Background
A Bay Area native, Dr. Block-Wheeler grew up in the East Bay before attending NYU for his undergraduate degree. He returned home to complete medical school at UCSF, where he also earned a master’s degree from UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.
Proven Expertise
Following his residency in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Kaiser Permanente, he was selected for a fellowship in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Washington. There, he honed his skills in both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.
Today, in addition to his private practice, he serves as an attending physician within the Kaiser system, contributing to their gender affirmation program.
University of Washington, Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Seattle, WA
07/2024 – 06/2025
Fellow
Kaiser Permanente, East Bay, Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Oakland, CA
06/2019 – 06/2024
Resident Physician
University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA
06/2014 – 05/2019
Doctorate in Medicine (M.D.)
Joint Medical Program with UC Berkeley
New York University, College of Arts and
Science, New York, NY
08/2008 – 01/2012
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with Honors, Chemistry Minor (B.A.)
University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA
06/2014 – 05/2017
Master’s Degree in Science: Health and Medical Sciences (M.S.)
Medical Board of California, Physician’s and Surgeon’s License exp. 10/2026
Medical Board of Washington, Physician’s and Surgeon’s License exp. 01/2027
Drug Enforcement Administration, Controlled Substance License exp. 07/2026
Basic Life Support exp. 04/2026
Kaiser Permanente, Head and Neck Surgery: Facial Feminization Surgery
Oakland, CA
12/2019 – Present
Researcher under Charles Shih, MD
Impact of COVID-19, post-operative pain and complications, patient expectations and quantitative assessment
Impact of feminizing genioplasty on chin proportions
Kaiser Permanente, Head and Neck Surgery: Sleep Surgery
Oakland, CA
06/2020 – 06/2024
Researcher under Megan Durr, MD
Predictors of surgically-managed obstructive sleep apnea
Trends in sleep surgery by demographic and clinical features
Kaiser Permanente, Head and Neck Surgery: Rhinology
Oakland, CA
03/2021 – 06/2024
Researcher under Jonathan Liang, MD
Rhinologic outcomes associated with COVID-19 and associated screening tests
UCSF Department of Neurology: Clinical Affective Neuroscience Laboratory
San Francisco, CA
08/2015 – Present
Researcher under Virginia Sturm, PhD, William Seeley, MD, and Bruce Miller, MD
Autonomic contributions to facial expression and facial-muscle structure
UCSF Department of Neurology: Memory and Aging Center
San Francisco, CA
01/2013 – 06/2014
Researcher under Bruce Miller, MD, Howard Rosen, MD, and Virginia Sturm, PhD
Proposed neuropathological bases of psychiatric behavior in gene carriers and the neuroanatomic correlates of hyper-religious behavior
UCSF Department of Neurology: Memory and Aging Center
San Francisco, CA
03/2012 – 05/2014
Clinical Research Coordinator for Program Project Grant under Bruce Miller, MD
Improved frontotemporal dementia and atypical neurodegenerative disease diagnostics and investigated their neurobiological bases
UCSF Department of Public Health: HIV/AIDS
San Francisco, CA
01/2012 – 12/2015
Research Assistant under Phillip Coffin, MD MIA, Jennifer Cohen, MD MPH, and Nicholas Moss, MD MPH
Examined barriers to clinic attendance in patients living with HIV
NYU Department of Psychology
New York, NY
08/2010 – 01/2012
Principal Research Assistant under Susan Andersen, PhD and Elizabeth Przybylinsky, PhD
Developed strategies to disrupt automated habits linked to significant others
Nanōmix, Inc
Emeryville, CA
12/2011 – 03/2012
Research and Development Intern
Startup developing a novel, point-of-care blood analyzer using carbon-nanotube assay
Bay Area Resident Research Symposium, 1st Place, “Risk of Epistaxis Increases After COVID-19 Nasal-Screening Swab” (2022)
Bay Area Resident Research Symposium, 2nd Place, “Comorbid Factors Associated with Undergoing Sleep Surgery” (2021)
UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Award for Public Service, Campus-Community Partnership (2016)
UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Community-Partnership Fund, Grant Recipient, $20,000 (05/2015)
UCSF Resource Allocation Program for Trainees (RAPtr), Grant Recipient (05/2015)
