Christian Wooten, MD MBA
Hometown: Gardena, California
Professional interests: Currently undecided, but I am leaning towards fellowship. Fortunately, I have all of residency to figure out what I love the most!
Hobbies: I love to listen to music, watch new movies or TV shows or F1, play basketball, and find new hobbies. I learned to surf two years ago, golf last year, and I need to get on the pickleball wave or learn to ski this year! I also like to try new cuisines, experience different restaurants, and taste different wines.
What are your favorite things to do in the Denver area: First and foremost, as a huge foodie, I love discovering new cuisines and places to enjoy a tasty meal. I do my best to tackle a hike and play some basketball or golf, but I try to balance that with a vibey jazz gig or movie night indoors.
What is the biggest strength of our program: The Department of Otolaryngology serves as a microcosm of the larger university, fostering a community designed for interdisciplinary support and collaboration that I observed translating into academic excellence and exceptional patient care. I wanted to develop in such an environment to be the best doctor and surgeon I could be.
1. Lin L, Bommakanti KK, Wooten C, et al. A bioprinted head and neck cancer organoid-based platform for evaluating multimodal therapies. bioRxiv. Published online May 21, 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.05.20.726741
2. Bourdillon AT, Callas P, Sajisevi M, et al. Evaluating safety of observation after resection of low- and intermediate-grade major salivary cancers with isolated perineural invasion with or without facial nerve sacrifice. Am J Otolaryngol. 2026;47(1):104773. doi:10.1016/j.amjoto.2025.104773
3. Delavary D, Evans L, Tamamian C, et al. HPV Workshop for Underserved High School Students. J Cancer Educ. Published online October 6, 2025. doi:10.1007/s13187-025-02746-4
4. Han EJ, Alhiyari Y, Evans LK, et al. Dynamic Optical Contrast Imaging for the Pathological Diagnosis of Thyroid Cancer. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2025;173(3):586-591. doi:10.1002/ohn.1341
5. Wooten C, Pillutla P, St John MA. What Is the Role of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Recurrent Head and Neck Melanoma?. Laryngoscope. 2026;136(5):1974-1975. doi:10.1002/lary.32393
6. Sajisevi M, Nguyen K, Callas P, et al. Oncologic Safety of Close Margins in Patients With Low- to Intermediate-Grade Major Salivary Gland Carcinoma. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2024;150(2):107-116. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2023.3952
7. Sudarshan KB, Hori Y, Swid MA, et al. A novel metric linking stellate ganglion neuronal population dynamics to cardiopulmonary physiology. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2021;321(2):H369-H381. doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00138.2021
8. Hori Y, Temma T, Wooten C, et al. Aorticorenal ganglion as a novel target for renal neuromodulation. Heart Rhythm. 2021;18(10):1745-1757. doi:10.1016/j.hrthm.2021.06.1192
9. Hori Y, Temma T, Wooten C, et al. Cardiac afferent signaling partially underlies premature ventricular contraction-induced cardiomyopathy. Heart Rhythm. 2021;18(9):1586-1595. doi:10.1016/j.hrthm.2021.04.004
10. Omura Y, Kipke JP, Salavatian S, et al. Spinal Anesthesia Reduces Myocardial Ischemia-triggered Ventricular Arrhythmias by Suppressing Spinal Cord Neuronal Network Interactions in Pigs. Anesthesiology. 2021;134(3):405-420. doi:10.1097/ALN.0000000000003662
