Texas Skull Base Physicians

Texas Skull Base Physicians

Request AN Appointment
Call (713) 486-5000
REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT
CALL (713) 486-5000

The Texas Skull Base Physicians at UTHealth Houston brings together a highly experienced multidisciplinary team of subspecialists for patients with complex disorders and diseases of the skull base. Our physicians have developed successful strategies for the minimally invasive endoscopic management of non-cancerous and cancerous neoplasms of the skull base in addition to traditional approaches.

Scope of Expertise

Endoscopic, minimally invasive, and traditional approaches for:
  • Skull base tumors
  • Esthesioneuroblastoma and malignant skull base tumors
  • Pituitary tumors
  • Benign and malignant sinus tumors
  • Inverted papilloma and benign neoplasms
  • Meningioma
  • Juvenile angiofibroma and pediatric tumors
  • Chordoma and chondrosarcoma
  • Fibro-osseous lesions, including fibrous dysplasia
  • CSF rhinorrhea (spinal fluid leak)

Patient-Centered Care

  • Collaboration and evaluation
  • Communication
  • Physical comfort
  • Aesthetic outcome

Treatment

We are committed to innovative treatment of rare and difficult conditions. You have access to the most advanced treatment options available, including state-of-the-art medical therapy and surgery using minimally invasive techniques when possible.

Meet the Physicians

Martin J. Citardi, MD

Martin J. Citardi, MD

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Martin J. Citardi, MD, an internationally recognized rhinologist, currently serves as Professor and Chair of the Department. Dr. Citardi received his doctor of medicine degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his residency training at Yale University and then pursued a rhinology fellowship at the Georgia Rhinology & Sinus Center. Dr. Citardi is certified by the American Board of Otorhinolaryngology, and he is a fellow of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, the American College of Surgeons and the American Rhinologic Society.

UT Physicians Otorhinolaryngology - Texas Medical Center

6400 Fannin St, Ste 2700
Houston, TX, 77030-1539
Amber U. Luong, MD, PhD

Amber Luong, MD, PhD

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Amber Luong, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. She obtained her doctorate under the Nobel laureates Drs. Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein for the identification and biochemical characterization of a novel human enzyme, acetyl coA synthetase. Dr. Luong has co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Her primary research interest focuses on understanding the pathophysiology of allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS) as a model for studying the local immune response of the paranasal sinuses.

UT Physicians Otorhinolaryngology - Texas Medical Center

6400 Fannin St, Ste 2700
Houston, TX, 77030-1539
William C. Yao

William Yao, MD

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Dr. William Yao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston). Dr. Yao is fluent in English and Japanese. He is the co-author of chapters on the surgical management of encephaloceles and skull base surgery in Head and Neck Surgery (2nd Edition) and ENT Secrets (3rd Edition), respectively. He has co-authored numerous articles published in peer-reviewed journals, including The Laryngoscope, International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology, Ear, Nose and Throat Journal, American Journal of Medicine and Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.

UT Physicians Otorhinolaryngology - Texas Medical Center

6400 Fannin St, Ste 2700
Houston, TX, 77030-1539
Photo by Dwight C. Andrews/The University of Texas Medical School at Houston Office of Communications

Angel Blanco, MD

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Dr. Angel Blanco earned his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He then completed his residency at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Board certified in radiation oncology, Dr. Blanco has practiced medicine since 2006. His clinical interests include the central nervous system, radiation oncology for head and neck, breast, gynecologic, thoracic, gastrointestinal and genitourinary cancers.

UT Physicians Otorhinolaryngology - Texas Medical Center

6400 Fannin Street, Suite 2700
Houston, TX, 77030
Spiros L. Blackburn, MD - Neurosurgery

Spiros Blackburn, MD

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Spiros Blackburn, MD, is a board-certified neurosurgeon who specializes in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery. He has special expertise in both endoscopic and endovascular neurosurgery. A summa cum laude graduate of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Dr. Blackburn received his medical degree at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. After concluding his residency at Washington University in St. Louis, he completed a cerebrovascular fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta and a neuro-endovascular fellowship at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University. Prior to joining UT Physicians Neurosciences, he held a faculty appointment as assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

UT Physicians Otorhinolaryngology - Texas Medical Center

6400 Fannin Street, Suite 2700
Houston, TX, 77030
Roc Chen-web

P. Roc Chen, MD

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Dr. P. Roc Chen is a board-certified neurosurgeon, sub-specializing in open cerebrovascular, endovascular neurosurgery, and skull base neurosurgery, with expertise in brain aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, carotid disease, acoustic neuroma and skull base tumors. An associate professor of neurosurgery at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Dr. Chen received his medical degree from Sun Yat-Sen University of Medical Sciences in Guangzhou, China, followed by residencies at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School. He has completed fellowships in neurointerventional radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School, in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute and in neuroendovascular surgery and cerebrovascular neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

UT Physicians Otorhinolaryngology - Texas Medical Center

6400 Fannin Street, Suite 2700
Houston, TX, 77030
Katie Guttenberg, MD

Katie Guttenberg, MD

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Katie Guttenberg, MD, is an associate professor of medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, where she directs the endocrinology fellowship program.

Her clinical practice focuses on patients with pituitary disorders, including pituitary adenomas, hyperprolactinemia, Cushing’s disease, acromegaly, and hypopituitarism.

UT Physicians Otorhinolaryngology - Texas Medical Center

6400 Fannin Street, Suite 2700
Houston, TX, 77030