UC Berkeley Academic Block, Grant Recipient (08/2015)
NYU Founder’s Day Award (2012)
NYU Collegiate Research Scholar, Grant Recipient (03/2011)
NYU Psychology Honors Program (08/2010-01/2012)
NYU College of Arts and Science, Presidential Honors Scholar (08/2009-01/2012)
NYU Dean’s List (2009-2012)
American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Annual Meeting 2024
10/2024
Microtia Workshop Instructor
American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS)
08/2020 – 08/2023
General Otolaryngology and Sleep Education Committee
Develop continuing education material (FLEX) for national OHNS society
Resident Education
08/2019 – 06/2024
Resident Curriculum Development
FPRS (2024)
FPRS/Trauma, Pediatrics (2023)
General/Common Consults (2022)
Sleep Surgery (2021)
Otology (2020)
Facial Trauma (2019)
Department Grand Rounds
Facial Plastic Surgery (2023)
Sleep Surgery (2021)
Facial Plastic Surgery (2020)
UC Berkeley, Division of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology: PHW 260 Principles of Infectious Diseases
07/2016 – 01/2017
Graduate Student Instructor, graduate-level course taught by John Swartzberg, MD FACP and the late Lee Riley, MD
UC Berkeley, Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund: “Improving Transgender Healthcare in the East Bay”
01/2015 – 08/2016
Grant Writer, Project Lead
UCSF Associated Students of the School of Medicine
05/2017 – 05/2018
Representative, Class of 2019
NYU Bioethics Forum, New York, NY
08/2010 – 12/2011
President
NYU Resident Education, New York, NY
07/2010 – 01/2012
Resident Assistant
Operation Restore Hope, Cebu, Philippines
03/2024
Surgical cleft lip/palate mission trip volunteer
Faces of Tomorrow, Bohol, Philippines
01/2023
Surgical cleft lip/palate mission trip volunteer
Kaiser Permanente, East Bay Provider Outreach Support Team, Oakland, CA
01/2022 – 06/2024
Trained in peer support for colleagues encountering trauma or issues with professional resilience
UCSF Underrepresented in Medicine, San Francisco, CA
08/2021 – Present
Alumni volunteer
Journal of LGBT Health
2021
Journal peer reviewer
Berkeley Suitcase Clinic: LGBTQ+ Primary Care Clinic, Berkeley, CA
08/2014 – 05/2017
Volunteer, Co-leader
Level Playing Field Institute, Oakland, CA
01/2015 – 03/2016
Mentor to college student
NYU Peer Health Exchange, New York, NY
08/2009 – 05/2011
Health education to high school students, Curriculum Leader and Head Educator
Faculty Search Committee, Kaiser Permanente Department of Head and Neck Surgery
03/2021 – 03/2022
Department faculty search committee, including interview and committee selection
NR Block-Wheeler, J Wei, M Ritterman Weintraub, J Liang, (2023). Providing Evidence for Dogma: Risk of Epistaxis After COVID-19 Nasal-Screening Swab. Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. DOI: 10.1002/ohn.253.
NR Block-Wheeler, J Darbinian, G Ansari, M Durr, (2023). Association of Pain Disorder and Psychiatric Disease with Surgical Management of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. DOI:
10.1002/ohn.223.
NR Block-Wheeler, D Chou, K Brandstetter, A Kleinberger, C Shih, (2021). The Psychological Effect of the COVID-19
Pandemic Among Patients Pursuing Facial Feminization Surgery. The Permanente Journal. DOI: 10.7812/TPP/21.038.
NR Block, (2017). Parasympathetic Modulation of the Heart and Face: Insights from Frontotemporal Dementia [master’s thesis]. Berkeley, CA: University of California, Berkeley.
NR Block, S Sha, A Karydas, JC Fong, MG DeMay, BL Miller, HJ Rosen, (2016). Frontotemporal dementia and psychiatric illness: emerging clinical and biological links in gene carriers. The American Journal of Geriatric
Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2015.04.007.
M Durr, J Darbinian, K Ramirez, AR Swisher, NR Block-Wheeler, (2023). Characteristics of Adults Undergoing Soft Tissue & Orthognathic Surgery for Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Laryngoscope. DOI: 10.1002/lary.30590.
S Shah, NR Block-Wheeler, K Liu, M Ritterman-Weintraub, W Williams, (2024). The Association of Body Mass Index and Early Outcomes Following Orthognathic Surgery. Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. DOI: 10.1016/j.joms.2024.03.033.
D Chou, NR Block-Wheeler, R Kshirsagar, K Brandstetter, A Kleinberger, C Shih, (2022). Postoperative Pain and Opioid Use after Facial Feminization Surgery. Facial Plastic Surgery. DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1735648.
