microvascular free tissue transfer, as well as a variety of facial reanimation procedures. During her T32 NIH research fellowship she studied various nerve injury models and novel ways to prevent synkinesis. She has won several awards and grant funding for her research work, and has published extensively on the subject.
Dr. Park graduated with service and research distinctions from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. She then completed her otolaryngology residency and a two-year T-32 NIH research fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. She chose to complete additional subspecialty training in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at UCLA in order to further refine her skills so that she could offer her patient’s the best possible aesthetic and functional results.
Oculoplastics
Jonathan Lu, MD
Jonathan Lu MD is a faculty member in the UCSF Oculofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery division. He treats the full spectrum of oculoplastic conditions including eyelid malposition, tearing/watery eyes, and orbital/eye socket conditions. Also as a board certified ophthalmologist, Dr Lu brings particular attention to the health of the eye / ocular surface when evaluating facial nerve conditions.
Dr Lu completed his fellowship training in oculoplastic surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear / Harvard Medical School in Boston. He is a lifelong Californian, having earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University, and medical degree from UC Davis. He completed his medical transitional year at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Later, he completed his ophthalmology residency at the University of Southern California / Los Angeles County Hospital.
Other areas of clinical interest for Dr Lu include tumors in the periocular region, cosmetic rejuvenating procedures, and orbital diseases such as thyroid eye disease, orbital inflammation, and more.
Neurology
Jeffry Ralph, MD
Dr. Jeffrey W. Ralph is a neurologist who specializes in diseases of the nerve, muscle and neuromuscular transmission. He is an expert in peripheral neuropathy, with a particular interest in immune-mediated neuropathies. In 2004, he was appointed director of the Neuropathy Center at UCSF Medical Center, founded in part with funding from the Neuropathy Association. In addition to treating patients in the clinic, he is an electromyographer, performing specialized tests such as single-fiber electromyograms and multiple-channel recordings for dystonia analysis.
Ralph completed a neurology residency and fellowships in neuromuscular and clinical neurophysiology at the University of California, San Francisco. His research has addressed treatments for neuropathy caused by HIV and AIDS.
Jonathan Strober, MD
Dr. Jonathan Strober is director of clinical services for Child Neurology and director of the Muscular Dystrophy Clinic at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. The Muscular Dystrophy Clinic, sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association, treats children with disorders of the muscle and nerve. Strober, a specialist in childhood neuromuscular disorders, is board certified in pediatrics, neurology and psychiatry and has special certification in child neurology. He also is trained to perform electromyography (EMG) to evaluate patients with suspected neuromuscular disorders.
Strober's research includes studies of new therapies, including research to determine the safety of a dietary supplement called creatine monohydrate for children with neuromuscular and mitochondrial disorders. He earned a medical degree at Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia and completed a residency at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in pediatrics. He completed fellowships in child neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia and in neuromuscular disorders at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga.
Otology
Charles Limb, MD
Dr. Charles Limb is the chief of division of otology, neurotology and skull base surgery at UCSF. He is also the director of the UCSF Douglas Grant Cochlear Implant Center and holds a joint appointment in the department of neurological surgery. Limb's expertise covers the full scope of otology and neurotology, with a focus on the treatment of hearing loss and auditory disorders. He specializes in all surgeries of the temporal bone. His current areas of research focus on the study of the neural basis of musical creativity as well as the study of music perception in deaf individuals with cochlear implants.
Limb is the Francis A. Sooy professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at UCSF. Previously, he was associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery and a faculty member at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and School of Education at Johns Hopkins University. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine. He completed a residency and fellowship in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Center for Hearing Sciences at Johns Hopkins and a second postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.
Aaron Tward, MD
Dr. Aaron Tward is a surgeon who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ear and skull base disorders. His clinical interests include cochlear implantation, management of benign and malignant tumors of the skull base including acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma), surgery for chronic otitis media, stapedectomy, superior semi-circular canal dehiscence repair and endoscopic surgery of the ear and skull base.
Tward's research interests include tumor biology, the genetics and genomics of head and neck disorders, and clinical outcomes of surgery on the ear and skull base.
Jeffrey Sharon, MD
Dr. Jeffrey Sharon is the director of the UCSF Balance and Falls Center. He specializes in cochlear implants, along with the treatment of dizziness, vertigo, hearing loss, ear infections, cholesteatoma, vestibular schwannoma, otosclerosis, superior canal dehiscence, and other conditions related to the ear.
After receiving his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Sharon completed his internship and residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in Saint Louis, followed by a fellowship in otology, neurotology and skull base surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
In addition to treating patients, Sharon has conducted and published research on several topics related to hearing and balance disorders. This includes patient safety in lateral skull base surgery, the use of MRI in cochlear implantation, and osteoradionecrosis of the skull base. He is especially interested in studying outcomes after treatment for vestibular disorders, and has published several studies looking at outcomes after surgery for superior canal dehiscence.
Sharon is a member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the American Auditory Society and the American Neurotology Society. He is an assistant professor in the UCSF Division of Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery.
Steven Cheung, MD
Dr. Steven W. Cheung is an otologist, or ear specialist, and an ear and skull base surgeon at UCSF Medical Center. He specializes in diseases such as eardrum perforation, cholesteatoma, otosclerosis and acoustic neuroma. He also performs implantable hearing device surgery, including bone anchored, middle ear and cochlear, to treat various forms of hearing loss. His current research focuses on learning and reorganization of the brain in hearing loss and tinnitus so that innovative rehabilitative therapies may be developed.
Cheung graduated from Dartmouth College and earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed a residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, at UCSF Medical Center, where he also completed clinical and research fellowships in neurotology, the neurological study of the ear.
Physical Therapy
Erica Pitsch, DPT
Erica Pitsch earned her master's in physical therapy from the graduate program in Physical Therapy at UCSF/SFSU and her post-professional doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California in 2010. She achieved her Neurologic Clinical specialist certification in 2012.
Heather Bhide, PT, DPT, NCS
Heather Bhide is a physical therapist who specializes in working with patients with a neurologic diagnosis, such as stroke, Parkinson's disease, vestibular dystonia, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord Injury.
Bhide earned a bachelor's degree in integrative biology from University of California, Berkeley, and her doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Southern California. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association (Neurology Section).
Monika Patel, PT, DPT
Dr. Patel is a physical therapist who specializes in working with patients with a variety of neurological diagnoses such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, vestibular dysfunction, and cerebral palsy.
Dr. Patel earned her Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis. She completed a Neurological Residency Program at Marquette University and the Milwaukee VA Medical Center. She is a board certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist and a member of the American Physical Therapy Association (Neurology Section Member).