We are excited to welcome Wei Dong, PhD, who has joined as a Professor of Otolaryngology.

Dr. Dong is originally from China, where she earned her BS and MS degree in biophysics. She completed her PhD in physiology at the University of Bristol in the UK, after which she spent over 10 years as a postdoctoral fellow and research scientist at Columbia University in New York. She comes to us most recently from Loma Linda University, where her prior and ongoing contributions to understanding the mechanics of hearing involved in all segments of the normal and impaired auditory systems. These include developing new rehabilitation strategies by improving middle ear function post-injury, cochlear spectral and temporal analysis, especially for low frequencies, and enhancing clinical diagnoses to pinpoint site-of-lesion of hearing loss. Most notably, she has performed pioneering work in inner ear signal processing and middle and inner ear anatomical imaging using optical coherence tomography (OCT). 


Her work complements the work currently being done in our Center for Hearing Research here at UCI, where she has been an adjunct professor for the past 10 years. She brings with her lab multiple active grants, including two $1.2m grants through the VA to evaluate signal processing changes following noise exposure, and real-time structure and function assessments of human ears using OCT, as well as a NIDCD R21 grant for investigating the role of organ of Corti outer hair cell / vibration hot spots in distortion product otoacoustic emission generation.