UCLA Department of Head and Neck Surgery Research

Research faculty in the UCLA Department of Head and Neck Surgery are united in their mission to advance medical knowledge in basic and clinical science of the head and neck including speech, voice, and hearing functions. New research findings continuously provide insight to head and neck conditions and regularly result in improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for patients.

Research

Our clinical and research faculty are involved in several major research areas including: speech/voice disorders, regenerative medicine, vestibular/cochlear disorders, oncology/molecular biology, drug delivery, rhinologic outcomes, and basic mechanisms of hearing and balance.

Recent Highlights

UCLA Department of Head and Neck Surgery is proud to continue its strong tradition of fostering surgeon-scientists and improving our specialty through research.

  • UCLA’s Temporal Bone Pathology laboratory continues its NIDCD U54 funding for “Modern cellular and molecular techniques to study the human temporal bone.” This outstanding resource links with the National Temporal Bone Registry to preserve access to archival and digitized specimens of human hearing and vestibular disorders.
     
  • UCLA was one of the first programs nationally to receive NIDCD R25 funding for their Mentored Research Training Program for Residents and Medical Students in Otolaryngology. The UCLA program prepares 1 resident and 2 medical students each year for careers as surgeon-
    scientists and academic leaders.
     
  • 4 HNS residents were awarded extramural research grants in 2023!
     
  • Congratulations to Dr. Jody Kreiman, Professor of Head and Neck Surgery and Linguistics, who was awarded the Silver Medal in Speech Communication from the Acoustical Society of America. This award recognizes her significant contributions to understanding the perception and production of the human voice.  The Silver Medal has only been awarded 15 times since 1975 and Dr. Kreiman is the 16th recipient.
     
  • Major extramural funded projects are ongoing across the department, with topics including:
    • Novel imaging modalities for head and neck cancer diagnosis
    • Innovative drug delivery methods to promote cranial nerve regeneration 
    • Tissue engineering for vocal fold replacement
    • Laryngeal neurophysiology and biomechanics
    • Neurofibromatosis type 2 genetics
    • Vestibular dysfunction and rehabilitation
    • Optimizing cochlear implantation and hearing rehabilitation 
    • An integrative therapeutic approach to obstructive sleep apnea 
    • Chronic rhinosinusitis and olfaction in persons with cystic fibrosis