Lia Jacobson

Lia Jacobson, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. She serves as Co-Director of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco’s Multidisciplinary Aerodigestive Center and the Trach-Vent Clinic, specializing in pediatric ear, nose, and throat disorders including airway and aerodigestive conditions requiring surgical intervention.

Education:

• BA in Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley (2007)
• MS in Global Medicine, University of Southern California (2010)
• MD, Keck School of Medicine of USC (2014)
• Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Residency, Keck Medicine of USC (2019)
• Pediatric Otolaryngology Fellowship, UC San Francisco (2020)

Her research emphasizes global surgical equity and capacity building through partnerships with ENT training programs in Tanzania, Uganda, and Cambodia. She co-directs the Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia’s Fellowship Program, focusing on pediatric airway safety and innovative multidisciplinary care frameworks that address complex breathing and feeding disorders in children. Her clinical work integrates surgical treatment for chronic ear disease and aerodigestive pathologies with systemic approaches to improve surgical education worldwide.

Awards:

• Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics

Dr. Jacobson leads initiatives in global surgery education and directs clinical programs addressing aerodigestive and tracheostomy-ventilator dependent care. Her work with the Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia involves developing sustainable training models in low-resource settings while advancing pediatric ENT care standards through multidisciplinary collaboration.

She maintains active clinical and research roles within UCSF’s Otolaryngology department, contributing to institutional programs focused on surgical equity and pediatric airway management.