Dr. Trey Alava Named Faculty Member of the Year by ORL Residents
Residents of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston have recognized Ibrahim “Trey” Alava III, MD, as Faculty Member of the Year for 2023. An associate professor of otorhinolaryngology, Dr. Alava is vice chair for quality and patient safety in the department and chief of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, where he also serves as medical director of the hospital’s 32 specialty clinics.
Each year, residents of the department have the opportunity to name the faculty member they feel has made the greatest impact on their learning experience. “It is a privilege to help train our current residents, and I am honored to receive this year’s award, ” he says.
Dr. Alava’s clinical interests include endocrine head and neck surgery, skin cancers of the head and neck, and all aspects of general otolaryngology. His research interests center on improving outcomes, health care disparities, and health care delivery modeling. He has worked on numerous process improvement projects at LBJ Hospital, part of Harris Health System, and at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. As vice chair for quality, his goal is to improve the department’s quality and safety reporting and use the data to strengthen the otorhinolaryngology service at Memorial Hermann-TMC, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, and Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital; Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital; and UT Physicians, the clinical practice of McGovern Medical School.
A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Alava was named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor in 2021 and 2022 and a Super Doctors® Rising Star in 2016, 2017, and 2018. He was named among Super Doctors® in Texas in 2019, 2020, and 2021, and a Top Doctor by Houstonia magazine three times, including in 2021. He was recognized with the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award at McGovern Medical School in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022.