Professor, Director of Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery
Stanford University
Dr. Zara M. Patel is Director of Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery and Professor of Otolaryngology and, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery at Stanford. She was born and raised in St. Louis, completed her MD at the Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, Oregon and completed her residency training in otolaryngology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. She then completed fellowship training in rhinology and endoscopic skull base surgery at Stanford University.
Dr. Patel is an expert in advanced endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery. She treats patients with a wide variety of rhinologic complaints, including chronic sinus infection or inflammation, sinus disease that has failed medical therapy, sinus disease that has failed prior surgical therapy, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, benign and and malignant sinus and skull base tumors, as well as olfactory disorders. She has consulted for the CDC regarding COVID-19 related olfactory loss.
She is currently Chair of the Rhinology and Allergy Education committee for the AAOHNS, past Chair of the Education Committee and past Member of the Board of Directors for the American Rhinologic Society and has developed a multitude of educational materials for both physicians and patients to help them better understand rhinologic disorders. She is passionate about educating patients to allow them to make the best decisions about their own care, leading to better outcomes.
Dr. Patel has published widely in topics such as avoiding complications in endoscopic sinus surgery, chronic rhinosinusitis in the immunosuppressed patient population, new devices and techniques for endoscopic skull base surgery, and olfactory dysfunction. She continues to perform research in these areas, and works with neuroscientists and engineers developing technology that she hopes will eventually help cure patients with olfactory loss.