Elina Kari, MD
- Neurotologist-Head and Neck Surgeon
- Associate Professor of Surgery
Elina Kari, MD, is a board-certified head and neck surgeon and neurotologist, a specialist who treats neurological disorders of the ear. Dr. Kari's expertise includes treating ear and hearing problems in adults and children, and conditions such as ear infections, perforated eardrums (tympanic membrane perforations), cholesteatoma, otosclerosis, lateral skull base lesions and acoustic neuroma. In addition, she evaluates patients for cochlear implants, osseointegrated hearing devices and auditory brainstem implants.
As an associate professor in the Department of Surgery, Dr. Kari trains medical students, residents and fellows at at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She also conducts research on pediatric hearing loss and cochlear implants, and cochleovestibular malformations in children as well as abnormal cochleovestibular nerves.
Before joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Kari was the principle pediatric ear surgeon at University of Southern California / Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where they performed 75-100 pediatric cochlear implants per year.
Dr. Kari did her fellowship training in neurotology and otology at House Ear Institute in Los Angeles. She completed her residency training in otolaryngology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. Dr. Kari earned her medical degree from University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Mich. She is board certified in otolaryngology and neurotology.
She is a member of the American Neurotology Society and the American Academy of Otolaryngology.
Outside of work, Dr. Kari enjoys running, reading, photography and travel. In addition to English, she is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
UC San Diego Health Links
For more information, see Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Care.
We accept most major insurance plans at UC San Diego Health. Find out if your insurance is accepted.
When Donna was diagnosed with a rare, non-cancerous brain tumor, called an acoustic neuroma, she decided to take action and become involved in her health. She learned about her condition and searched, far and wide, for a care team that would be a good fit for her. In this video, she discusses her decision to come to UC San Diego Health for treatment and her road to recovery after a successful surgery to remove the tumor. Her story is empowering and gives us all strength to face into whatever comes our way honestly and with grace.
For informational purposes only, a link to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments web page is provided here. The federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires that detailed information about payment and other payments of value worth over ten dollars ($10) from manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and biologics to physicians and teaching hospitals be made available to the public.
View Open Payments Data for Dr. Kari