Background
Shaun Desai, M.D., is an associate professor of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery in the Johns Hopkins Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Desai is also part of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital and Suburban Hospital in the Washington D.C. and National Capital Region. Dr. Desai splits his clinical practice and sees patients in the downtown Baltimore main campus, Lutherville (Green Spring Station), and Bethesda.
Dr. Desai's practice focuses exclusively on plastic surgery of the face, head, and neck. Within the field of facial plastic surgery, his practice encompasses a broad spectrum of both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. Cosmetic procedures include, but are not limited to, rhinoplasty, facial rejuvenation surgery (facelift or browlift), eyelid surgery, facial augmentation and wrinkle treatment (Botox, fillers and chemical peels). Reconstructive procedures include facial trauma management, microvascular or “free-flap” reconstruction of major head and neck defects after cancer or trauma, skin cancer reconstruction after Moh’s surgery and management of skin cancer, such as malignant melanoma.
Dr. Desai received his undergraduate and medical degree with honors at The George Washington University School of Medicine. He received an academic scholarship through an accelerated 7-year B.A./M.D. program with early acceptance to medical school from high school. Dr. Desai completed a five-year surgical residency training program in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital of Washington University in St. Louis, as well as an American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) fellowship with particular training in facial plastic and microvascular reconstruction of the head and neck. While at Washington University, Dr. Desai received the distinguished Resident Teaching Award, as voted upon by his peers. At Johns Hopkins, as the Associate Residency Program Director, he has been awarded the George Nager MD Faculty Teaching Award as voted upon by the Johns Hopkins Residents.
Dr. Desai has traveled to Peru and India several times on cleft lip and palate mission trips with the Healing the Children Non-Profit Organization. He has received numerous travel grants for his work, including grants from AAFPRS, the American Academy of Otolaryngology and the American Head and Neck Society.
Dr. Desai’s research interests include novel and advanced methods of microvascular reconstruction of the head and neck using innovative technology. He also has an interest in the diagnosis and management of malignant melanoma of the head and neck. He is also an active surgical member of the multi-disciplinary Facial Transplantation team at Johns Hopkins. He has received several research awards and grants, including the Alpha Omega Alpha Research Award; the Doris Deford Speck and George Speck, M.D., Endowed Prize in Medical Research; the AAFPRS Ben Shuster Memorial Research Award; and the distinguished AAFPRS Leslie Burnstein Research Grant, an honor given to only two residents each year. To date, he has published over 45 research articles, 9 book chapters, and solely edited his own textbook entitled, Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Clinical Reference Guide.
Dr. Desai is a member of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, as well as the Washington Metropolitan Ear, Nose, Throat Society. He is a reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals including, JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, Oral Oncology, Laryngoscope, and Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.