Carolyn Seib Awarded Grant to Study Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction in Elderly Thyroid Cancer Patients

Carolyn D. Seib, M.D., MAS, a clinical investigator and member of the UCSF endocrine surgery faculty, has been awarded a RAP (Resource Allocation Program) seed grant by the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center to study postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients undergoing surgery for thyroid cancer.

Dr. Seib's project is part of her ongoing research focused on individualizing the surgical care of older adults. With increasing evidence supporting the surveillance of small, low-risk papillary thyroid cancers, the decision of whether to manage thyroid cancer operatively requires a comprehensive assessment of the risks of thyroid surgery in older adults. With this award, she will use the Tablet-Based Cognitive Assessment Tool (TabCAT) developed at the UCSF Center for Memory and Aging to administer cognitive testing in patients with thyroid cancer undergoing thyroidectomy to assess the incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction. This will enable Dr. Seib to determine how this risk should affect surgical decision making in older adults and facilitate accurate informed consent discussions.