Dr. Zi Yang Jiang Recognized for 10 Years of Service to UTHealth Houston
While doing research in college, Zi Yang Jiang, MD attended a lecture on cochlear implants and was impressed that it was possible to restore an individual’s hearing with a device that’s essentially a computer – a speech processor that analyzes sounds, converts them into digital signals, and sends them to an internal receiver to stimulate the auditory nerve and bypass the damaged parts of the ear. “That interested me,” he says, “and once I started ENT training, I saw that the doctors who place the implants are either pediatric otolaryngologists or otologists. I found I really enjoyed working with children and families to help them make decisions that improve their lives. I liked the fact that I could make a difference that lasts a lifetime. It’s still what excites me about my work.”
Today, Dr. Jiang is chief of pediatric otolaryngology and an associate professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, which he joined in 2015 after completing fellowship training at Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics and the University of Kansas Medical Center. A 2005 magna cum laude biology and chemistry graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he received his medical degree in 2008 at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed his residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas in 2014.
“As a parent, I understand the anxiety families have when their children have medical issues,” he says. “I’m always ready to answer questions and provide support. Developing long-term relationships with my patients and their families is one of the most rewarding things about my practice. Many of them I met as babies or toddlers when I first joined the department, and now they’re in their teens. I’ve had the privilege of watching them grow, learn to talk, and share their goals with me. In the next 15 years, some of them may very well start having kids of their own.”
In 2022, Dr. Jiang completed subcertification requirements for complex pediatric otolaryngology by the American Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. According to the ABOHNS, children often receive better medical and surgical care in tertiary pediatric facilities with multidisciplinary teams, such as Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he is on staff. He also is an attending physician at Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, part of Harris Health System.
Dr. Jiang is fluent in English and Chinese; he has been recognized with numerous awards during his academic career, including the McGovern Medical School Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award. He has presented nationally and internationally and is an author of articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals. His clinical and research interests include clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness in otolaryngology, pathways to pediatric cochlear implantation, infant hearing loss, and fetal and neonatal health. His current research examines how to optimize sedated auditory brainstem response (ABR) tests to measure hearing in children with developmental delays who cannot cooperate with standard hearing tests.
Dr. Jiang led the first expansion of the pediatric otolaryngology division outside the Texas Medical Center through a new satellite clinic located in the UT Physicians Pediatric Multispecialty Clinic (external link) on the campus of Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital. All division faculty members see patients at the clinic, which is equipped with six exam rooms and two audiology booths for hearing testing.
“We’ve been able to build an amazing team with five specialists, growing more than 100% in a decade, and we’re interviewing for a sixth physician,” he says. “We’re excited to be in West Houston to support the local pediatricians and grow our practice,” he says. “From a patient-care standpoint, any time I can help a child hear and speak, it’s a huge win for me, for the child, and for the family.”