The Department of Head and Neck Surgery at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Chris O'Brien Lifehouse has 17 surgeons from the fields of general surgery, otolaryngology, maxillofacial surgery and plastics and reconstructive surgery. The research program includes strong collaborations with the RPA Department of Tissue Pathology and Diagnostic Oncology, University of Sydney departments and various medical research institutes.

The Department maintains the largest head and neck clinicopathological database and the largest tissue biobank in Australasia with two dedicated data-managers and a research coordinator. The department has diverse research interests spanning clinicopathological predictors of disease in oral and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), genomics and transcriptomics in young patients with oral cancer, advanced and metastatic cutaneous SCC, aggressive salivary gland cancers and thyroid cancer.

The Department also has a strong interest in head and neck reconstruction, with research spanning from novel methods of maxillofacial reconstruction using 3D printing to implantable bionics, and runs the largest dedicated facial nerve clinic and associated facial reanimation research program in Australia.