UC Irvine Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery

UC Irvine Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Leading Otolaryngology Teaching Hospital: Research, Expanded Residency Program, Continuing Medical Education

Welcome to University of California Irvine Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. We are your comprehensive resource for all medical issues related to the ear, nose, throat, head and neck tumors, and facial plastic surgery. UC Irvine Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery ranked #33 in the U.S. on US News and World Report's ranking of top hospitals for Ear Nose and Throat. The 2014-15 rankings cover nearly 5,000 medical centers across the country and span 16 medical specialties.

101 The City Drive South, Pavilion II, Orange, CA 92868
714-456-7017
and
62 Corporate Park Ste # 115
Irvine, CA 92606

Join us for Grand Rounds on Wednesday, March 11 for Quan Zhu, PhD from the Center for Epigenomics, Spatial and Functiona...
03/10/2026

Join us for Grand Rounds on Wednesday, March 11 for Quan Zhu, PhD from the Center for Epigenomics, Spatial and Functional Genomics at the University of California, San Diego for "Imaging Gene Regulation in Space: Emerging Technologies to Study Human Development and Cancer." We meet at 5pm PT via ZOOM!

Dr. Joel Feier, PGY2 and his faculty mentor, Dr. Mark Swanson of UC Irvine Head and Neck Surgery, presented two research...
03/09/2026

Dr. Joel Feier, PGY2 and his faculty mentor, Dr. Mark Swanson of UC Irvine Head and Neck Surgery, presented two research posters recently at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium in Palm Springs, a nationally recognized conference focused on advancing care for patients with head and neck cancers. Their work highlights both clinical treatment considerations and broader public health trends in cancer prevention.

The first presentation showed that in a large, propensity-matched real-world cohort of recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors, systemic steroid exposure within 30 days of treatment initiation was associated with significantly worse overall survival. In matched analyses, 1-year and 2-year overall survival were both inferior among patients receiving peri-ICI steroids, with consistent findings across multiple landmark and sensitivity analyses. These data suggest peri-immunotherapy steroid use may blunt both early treatment response and longer-term immune surveillance, supporting careful consideration of steroid timing when clinically feasible.

The second presentation involved using nationally representative CDC National Immunization Survey (NIS) data from 2016–2023. HPV vaccination rates among U.S. adolescents increased from 53.5% in 2016 to a peak of 67.6% in 2021 before declining to 65.9% by 2023. Joinpoint regression—used to identify statistically significant changes in temporal trends—demonstrated an inflection point around 2020, marking a shift from steady pre-pandemic growth in vaccination uptake to plateau and early decline during the COVID-19 era. Lower uptake was associated with male s*x, lower maternal education, and residence in more religious or Republican-leaning states. These findings highlight persistent disparities and the need for targeted outreach to improve HPV-related cancer prevention.

Publications for both research projects are currently pending.

Join us for Grand Rounds on Wednesday, February 25 for Liangcai Gu, PhD of UW Medicine for "Making Submicron Spatial Mul...
02/23/2026

Join us for Grand Rounds on Wednesday, February 25 for Liangcai Gu, PhD of UW Medicine for "Making Submicron Spatial Multiomics Clinically Deployable for Precision Oncology." We meet at 5pm PT via ZOOM!

Join us for Grand Rounds on Wednesday, February 18 for Nathan R. Zemke, PhD of the UC San Diego Center for Epigenomics f...
02/17/2026

Join us for Grand Rounds on Wednesday, February 18 for Nathan R. Zemke, PhD of the UC San Diego Center for Epigenomics for "Cellular and Epigenomic Reprogramming in Neurodegeneration and Aging." We meet at 5pm PT via ZOOM!

Join us for Grand Rounds tonight, February 11 with Brandon Isaacson, M.D., F.A.C.S of University of Texas – Southwestern...
02/11/2026

Join us for Grand Rounds tonight, February 11 with Brandon Isaacson, M.D., F.A.C.S of University of Texas – Southwestern School of Medicine and UT Southwestern Medical Center for "Endoscopic Ossiculoplasty." We meet at 5pm PT via ZOOM!

Dr. Brian Wong served as Program Track Chair for the Medical Photonics: Therapeutics and Diagnostics track at the Biomed...
02/04/2026

Dr. Brian Wong served as Program Track Chair for the Medical Photonics: Therapeutics and Diagnostics track at the Biomedical Optics Symposium, held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco and organized by SPIE, the International Society for Optics and Photonics. The program track encompassed 11 individual meetings within the Biomedical Optics Symposium, which itself draws approximately 3,000 attendees and represents one of the most technically rigorous components of the meeting. The Biomedical Optics Symposium is part of SPIE’s flagship week-long annual symposium, a premier international meeting focused on optics and photonics and their translation into medicine, science, and engineering. With more than 20,000 attendees, it is the largest meeting of its kind in the United States and serves as a major forum for emerging technologies in imaging, diagnostics, and therapeutics.

