Theresa Guo, MD

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Get to know Otolaryngologist-Head and Neck Surgeon Theresa Guo, MD, who serves patients in La Jolla, California

Dr. Guo is a board-certified otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon who welcomes patients at UCSan Diego Health – Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Care in La Jolla, California. Furthermore, she joined the University of San Diego School of Medicine in 2020 as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in their Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery.

“Dr. Guo approaches treatment of head and neck cancer by including a whole team of experts. Treatment can be a complex combination of surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy. Diseases of the head and neck have a significant impact on one’s quality of life, so a team approach is essential to achieve comprehensive care and to help patients maximize quality of life throughout their journey”, states the official website of UCSan Diego Health.

Dr. Guo specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck tumors, including salivary gland, cancer of the scalp, face, nose, tongue, mouth, and throat, as well as thyroid and parathyroid disorders. An active researcher, she uses computational biology to study complex post-transcriptional genomic changes that occur in head and neck tumors.

Equipped with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the prestigious MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Dr. Guo joined the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, a program of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and was awarded her medical degree in 2012. During medical school, she served as HHMI Research Scholar through the National Cancer Institute (2009-2010). Upon completing her residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD (2012-2019), Dr. Guo served a fellowship in head and neck surgical oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston (2019-2020). 

Subsequent to her education, Dr. Guo received board certification in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery from the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. The American Board of Otolaryngology is a non-profit corporation that has set the mission of ensuring professional standards with certificates and memberships, and has offered training in the fields of head neck surgery to professionals since 1924.

Otolaryngology is a medical specialty which is focused on the ears, nose, and throat. It is also called otolaryngology-head and neck surgery because specialists are trained in both medicine and surgery. An otolaryngologist is often called an ear, nose, and throat doctor, or an ENT for short.

Licensed to practice in the states of California and Texas, Dr. Guo maintains active professional memberships with the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and the American Head and Neck Society.

Outside her professional and academic commitments, Dr. Guo enjoys running, hiking and painting. She speaks Mandarin in addition to English.

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