P Debbaneh, K Ramirez, N Block-Wheeler, Durr M (2022). Representation of Race and Sex in Sleep Surgery Studies.
Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. DOI: 10.1177/01945998221088759.
S Toulouie, NR Block-Wheeler, A Rivero, (2021). Postoperative Pain after Endoscopic vs Microscopic Otologic Surgery: A Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis. Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. DOI: 10.1177/01945998211041946.
VE Sturm, NR Block, S Datta, L Pasquini, IJ Sible, GF Volk, J Neuhaus, JH Kramer, HJ Rosen, BL Miller, WW Seeley, (under review). Visceromotor Linkage: Exploring the Neural Basis of the Heart-Face Connection in Human Emotion.
KG Ranasinghe, KP Rankin, PS Pressman, DC Perry, IV Lobach, WW Seeley, G Coppola, AKarydas, T Shany-Ur, SE Lee,GD Rabinovici, HJ Rosen, ML Gorno-Tempini, AL Boxer, ZA Miller, W Chiong, M DeMay, JH Kramer, KL Possin, VE Sturm, BM Bettcher, M Neylan, DD Zackey, LA Nguyen, R Ketelle, NR Block, TQ Wu, A Dallich, N Russek, A Caplan, DH Geschwind, KA Vossel, BL Miller (2016). Distinct subtypes of behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia based on network degeneration. JAMA Neurology. DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2016.2016.
SE Lee, AM Khazenzon, AJ Trujillo, CC Guo, JS Yokoyama, SJ Sha, L Takada, AM Karydas, NR Block, G Coppola, D Geschwind, R Rademakers, JC Fong, M Weiner, AL Boxer, JH Kramer, HJ Rosen, BL Miller, WW Seeley, (2014). Altered network connectivity in frontotemporal dementia with C9ORF72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion. Brain. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awu248.
ZA Miller, S Honma, G Rabinovici, A Findlay, LB Hinkley, NR Block, SS Nagarajan, A.Herman, R Ketelle, HJ Rosen, BL Miller, ML Gorno-Tempini, (2014). Anomalous functional language lateralization in semantic variant PPA. Neurology. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001131.
S Shinagawa, JA Catindig, NR Block, BL Miller, K Rankin, (2016). When a little knowledge can be dangerous: False positive diagnosis of bvFTD among community clinicians. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. DOI:
10.1159/000438454.
ML Mandelli, E Caverzasi, R Binney, M Henry, I Lobach, B Amirbekian, NR Block, N Dronkers, B Miller, R Henry, and ML Gorno-Tempini, (2014). Frontal white matter tracts sustaining speech production in primary progressive aphasia. The Journal of Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3464-13.2014.
J Cohen, GM Santos, N Moss, PO Coffin, NR Block, JD Klausner, (2015). Regular Clinic Attendance in Two Large San Francisco
HIV Primary Care Settings. Journal of AIDS Care. DOI: 10.1080/09540121.2015.1118431.
NR Block, BL Miller, (2019). Chapter 15 – Religion and Frontotemporal Dementia. In: Alasdair C, Joanna C, eds. Neurology and Religion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Print. DOI: 10.1017/9781316014165.016.
N Yoshikawa, NR Block-Wheeler, CW Pacheco (2022). Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity in Healthcare. In: DeckerMed.
https://www.deckerip.com/products/otolaryngology/table-of-contents/
N Yoshikawa, NR Block-Wheeler, K Jain-Poster (final revisions). Improving LGBTQ Healthcare in the Otolaryngology Community. In: E Bowe and S Faucett, eds. Healthcare Disparities in Otolaryngology. Elsevier
NR Block-Wheeler (6/2023). The Effect of Feminizing Genioplasty on Chin Projection During Facial Feminization Surgery. Talk presented at the AAFPRS Spring Meeting/COSM, Boston, MA.
NR Block-Wheeler (6/2023). Demographic and Socioeconomic Disparities among Insured Adults Undergoing Sleep Surgery. Talk presented at the Triological Society: Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting, Boston, MA.
NR Block-Wheeler (9/2022). Providing Evidence for Dogma: Risk of Epistaxis Increases After COVID-19 Nasal-Screening Swab. Talk presented at the AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting, Philadelphia PA.
NR Block-Wheeler (5/2022). Risk of Epistaxis Increases After COVID-19 Nasal-Screening Swab. Talk presented at the Bay Area Resident Research Symposium, Oakland, CA.
