Specialties
David O. Francis, MD, MS
Associate Professor
- Associate Residency Program Director – Research
- Section of Laryngology
- Director of Outcomes Research
- Division of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
- University Hospital Clinic: 608-263-6190
600 Highland Avenue
Madison, WI 53792-0001
Clinical Specialties
Dr. Francis is certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology and has high-level specialty training in the care of voice, airway, and swallowing disorders. He has extensive experience with both the medical and surgical care of professional voice users, management of neurological disorders of the voice including vocal fold paralysis and laryngeal dystonias (e.g., spasmodic dysphonia, laryngeal tremor). He has expertise in managing infectious diseases of the larynx, airway stenosis, and dysphagia. He has a patient-centric approach to caring for patients and strongly believes that “listening to the patient is central to personalized care” and that one-size does not fit all when managing voice, swallowing, and airway disorders. He also recognizes that the care of voice, swallowing, and breathing disorders requires a multidisciplinary approach that includes close collaborations with speech-language pathology, pulmonary, gastroenterology, allergy, thoracic surgery, and neurology among others.
Dr. Francis provides a wide range of services including Airway Dilation, Airway Reconstruction, Arytenoid Adduction, Cricopharyngeal myotomy, Endoscopic Partial Laryngectomy, Laryngeal Papilloma Laser Treatment, Laser Procedures, Laryngoplasty/thyroplasty, Microflap excision of vocal fold lesions, Microlaryngoscopy, Thyroidectomy, Transnasal Esophagoscopy (TNE), Vocal Fold Injection, Zenker’s Diverticulectomy.
Research Interests
Dr. Francis directs the Otolaryngology Outcomes Research group and is a member of the Wisconsin Surgical Outcomes Research Program (WiSOR), and is nationally recognized as a leader in Health Services Research. His research focuses on a patient-centered approach to personalizing and improving the care of patients with ear, nose, and throat disorders. His research has been funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
His primary areas of study involve 1) understanding reasons surrounding geographic variations in care, 2) promoting prevention of iatrogenic vocal fold paralysis, 3) understanding the patient experience living with unilateral vocal fold paralysis, 4) development of new measurement tools to measure disability related to unilateral vocal fold paralysis, and 5) developing novel treatments and comparing their effectiveness in improving the care of patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis. His research team consists of experts in health policy, population health, health service research, epidemiology, clinical trials, measurement theory, and scientists with expertise in peripheral nerve regeneration.
Dr. Francis was recently awarded a $2.4 million grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders for a vocal fold paralysis study. Read more here.
Recent Publications
Surgical Recurrence Across Endoscopic Surgical Techniques in Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis.
Bowen AJ, Awadallah AS, Ali H, McCalla M, Roitman A, Leverson G, Khalil YH, Ring S, Edell E, Bayan S, Koster M, Xie K, Davis R, Francis DO, Dailey SH, Ekbom D
Laryngoscope 2025 Apr 15;
[PubMed ID: 40231755]Pregnancy and Parity as Risk Factors for Recurrence in Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis.
Awadallah AS, Fearington FW, Khalil YH, Bowen AJ, Ali HM, Li Y, Francis DO, Dailey SH, Edell ES, Koster MJ, Bayan SL, Ekbom DC
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2025 Apr 10;
[PubMed ID: 40211691]National Trends in Treatment of Acute Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis at Tertiary Care Voice Centers.
Ring S, Colwell N, Bowen AJ, Arroyo N, Lakpa KL, Faus J, Rasmussen M, Nordby P, Zhao J, Francis DO, CoPE Collaborative
Laryngoscope Investig Otolaryngol 2025 Apr; 10(2): e70135
[PubMed ID: 40177257]Optimizing Face Validity and Clinical Relevance of a Mathematical Population Cancer Epidemiology Model Using a Novel Advisory Group Approach.
Davies L, Fernandes-Taylor S, Arroyo N, Zhang Y, Alagoz O, Francis DO
Med Decis Making 2025 Mar 31; 272989X251327595
[PubMed ID: 40165387]Bilateral internal superior laryngeal nerve injections for unexplained chronic cough.
Bowen AJ, Roitman A, Ring S, Francis DO, Davis RJ, McCulloch T, Dailey SH
Am J Otolaryngol 2025; 46(1): 104568
[PubMed ID: 39740535]