Elina Kari, M.D.

Bio

Dr. Elina Kari is a leading otology, neurotology, and skull base surgeon with a focus on pediatric hearing loss treatment and research. After completing her undergraduate education at UC Berkeley, she spent several months researching malaria in the Peruvian Amazon. Her deep commitment to service and education led her to a career as a physician.

After completing medical school at the University of Michigan, Dr. Kari's passion for problem solving and anatomy further led her to a career as an otolaryngology-head and neck surgeon. Dr. Kari completed her residency training in surgery at Emory University, followed by a neurotology fellowship at the world-renowned House Ear Institute, where she trained with premier surgical expert Dr. Derald Brackmann. Prior to coming to UC San Diego, she was the principal surgeon of the pediatric cochlear implant program at Keck University of Southern California and Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, one of the busiest centers in the country for pediatric hearing loss. She was also the lead neurotologist at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and performed several complex neurotologic surgeries on children as young as 7 months.

Dr. Kari is particularly interested in hearing disorders, hearing restoration surgery, pediatric hearing loss, development of novel neuroimaging of auditory pathways and clinical outcomes research. She also has a particular interest in children with cochlear malformations and abnormalities of the hearing and balance nerves and how these impact cochlear implant outcomes. She is widely published, has presented her research at several national and international conferences, and has been an invited speaker around the world.

Dr. Kari holds passports from the US, Brazil, and Finland and speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese fluently.