Within this framework, Dr. Wong co-chaired the conference Imaging, Therapeutics, and Advanced Technology in Head and Neck Surgery and Otolaryngology, together with Dr. Justus Ilgner of RWTH Aachen University, Germany. Dr. Wong’s research team presented three papers at the meeting, highlighting ongoing translational work at the intersection of biomedical optics and otolaryngology. Featured in the accompanying photograph are Kyle Sugita, a junior research specialist in Dr. Wong’s laboratory, and Sarah Lu, an undergraduate majoring in biomedical engineering. Dr. Wong is also a Fellow of SPIE, an honor conferred on less than 1% of the Society’s membership, recognizing sustained and significant contributions to the field.

Traditionally, perforations of the tympanic membrane could only be repaired with a surgical approach. In a recent study ...
01/28/2026

Traditionally, perforations of the tympanic membrane could only be repaired with a surgical approach. In a recent study to be published soon in Otology & Neurotology, Dr. Hamid Djalilian and his team have found that office procedures are very successful at closing tympanic membrane perforations without the need for incisions or general anesthesia. Dr. Djalilian’s team studied 204 ears (169 patients) with chronic (>6 months) tympanic membrane perforation that were less than 50% in size. The perforations were treated in the office with a paper patch technique using trichloracetic acid and instrumentation of the perforation edges. The study showed complete closure in 122 patients (59.8%), partial closure in 26 patients (12.7%), and no improvement in 56 patients (27.5%) after the first attempt. An additional 8 patients achieved a complete closure after a second paper patch was applied. This brought the total full closure rate to 63.7%.

Dr. Djalilian’s team found that even patients with a history of middle ear inflammation and drainage could be pre-treated with antibiotics prior to the office procedure with success in closure. The study showed that all tympanic membrane perforations do not require surgical treatment and a majority of perforations under 50% in size can be closed with a one or more office procedures. Factors associated with better closure rates included smaller perforation, superior or anterior location, and younger age. Patients over age 60 had a reduced perforation closure rate with each one-year increase in age linked to an approximate 1.4% decrease in the hazard of improvement. Using a minimally invasive office-based approach, 63.7% of patients with perforations less than 50% achieved full closure using the paper patch technique. The 36.3% of the patients underwent other office-based procedures with additional success rates which will be reported in future studies.

Now open! We are excited to announce the opening of a new UCI Health Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic to serve our North Ora...
01/27/2026

Now open! We are excited to announce the opening of a new UCI Health Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic to serve our North Orange County population, located in the city of Brea. This shared space between the Departments of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery and Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences features 18 exam rooms. Nine rooms are fully dedicated to ear, nose, and throat patients with state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment.

Our team is dedicated to providing cutting-edge, personalized care for patients in the areas of advanced diagnostics, general ENT, rhinology, laryngology, neurotology, head & neck surgery, sleep surgery, and audiology.

Join us for Grand Rounds on Wednesday, January 28 for Zhiqun Tan, BM (MD), PhD of UCI's Center for Neural Circuit Mappin...
01/27/2026

Join us for Grand Rounds on Wednesday, January 28 for Zhiqun Tan, BM (MD), PhD of UCI's Center for Neural Circuit Mapping (CNCM) and Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology for "A Spatial Multiomics Approach to Health and Disease." We meet at 5pm PT via ZOOM!

A recent study by Drs. Oliaei and Abouzari published in The Laryngoscope explores potential risk factors for sialolithia...
01/16/2026

A recent study by Drs. Oliaei and Abouzari published in The Laryngoscope explores potential risk factors for sialolithiasis, a condition characterized by the formation of salivary stones. Using data from the All of Us database, the study identifies significant associations that could inform early diagnosis and intervention.

Key Findings:

-Sjogren's Syndrome and Obesity were strongly linked to an increased risk of sialolithiasis, with odds ratios of 2.06 and 1.42, respectively.
-Interestingly, Essential Hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes (without complications) showed an inverse association with sialolithiasis.
-Other factors like dehydration, smoking, or hypercalcemia did not show significant links.

The study emphasizes the role of chronic conditions that affect salivary flow or alter fluid dynamics in the formation of salivary stones, offering new pathways for better understanding and potential early interventions.

Clinical Implications: This large-scale analysis could help clinicians in identifying at-risk patients for early intervention, potentially improving patient outcomes.

Read the full study: https://bit.ly/45julBg

Join us for Grand Rounds tonight, December 10 with UCI's own Chad K. Sudoko, MD for "Advanced Management of Congenital T...
12/10/2025

Join us for Grand Rounds tonight, December 10 with UCI's own Chad K. Sudoko, MD for "Advanced Management of Congenital Tracheal Anomalies." We meet at 5pm PT via ZOOM!

Join us for Grand Rounds on Wednesday, November 12 with UCI's own Victoria M. Villaflor, MD for "Bridging Surgery and Sy...
11/12/2025

Join us for Grand Rounds on Wednesday, November 12 with UCI's own Victoria M. Villaflor, MD for "Bridging Surgery and Systemic Therapy: A New Era in Head and Neck Cancer Treatment." We meet at 5pm PT via ZOOM!

Address

101 The City Drive South, Pavilion II
Orange, CA
92868

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+18002639547

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