UCI Faculty

Mehdi Abouzari, MD, PhD is a translational physician-scientist, an assistant professor of otolaryngology and director of clinical research of otology and neurotology at the University of California, Irvine. He is an associate fellow of the American Neurotology Society, associate editor of the Frontiers in Audiology and Otology, and editorial board member of Research in Vestibular Science. He has authored 100 plus peer-reviewed papers, 8 book chapters, and presented 90 abstracts at national and international conferences with over 1900 citations to date. He is also the director of the ENTelligence Lab (https://entelligencelab.com/) which focuses on the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in otolaryngology and hearing sciences.

Dr. Armstrong received his medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, with honors. Dr. Armstrong completed his internship and residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Southern California. This was followed by fellowship training in head and neck oncology and skull base surgery at Vanderbilt University before coming to Irvine. Dr. Armstrong has been a faculty member of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at UCI since July 1994. He is currently Professor of Otolaryngology. Dr. Armstrong’s primary clinical interests are in head and neck cancer surgery, thyroid and parathyroid surgery. He has a strong interest in minimally invasive procedures to treat head and neck tumors including endoscopic and robotic approaches to head and neck and thyroid tumors. Dr. Armstrong is a member of the UCI skull base team, and the UCI Robotic Oncology Group. Additionally, he is utilizing ultrasound in the outpatient setting and incorporating office based ultrasound into clinical practice and resident education. Dr. Armstrong’s primary research interest is Head and Neck Cancer Chemoprevention and early detection of head and neck cancer. He is involved in NCI clinical trials for oral cancer prevention. Dr. Armstrong is also interested in noninvasive optical imaging of head and neck cancer and premalignancy. He is actively involved with the Optical Coherence Tomography Project at UC Irvine and Beckman Laser Institute.

Dr. Ahuja attended medical school at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He completed his residency in Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at the Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital, New York, followed by a fellowship in pediatric otolaryngology at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. He is board certified in Otolaryngology/Head-&-Neck Surgery. Dr. Ahuja is the CHOC Children’s Specialists Division Chief of Otolaryngology, and a Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology at UC Irvine. He is particularly interested in pediatric airway reconstruction, pediatric sinus surgery, childhood hearing loss and congenital head and neck disorders. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics as well as the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Ahuja has co-authored numerous publications in peer reviewed medical journals. He is actively involved in the Orange County community, serving on the Board of Directors of the Orange County Human Relations Council, and as President of the California Sikh Council.

Dr. Crumley is a graduate of the University of Iowa Otolaryngology Residency Training Program. Following graduation he joined the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco. In October 1987 he became Professor and Chief of the Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at UCI’s School of Medicine. He was instrumental in obtaining departmental status and was named Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery from 1991 to 2007. Currently as Chairman Emeritus, Dr. Crumley’s clinical interests are in the treatment of snoring and sleep disorders and as well as management of patients with voice disorders. He pioneered the laryngeal reinnervation surgery for vocal fold paralysis; his research interests include neurolaryngology (specifically recurrent laryngeal nerve disorders), facial nerve physiology, and obstructive sleep apnea.

Fan-Gang Zeng, Ph.D., is Chancellor’s Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, Cognitive Sciences, Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and Director of the Center for Hearing Research at University of California Irvine (2000-present). He is a leader in hearing science and technology, with 314 publications, 19525 citations and an h-index of 67 (Google Scholar, January 3, 2025). He is the Editorial Board Chairman for The Hearing Journal and Advisor for National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Advisory Council, American Tinnitus Association, Hyperacusis Research, Paris Hearing Institute, Providence Center, and Syntiant Inc. He led the development of the Nurotron 26-electrode cochlear implant (SFDA approval in 2011 and CE Mark in 2012) and SoundCure tinnitus suppressor (FDA clearance and CE Mark in 2011).

Dr. Haidar earned her medical degree from UC San Diego School of Medicine. She completed a residency in head and neck surgery at UC Irvine Medical Center and a fellowship in head and neck cancer surgery and microvascular reconstruction at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. She is a board-eligible UCI Health head and neck surgeon who specializes in the surgical treatment of head and neck cancers, robot-assisted and microvascular surgery, minimally invasive thyroid/parathyroid surgery, the surgical treatment of salivary gland disease and skull base surgery. She has a specific interest in the minimally invasive treatment of oropharyngeal cancers and improving head and neck cancer patients’ quality of life. Dr. Haidar has a strong interest in clinical research and has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles and numerous book chapters on head and neck surgery. She also has an interest in peer education and has made presentations at national meetings, where she has earned multiple research awards. In addition, she enjoys helping medical students and residents advance in their clinical and research endeavors.

Dr. Kuan is an Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at UC Irvine. A Southern California native, he graduated from UCLA with dual degrees in Business Economics and Biology. He received his medical degree from the UC Irvine School of Medicine. He then completed residency training in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at UCLA, followed by subspecialty fellowship training in rhinology and skull base surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. The focus of Dr. Kuan’s clinical practice is complex and revision sinus surgery for difficult and challenging sinusitis, such as nasal polyps, aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease, and allergic fungal rhinosinusitis, and endoscopic surgical treatment of sinonasal tumors and skull base disease. He is actively involved in the multidisciplinary skull base surgery program, regularly collaborating with neurosurgeons in joint approaches to skull base lesions. Additionally, Dr. Kuan has research interests in bioengineering applications in otolaryngology, as well as clinical outcomes of sinus and skull base surgery. He has authored more than 140 peer-reviewed publications, review articles, and book chapters in otolaryngology and rhinology, and is a regular reviewer for academic journals within the field.

Dr. Lin’s medical school education was at the University of Southern California, followed by his residency training in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Lin then completed the Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery fellowship program at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Lin fills an important clinical need in the residency training program in the medical and surgical management of disorders of the ear. Dr. Lin brings clinical expertise to his otology and neurotology patients, and is an integral part of the UCI skull base surgery team.

Dr. Oliaei earned his medical degree at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, La., followed by residency training in otolaryngology at UCI Medical Center in Orange, CA. He has practiced in both academic and private health settings, having joined UCI medical center last year after 10 years of practice with Multicare Health Systems in Tacoma, WA. Dr. Oliaei has a strong interest is minimally invasive management of neoplastic, autoimmune and obstructive salivary gland disorders with an emphasis on endoscopic and combined endoscopic management of salivary duct disease. His research interests include clinical outcome studies in parotid and submandibular sialendoscopy, as well as optimization of patient outcomes and resource utilization via enhancing the interface between subspecialty and acute/subacute care.

Dr. Pham earned his medical degree from UC Irvine School of Medicine and continued on to his residency at UC Davis Medical Center. He completed his pediatric fellowship training at Stanford University at Stanford’s Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital. Dr. Pham is a board certified physician specializing in Pediatric Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and is passionate about treating Pediatric hearing loss and cleft lip and palate. He serves as the Medical Director of the CHOC Cochlear Implant Program and also provides Craniofacial care with cleft lip, cleft palate and velopharyngeal surgeries as part of CHOC’s Craniofacial team.

Dr. Trask received his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School, and completed his residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He has practiced in both academic and private practice settings, previously on faculty at both the University of Iowa and the Cleveland Clinic. His research background includes earning a PhD at The Ohio State University and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Douglas Trask is dual board-certified in Otolaryngology and Sleep Medicine. He has a general practice in otolaryngology seeing common disorders effecting the ear, nose, and throat. He provides individualized evaluation combined with medical and surgical care that is driven by improving overall health and well-being. Dr. Trask specializes in surgical and other alternatives to CPAP therapy for the treatment of sleep apnea. He has been at the forefront of research bringing state-of-the-art treatments to people with sleep apnea including sedated evaluation of the airway and neurostimulation therapy. His clinical practice focuses on providing treatment options to those with sleep apnea that need a novel approach to their treatment. Dr. Trask has published extensively in both the basic science and clinical literature. He has won numerous awards for his research and he has lectured nationally and internationally about sleep apnea. He is actively involved in developing novel surgical treatments for sleep apnea. Dr. Trask is passionate about delivering individually tailored, patient-centered care for sleep disordered breathing and is a member of the comprehensive sleep medicine center at UCI.

Dr. Tjoa received his undergraduate degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley. He went on to receive his medical degree from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond, Virginia. He completed an internship in general surgery followed by a residency in head and neck surgery at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. Following residency, he completed a clinical fellowship in head and neck surgical oncology and microvascular reconstruction at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary and Massachusetts General Hospital in the Department of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Tjoa is an Associate Clinical Professor at UC Irvine Health, specializes in head and neck cancer reconstructive surgery, microvascular techniques, thyroid surgery, salivary gland surgery, and skull base surgery.

Dr. Verma received his doctorate of medicine with honors from Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He completed his residency training in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Southern California. His fellowship in Laryngology, Professional Voice, and Swallowing was completed at the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he trained under a team of world-renowned laryngologists, including Dr. Charles Ford. During his fellowship, Dr. Verma obtained advanced training in the management of disorders of voice, breathing and swallowing. Dr. Verma is an Professor, Director of Voice and Swallowing, and has served as Medical Director in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at UCI School of Medicine. He performs minimally invasive surgeries of the larynx and can perform many of the procedures traditionally performed in the operating room in an office setting. Dr. Verma has special expertise in the management of voice, breathing and swallowing disorders. With state-of-the-art equipment at the University Voice and Swallowing Center, Dr. Verma is able to perform numerous diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in-office instead of in the operating room. He offers patients minimally invasive interventions such as vocal fold injections, transnasal esophagoscopy and laser laryngotracheal surgery without sedation. Dr. Verma also has special training in the management of all cancers including laryngeal cancers. Using specialized instruments including microscopes and lasers, Dr. Verma is able to perform surgery for cancer in a way to preserve normal anatomy, while removing cancerous tissue, preserving function and improving patient’s quality of life.

A Southern California native, Dr. Wong earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He also studied engineering at Oxford University as a Rotary Foundation Scholar and medical physics at the University of Amsterdam. Dr. Wong completed fellowship training in Facial Plastic Surgery at UC Irvine. He is Professor and Vice Chairman, and Director of the Division of Facial Plastic Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Wong is a specialist in facial plastic surgery with a practice that encompasses both aesthetic and reconstructive procedures. His expertise is aesthetic (rhinoplasty) and corrective nasal surgery where he uses a variety of high tech instrumentation in surgery. Dr. Wong also performs minimally invasive and endoscopic cosmetic surgery aesthetic procedures along with traditional aesthetic operations (facelift, neck lift, browlift, and eyelid surgery). He is an expert in the use of lasers in the head and neck and is pioneering the use of lasers for reconstructive and aesthetic nasal surgery. Dr. Wong’s clinical practice is based at both UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange and the Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic in Irvine. His research interests are in the field of biomedical engineering with specific interests in medical device development and laser applications in medicine.

Dr. Su-Velez is a pediatric otolaryngologist specializing in pediatric airway, voice, and swallowing issues, as well as thyroid surgery in conjunction with Dr. Huoh. She graduated from UC Berkeley and completed medical school at UC San Francisco. Dr. Su-Velez went on to complete her residency in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery at UCLA and further specialty training in pediatric otolaryngology at Stanford University. She also obtained a master’s degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research is focused on health equity and quality improvement, and she has been published in numerous peer-reviewed scientific journals.

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