Michelle Tsao was born in Portland, Ore., and raised in Hong Kong. She attended Northwestern University where she earned her bachelor's degree in communication sciences and disorders, and business institutions.
After college, she moved to Boston to attend Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. While there, Dr. Tsao was a recipient of the Deans Research Scholarship Award and presented her research annually at the annual AADR/IADR conference. Upon graduation, Dr. Tsao moved to Los Angeles to complete her general practice residency at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center where she discovered her passion for hospital dentistry and working with patients with special needs. She then joined the University of New England College of Dental Medicine as full-time faculty in Portland, Maine.
Dr. Tsao is thrilled to call the West Coast home and grateful to be part of the UCSF pediatric dentistry family. Her research at UCSF will focus on parental attitudes towards dental rehabilitation under general anesthesia in multi-ethnic populations. She has been awarded a grant from the California Society of Pediatric Dentistry to assist her in her research. Dr. Tsao's husband and mini goldendoodle already are big fans of the Bay Area.
