My original research in the neuorphysiological parameters underlying the brain stem reflex of swallowing established a life long interest.   This work started as a thesis while a trainee of the Brain Research Institute at UCLA in 1970, led to several papers, a review in Physiological Reviews in 1982, a book on the Neurophysiological Principles Underlying Swallowing and Dysphagia in 1999, and the cooperation with several investigators at Johns Hopkins and the Medical College of Wisconsin in the development of a new society, the Dysphagia Research Society.  I have been on the executive board for several years and was President in 2007-2008 organizing our annual meeting which took place in Vancouver.   This annual meeting provides the basis for international investigators around the world to come and present their research.  Part of our function has been to expand our ties with investigators in Europe and Japan to develop more research presentations and joint meetings.  This has involved working with several groups in Europe and Japan to bring our different research groups closer together and has involved more traveling to German and Japan.   Many of the new concepts on rehabilitation in dysphagia are using principles established in neuroscience including electrical stimulation and transmagnetic cortical stimulation.

My interest in the brain stem and the neuromuscular system led to my research expanding to the craniomandibular region and its muscles, which brought me to UCSF over 40 years ago in 1975.  This interest in the craniofacial region has focused on the jaw muscles and their interaction with bone.  This has led to 15 years of research using the rhesus monkey as well as interacting with clinicians and researchers in craniofacial anomalies, temporomandibular disorders, and other dental fields. This work included publishing a book entitled:  Craniomandibular Muscles:  Their Role in Function and Form.  CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 1991.  Some of this reserach has been with a good friend and colleague, Dr. Kuotaro Maki, from Showa University in Tokyo, in which we have worked for over 20 years together. This has been a long-term interaction which culminated in expanding our original studies using CT to evaluate cortical bone mineralization, to bringing a new system to USCF using volumetric three-dimensional analysis with cone beam computed tomography (CBCT).   We were the first institution in the United States to use a CBCT system, and we have developed a variety of joint projects that incorporate our orthodontic residents.   The cone beam CT system at UCSF has now become the standard for our Division of Orthodontics.   I also serve as the Director of the Oral and Craniofacial Sciences Master’s Degree program complementing my work in the Division of Orthodontics. 

Some of the recent publications include:

Chiang C, Jeffres M, Miller AJ, Hatcher, DC.  Three-dimensional airway evaluation in 387 subjects from one university orthodontic clinic using cone beam computed tomography.  Angle Orthodontics 82: 985-992, 2012.

Schlicher W, Nielsen, I, Huang JC, Maki K, Hatcher DC, Miller AJ Consistency and precision in landmark identification in three dimensional cone beam computed tomography scans. European Journal of Orthodontics 34:263-275, 2012

George JR, Chung S, Nielsen I, Goldberg AN, Miller AJ, Kezirian EJ.  Comparison of drug-induced sleep endoscopy and lateral cephalometry in obstructive sleep apnea.  Laryngoscope 122: 2600-2605, 2012

Bailey E, Nelson G, Miller AJ, Andrews L, Johnson E.  Predicting tooth-size discrepancy:  A new formula utilizing revised landmarks and three-dimensional laser scanning technology.  American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics  143: 574-585, 2013

Shibazaki-Yorozuya R, Yamada A, Nagata S, Ueda K, Miller AJ, Maki K.  Three-dimensional longitudintal changes in craniofacial growth in untreated hemifacial microsomia patients using conebeam computed tomoraphy (CBCT)..  American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics May;145(5):579-94, 2014    

Yao W, Bekmezian S, Hardy D, Kushner HW, Miller AJ, Huang JC, Lee JS.   Cone-beam computed tomographic comparison of surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion and multipiece Le Fort I osteotomy.

J Oral Maxillofac Surg. Mar;73(3):499-508. doi: 10.1016/j.joms.2014.08.024. Epub  2015   

Ikeda R, Oberoi S, Wiley D, Woodhouse C, Tallman M, Tun W W, McNeill, C, Miller, AJ, Hatcher, D.  A novel three-dimensional analysis to evaluate temporomandibular joint space and shape.  American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, March, 2016

 Chang, MK, Sears, C, Huang JC, Miller AJ, Kushner HW, Lee, J   Correlation of airway volume with orthognathic surgical movement using cone-beam CT.   Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2016

Some Recent Honors: