Research

One major goal of the our residency program is to train future academic surgeons in the specialty of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. Accordingly, research, both basic and clinical, is an important and stressed aspect of the training program. Each resident is expected to complete both a basic science research project and a clinical research project  during the training period. It is expected that each of these will result in a presentation at a professional meeting and a published paper in a peer-reviewed journal. The department feels that through such academic goals and pursuits, each resident will easily attain the lesser goal of attaining clinical expertise, scientific adequacy, and passage of the American Board of Otolaryngology certifying examination.

The department specifically sets aside a 4-month period for research in the resident's PGY-3 year of training. A longer period of research time is possible upon approval by the department chair.   Residents will have opportunities to participate in a variety of cutting-edge research projects ranging from molecular biology studies to clinical research trials. Generally, residents will work with faculty members within the department or affiliated with the department. Resident research supervised by an unaffiliated faculty member is allowed upon approval from the department research director. 

The following provides a partial list of faculty members and their research interests. Residents are encouraged to contact early in their training program any faculty member whose research may be of interest to them. 

Research in the Department of Otolaryngology-HNS

• Hearing and Speech (cochlear implant, tinnitus) Dr. Zeng
• Hearing  (auditory nerve implant, spatial hearing, cochlear implant performance), Dr. Middlebrooks
• Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)
• Lasers and Applications

Click here for more information on the Tinnitus research project headed by Drs. Djalilian and Zeng.

In addition to the core areas of research, our faculty and residents collaborate with other faculty members at UCI through the Center of Hearing Research and the Beckman Laser Institute:

Center for Hearing Research, Hearing Research

Berg, Bruce Ph.D., Psychophysics; Mathematical modeling
Caiozzo, Vincent Ph.D., Molecular biology of muscle mechanics and plasticity

Djalilian, Hamid, M.D., Clinical and translational research in otology, neurotology, and skull base surgery
Fujikawa-Brook, Sharon Ph.D., Auditory brainstem response; Infant hearing screening; Vestibular responses
Metherate, Raju Ph.D., Neurophysiology; Synaptic physiology of auditory neocortex 

Middlebrooks, John, Ph.D., Auditory nerve implant, cochlear implant, spatial hearing
Shanks, Janet Ph.D., Middle ear functions; Hearing aids
Starr, Arnold M.D., Auditory neuropathy; Evoked potentials
Weinberger, Norman Ph.D., Learning and memory
Wong, Brian M.D., Tissue optics; Tissue engineering; Surgical device development
Zeng, Fan-Gang Ph.D., Cochlear implant; Auditory and speech perception

The department directly supports the following laboratories to facilitate its research. 

Hearing and Speech Research Laboratory (Fan-Gang Zeng)
Surgical Device Laboratory (Brian Wong)
Neuromuscular Research Laboratory (Roger Crumley and Yazhen Wu)
Voice Research Laboratory (James Till)

In addition, our faculty members hold joint appointments or conduct collaborative work in several facilities that provide outstanding environment in supporting resident research. 

Beckman Laser Institute
Center for Biomedical Engineering
Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology
Department of Cognitive Science
UCI Brain Imaging Center
Long Beach VA Hospital