Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep-related breathing disorder in adults, and it causes pauses in airflow while a person sleeps. The UCSF Sleep Surgery Center is dedicated to offering individualized care for patients with snoring and/or sleep apnea, and they offer surgical treatments for sleep apnea disorders. At UCSF OHNS, Jolie Chang, MD, associate professor, is an otolaryngologist who specializes in surgery to treat OSA. Dr. Chang also leads research in health care decision making and surgical outcomes for sleep apnea therapies. Most recently, she led a team that conducted a study to characterize the treatment goals and values of adult patients with OSA.

Congratulations to UCSF OHNS's Jeffrey Sharon, MD, who was recently announced as one of the 2022 Catalyst Awardees! Dr. Sharon is an assistant professor in the Otology, Neurotology, and Skull Base Surgery division and the director of the Balance and Falls Center. Dr. Sharon was selected for his project, "Development and Validation of a Machine Learning Based Smartphone Application for Point of Care Vestibular Testing."

Tinnitus, which is the perception of sound in the absence of an external stimulus, affects nearly 50 million Americans. Although there is currently no cure for tinnitus, this symptom can be often successfully managed to minimize its intrusiveness and improve quality of life, and research is being done to improve treatment of tinnitus. Here at the University of California San Francisco Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (UCSF OHNS), some of Steven Cheung, MD's research interests are hearing loss, tinnitus and other sensory phantoms.

In a recent study, a team from UCSF OHNS and Dermatology along with the Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu evaluated color match by comparing digital photographs of 68 patients treated for facial cancer, sarcoma (cancer of the soft tissue) and a single gunshot wound.

Vestibular migraines may be the most underappreciated cause of dizziness in the world. UC San Francisco Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (UCSF OHNS)'s Jeffrey Sharon, MD, is working to change that. Research from his lab has shown that vestibular migraines affect about 3% of adults in the United States. This distinct subtype of migraine causes episodic vertigo and dizziness and is one of the most common causes of dizziness.

One of the research interests amongst head and neck surgeons at UCSF OHNS is the study of disparities in patients treated for cancerous and noncancerous conditions of the head and neck.

Marika Russell, MD was lead collaborator and author on an international consensus statement on the use of ultrasound-guided ablation procedures to treat both benign and malignant thyroid conditions.

When it comes to gender affirmation for transgender and nonbinary individuals, a facial plastic surgeon can make a world of difference. P. Daniel Knott, MD, Rahul Seth, MD and Andrea Park, MD, UCSF OHNS faculty, use their expertise as facial plastic surgeons to accomplish something of fundamental importance for patients with gender dysphoria.

Charles Limb, MD, has been selected as the 2022 "National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Distinguished Clinical Research Scholar and Educator in Residence." Dr. Limb is a professor in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF OHNS).

Jacqueline Harris, MD and Neil Patel, MD, third-year residents at the UC San Francisco Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (UCSF OHNS), were announced as 2021 awardees of the 2021 Microbiome Research Program.