Research - Rhinology and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery Division

Dr. Brad Goldstein's lab utilizes multiple approaches to identify mechanisms regulating adult basal stem and progenitor cells in the olfactory epithelium, as well as olfactory tissue maintenance and renewal. The lab's overall goal is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms causing acquired human olfactory disorders and to facilitate the development of new treatments.

Many patients with facial pain are misdiagnosed as having rhinosinusitis and undergo unnecessary and costly treatments with antibiotics and surgery. In reality, these patients may have a migraine-related condition that mimics rhinosinusitis. The Duke rhinology clinical research program is exploring this in a number of ways:

1. We are conducting a clinical trial investigating the efficacy of erenumab, a calcitonin gene-related peptide inhibitor, in the treatment of facial pain. Visit ClinicalTrials.gov for more information. (Funded by Amgen)
2. A validated screening questionnaire to differentiate sinusitis from non-rhinogenic facial pain/pressure is being developed.

Through a grant from the Duke Surgical Center for Outcomes Research (SCORES) and the Olympus Corporation, we are exploring healthcare utilization and expenditure for CRS from a population health perspective. This work will serve to improve efficiencies in care, with widespread implications for public policy.

In collaboration with the Duke Cancer Institute, we are utilizing the National Cancer Database to learn more about survival outcomes for sinonasal malignancies.

With the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, innovative research is needed to understand the basic pathophysiology of this virus in the upper airway. As part of a wider research consortium at Duke, we are obtaining and analyzing upper airway tissue samples from patients infected with COVID-19.