Lin L, Bommakanti K, Wang B, Alhiyari Y, Wooten C, Sannajust A, Evans L, Tebon P, St. John MA, Soragni A. A Chemoradiation Platform for Evaluating Multimodal Therapy Effects on Tumor Viability and Invasion Ex Vivo. Poster Presented at American Association for Cancer Research (AACR); April, 2025; Chicago, IL. Wooten C, Khan A, Ayo-Ajibola O, Hur K. Sinonasal Symptoms in the Black Population of Los Angeles. Poster Presented at American Academy of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery; September, 2024; Miami, FL. Lin L, Bommakanti K, Wooten C, Alhiyari Y, Sannajust A, Mo B, Evans L, Tebon P, St. John MA, Soragni A. Chemoradiation Screening of Bioprinted Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Organoids. Poster Presented at UC Drug Discovery Consortium; September, 2024; Los Angeles, CA. Wooten C, Khan A, Ayo-Ajibola O, Hur K. Sinonasal Symptoms in the Black Population of Los Angeles. Poster Presented at UCLA Family Medicine Research Day; May, 2024; Los Angeles, CA. Wooten C, Lin L, Boomakanti K, Alhiyari Y, Sannajust A, Han E, Mo B, Evans L, Teybon P, St. John MA, Soragni A. Invasive Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Organoid Inhibited by Ibrutinib Treatment. Poster Presented at Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center; May, 2024; Los Angeles, CA. Wooten C, Khan A, Hur K. Sinonasal Symptoms in the Black Population of Los Angeles. Poster Presentation at UIM-COE Faculty Development; April, 2024; Los Angeles, CA. Lin L, Bommakanti K, Wooten C, Alhiyari Y, Sannajust A, Mo B, Evans L, Tebon P, St. John MA, Soragni A. Chemoradiation Screening of Bioprinted Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Organoids. Poster Presentation at AACR; April, 2024; San Diego, CA. Han EJ, Evans LK, Alhiyari Y, Wooten C, Mo B, St. John MA. Optical Imaging Modalities for the Detection of Head and Neck Cancer Margins. Poster Presentation at Imaging, Therapeutics, and Advanced Technology in Head and Neck Surgery and Otolaryngology 2024, SPIE Photonics West; January, 2024; San Francisco, CA. Wooten C, Aleman A, Tam B, Figueroa M, Hur K. Gauging the Prevalence of Sinonasal Symptoms in the Latinx Population. Poster Presented at The Triological Society; January, 2024; West Palm Beach, FL. Hori Y, Wooten C, Ajijola OA. Neural Contributions to the Development of Premature Ventricular Contraction- Induced Cardiomyopathy. Poster Presented at 2020 Heart Rhythm Society Scientific Sessions; May, 2020; San Diego, CA. Hori Y, Wooten C, Ajijola OA. Ensemble Dynamics of Stellate Ganglion Neurons Reveal Differential Transduction of Cardiac and Pulmonary Inputs. Poster Presented at 2020 Experimental Biology Conference; April, 2020. San Diego, CA. Hori Y, Wooten C, Ajijola OA. The Role of Cardiac TRPV1 Afferent Signaling in PVC-Induced Cardiomyopathy. Poster Presented at UCLA Department of Medicine Conference at Covel Commons; November, 2019; Los Angeles, CA. Wooten C, Kipke J, Afyouni A, Mahajan A. Spinal Neural Network Control of Cardiac Electrophysiology during Myocardial Stress. Poster Presentation at UCLA Division of Molecular Medicine Retreat at Annenberg Beach House; May, 2018; Santa Monica, CA.
- Colorado Medical Society
- American Head and Neck Society
- American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
- American Medical Student Association
- California Medical Association
- American Medical Association
- Los Angeles County Medical Association
- 1st Place - Henrietta Lacks Health Equity Case Competition, Johnson and Johnson
- Gold Humanism Honor Society, Arnold P. Gold Foundation 2024
- Bridge2AI ENABLE Scholar, National Institutes of Health 2024
- Kip Hagopian Fellowship, UCLA Anderson School of Management 2024
- Discovery Year Research Grant, UCLA Underrepresented in Medicine - Center of Excellence 2024
- Consortium Fellowship, The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management 2023
- Patient Care Foundation of Los Angeles Scholarship Los Angeles County Medical Association 2022
- Panacea Financial Foundation Scholarship 2022
- Barghouti-Gosey Minority in Medicine Scholarship Barghouti-Gosey Foundation 2021
- California State Senate and California State Legislature Awards for Community Service 2015
- US Congress, California State Senate, California Legislature, Los Angeles County, City of Torrance, and Torrance Chamber of Commerce Awards for Leadership 2013