Amanda Gosman, M.D.
Dr. Gosman’s research efforts focus on cleft lip and palate outcomes, development of a patient-reported outcome tool for children with facial deformities, quality and patient safety in plastic surgery, plastic surgery education, international health outcomes, ethics, and informed consent.
In the area of cleft lip and palate surgery, she continues to investigate new techniques for treatment, such as the use of bone-graft alternatives for the early primary repair of alveolar clefts. She is the principal investigator for an American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons grant for the “Use of Ultrasound in Determining the Presence of Bone Growth Following Alveolar Bone Graft as a Part of Cleft Lip/Palate Treatment.”
This is a collaborative project with Dr. Dolores Pretorius of the UC San Diego Department of Radiology to investigate new and safer imaging modalities for children under 5 who are being treated for cleft lip and palate. Drs. Gosman and Pretorius have demonstrated the ability to accurately evaluate bone grafts using ultrasound, therefore avoiding unnecessary ionizing radiation for the evaluation of these young patients. In order to improve the clinical applicability of this technique, they developed a novel sonographic grading system to evaluate primary alveolar bone grafts. This grading system was recently presented at the American Cleft Palate Association Annual Meeting and was accepted for peer-reviewed publication in the Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal.
Other research activities include:
- Working on the development of an electronic registry system to better analyze surgical outcomes.
- Working on outcomes projects and longitudinal analyses of the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) patient discharge database (PDD).
- Developing the Pediatric Facial Deformity Quality of Life (QoL) Questionnaire.
- Working on educational research, including a project looking at the validity of assessment tools in plastic surgery and the value of general-surgery board certification for plastic surgeons.
Recently Published Studies
Distraction Osteogenesis for Unicoronal Craniosynostosis: Rotational Flap Technique and Case Series.