Dr. David O. Francis is an otolaryngologist and health services researcher whose long-term goal is to reduce the rate of thyroid cancer overdiagnosis and the untoward downstream consequences of overtreatment (e.g., surgery), so that the healthcare system can focus its resources on thyroid cancers that need treatment. His current research program uses a simulation model approach to understand how health care utilization patterns differentially affect thyroid cancer overdiagnosis. Dr. Francis derives his research motivations from the stories and experiences of his patients who have suffered consequences of potentially avoidable thyroid cancer treatments.