Brian Wong M.D.

Dr. Wong has been a member of the University of California, Irvine since 1990, progressing through every academic rank from intern, resident, and fellow to clinical instructor, and ultimately to his current roles as Professor, Vice Chair, and Fellowship Director in the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. His career reflects sustained excellence in academic medicine, surgical innovation, and national leadership.
Dr. Wong’s clinical practice is focused on rhinoplasty and facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. He developed and directs the UC Irvine Rhinoplasty Course, a nationally recognized educational program, and has chaired more than a dozen major CME courses for UC Irvine Otolaryngology in Palm Springs and Disneyland. He served as Co-Course Director for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) Rhinoplasty Course in 2019 and 2024 in Orlando. Internationally, Dr. Wong has been invited to lecture at the World Health Organization, Tsukuba University (Japan), Asan Medical Center (Korea), and the Royal College of Surgeons (London), with additional invited presentations across Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Since joining the UC Irvine faculty in 1997, Dr. Wong has maintained continuous extramural funding from the NIH as Principal Investigator on seven grants, as well as support from the Department of Defense, for research focused on disorders of the head, neck, and upper airway, including facial reconstruction. His cumulative funding exceeds $15 million. Technologies developed in his laboratory have advanced from concept to commercialization, resulting in the founding of two companies and multiple industry collaborations nationwide.
Dr. Wong has received national recognition across otolaryngology, facial plastic surgery, biomedical engineering, and biophotonics. He is a Fellow of SPIE, serves as Group Vice President of the AAFPRS, and is in his second term on its Board of Directors. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine for a decade, as a Senior Examiner for the American Board of Otolaryngology, and on an NIH study section for over 14 years. Dr. Wong has mentored more than 200 trainees across all levels, and he considers the education of residents and fellows his greatest professional achievement.
Dr. Wong was born and raised in Los Angeles, studied biomedical and electrical engineering at the University of Southern California and Oxford University, earned his MD at Johns Hopkins University, and completed his residency and fellowship training at UC Irvine.