NR Block-Wheeler (1/2022). Associations of Comorbid Pain and Psychiatric Disease with Surgical Management of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Talk presented at the Triological Society: Combined Sections Meeting, Coronado, CA.
NR Block-Wheeler (5/2021). Comorbid Factors Associated with Undergoing Sleep Surgery. Talk presented at the Bay Area Resident Research Symposium, Virtual.
NR Block, (2017). Parasympathetic modulation of the heart and face: insights from frontotemporal dementia. Talk presented at the UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program Symposium, Berkeley, CA.
NR Block, (2011). Transference and regulatory strategy: regulating specific significant others. Talk presented at
the NYU Undergraduate Research Conference, New York, NY.
NR Block-Wheeler, D Chou, K Brandstetter, A Kleinberger, C Shih, (2021), The Effect of COVID-19 on Perceived Femininity and Psychological Distress in Facial Feminization Surgery Patients. Poster presentation at the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meeting (COSM): AAFPRS, Virtual.
NR Block-Wheeler, D Chou, K Brandstetter, A Kleinberger, C Shih, (2021), COVID-19 and the Psychological Impact on Patients Pursuing Facial Feminization Surgery. Poster presentation at the Kaiser Permanente Resident Research Education Conference, Virtual.
NR Block, I Sible, GF Volk, W Jagust, K Ahluwalia, R Levenson, V Sturm, (2016). Facial-muscle volume variability in bvFTD. Poster presentation at the UCSF Resource Allocation Program for Trainees (RAPtr) Conference, San Francisco, CA.
NR Block, S Sha, P Ghosh, A Karydas, JC Fong, MG De May, BL Miller, HJ Rosen, (2014). Frontotemporal dementia and psychiatric illness: emerging clinical and biological links in gene carriers. Poster presentation at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark.
NR Block, D Perry, V Sturm, Z Miller, B Miller, (2013). Religious Dogmatism in Neurodegenerative Disease. Poster presentation at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, Boston, MA.
S Shah, NR Block-Wheeler, K Liu, M Weintraub, W Williams, (2023). The Association of BMI and Perioperative Outcomes in Orthognathic Surgery. Poster presentation at the Triological Society: Combined Sections Meeting, Coronado, CA.
S Toulouie, NR Block-Wheeler, A Rivero, (2021). Postoperative Pain after Endoscopic Otologic Surgery: Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis. AAO-HNSF 2021 Annual Meeting, Virtual.
P Debbaneh, M Durr, K Ramirez, N Block (2021). Representation of Gender and Race in Sleep Surgery. Poster presentation at AAO-HNSF 2021 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.
EL Kosik, NR Block, S Datta, L Pasquini, IJ Sible, GF Volk, J Neuhaus, JH Kramer, HJ Rosen, BL Miller, WW Seeley, VE Sturm,
(2018). Orbicularis Oculi Volume Relates to Resting Parasympathetic Activity and Facial Movement During Positive Emotion. Poster presented at the Society for Affective Science Conference, Los Angeles, CA
D Wang, J Chen, NR Block, (2017). Enhancing Medical Education on Transgender Health Through Community Partnership. Poster presentation at the LGBT Health Workforce Conference, New York, NY.
N Beheshti, NR Block, K Patten, P Tachachartvanich, (2015). The Berkeley soda tax and sweeteners: aspartame’s bitter consequences for society. Poster presented at the Northern California Society of Toxicology Conference, San
Francisco, CA.
JC Fong, J Bang, A Legati, KJ Rankin, NR Block, R Ketelle, AM Karydas, G Coppola, MD Geschwind, (2014).
Prion disease with chronic diarrhea associated with PRNP mutation Q160X has reduced penetrance. Poster
presented at the American Society of Human Genetics, San Diego, CA.
E Przybylinski, NR Block, P Shrout, (2012). Transference in everyday life: roommate closeness as a function of
AAO-HNSF, Focused Lifelong Education Experience (FLEX; continuing education)
April 2021: Tracheotomy, xCast (podcast), xCase (clinical cases)
April 2022: Sleep Surgery, xCast (podcast)
NR Block-Wheeler, J Stanley, (3/2023). Opioid Prescribing for Analgesia in Otolaryngology. AAO-HNSF Clinical Practice Guideline, Online Education Course (eCourse via entnet.org: OTOLogic)
Trail running, cycling, swimming, fly fishing, woodworking, automotive repair, baking, gardening