For the past 25 years, the Division has been recognized around the world for innovative research and advancements in managing a variety of pediatric airway abnormalities.
Among the Division’s current research projects are:
- The Boosting Resources And Caregiver Empowerment for Trach Care at Home (BREATHE) Study (Matthew Brigger, M.D., M.P.H.) in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital and the Patient Care Outcomes Research Institute.
- CHORD Study – A Phase 1/2, Open-Label, Multicenter Trial with a Single Ascending Dose Cohort with Unilateral Intracochlear Injection Followed by a Bilateral Injection Expansion Cohort to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy of DB-OTO in Children and Infants with Biallelic hOTOF Mutations (Daniela Carvalho, M.D., M.M.M.)
- How septoplasty and septorhinoplasty in children affect their quality of life (Shelby Leuin, M.D.)
- OPN-375 Study – A 16-Week Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled, Parallel-Group, Multicenter Study Evaluating the Efficacy and Safety of OPN-375 186 μg Twice a Day (BID) in Adolescents with Bilateral Nasal Polyps followed by a 12-Week Open-Label Treatment Phase (Vijay A. Patel, M.D.)
- An investigation of the epidemiology of complex aerodigestive and sleep problems and the care associated with these conditions (Matthew Brigger, M.D., M.P.H.)
- Language Development in Children after Cochlear Implantation (Daniela Carvalho, M.D., M.M.M.)
- Characterizing Mucosal Immune Cell Dysfunction and Host-Microbe Interactions in the Middle Ear and Upper Respiratory Tract (Z. Jason Qian, M.D.)
- Defining the CHARGE Airway (Tzyynong (Tina) Friesen, M.D.)
- Multicenter Retrospective Study on Pediatric Invasive Fungal Sinusitis: Incidence, Etiology, and Outcomes (Vijay A. Patel, M.D.)
- Utilization of tonsil tissue to study how early-life antibiotics affect tonsil immune cells and profiling anti-HIV B-Cell vaccines using human tonsil organoids (Anthony Magit, M.D., M.P.H.)
Research Coordinator
Sasha Shenk, M.S.
Sasha joined the Otolaryngology division from Tufts University in Boston, MA where she previously managed the Center for Integrated Tissue Engineering and worked on developing 3D human skin tissue models for pre-clinical research applications. She is specifically interested in strengthening pre-clinical models to accelerate the development of targeted, effective therapeutics, and has a strong passion for improving the lives of children and adults with complex care needs.
In her free time, you can find Sasha riding around San Diego on her Vespa and hanging out with her 3 cats.