Imagine not being able to smell or breathe through your nose. Imagine constantly coughing, poor sleep quality, and feeling fatigued all the time. This is what 35 million Americans experience daily due to chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Quality of life studies have shown that people suffering from CRS feel as bad as patients on dialysis, patients with congestive heart failure, or with severe asthma. Despite the severity and number of patients suffering from CRS, we don’t know the cause and we don’t have a cure.
The UF Rhinology team is a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and researchers working to answer these questions. Dr. Jeb Justice, Dr. Brian Lobo, and Dr. Jennifer Mulligan collaborate to investigate and understand the mechanisms involved in why people get CRS, whether Vitamin D might be a treatment, as well technological advancements that might help surgery for CRS and training residents to do the same. All patients undergoing surgery with the UF Rhinology team have the opportunity to participate in this research. This team also participates in clinical trials involving new treatments for CRS.
Dr. Justice focuses on CRS, smell disorders, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), cystic fibrosis, and sinusitis in solid organ transplant patients. Dr. Lobo has special interest and expertise in CRS, skull base tumors, CSF leaks, and orbital surgery. Dr. Mulligan focuses on vitamin D treatments, airway epithelial cell dysfunction, olfactory loss, and nasal mucus biomarkers.
One of the avenues to achieve this is the one-year Rhinology Research Fellowship for students interested in pursuing Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgery as a career. Each year one student is selected to participate in this multidisciplinary translational research to advance patient care for CRS patients. In addition to helping patient care via research, the students shadow Drs. Justice and Lobo in the operating room and learn meaningful skills related to patient care and research.
Private financial support is critical to helping us achieve success in our mission and vision of bringing better treatments and possible cures to our patients. We would be honored if you choose to support us and we would be delighted to tell you more about how you can make an impact.
For more information about the One Year Rhinology Research Fellowship, click here.
To Donate to the Gyllstrom Family Fund for Smell and Taste Research, click here.