Meet Dr. Armstrong

Dr. William B. Armstrong joined the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California Irvine in July 1994 as an Assistant Clinical Professor. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in biochemistry at Pomona College in 1984, graduated from Medical School with honors from the University of Washington, School of Medicine (Seattle) in 1988 and completed his internship and residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Southern California in 1993. He completed fellowship training in head and neck oncology and skull base surgery at Vanderbilt University under the preceptorship of James Netterville, M.D in 1994.

Dr. Armstrong has been a faculty member of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at UCI since July 1994. He has served as vice-chair from 1997 to 2007 and residency program director since 2003. He served as section head of Otolaryngology at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach from 1997 to 2003. He was appointed Associate Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology in 2002. In June 2007, Dr. Armstrong was named interim chair of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at UCI, and was named permanent chair July 2010. He was appointed Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology July 2009.

Dr. Armstrong’s primary clinical interests are in head and neck cancer surgery, thyroid and parathyroid surgery. Dr. Armstrong has a strong interest in minimally invasive procedures to treat head and neck tumors including endoscopic and robotic approaches to head and neck and thyroid tumors. Dr. Armstrong also is a member of the UCI skull base team, and the UCI Robotic Oncology Group. In addition, he is utilizing ultrasound in the outpatient setting and incorporating office based ultrasound into clinical practice and resident education.

Dr. Armstrong’s primary research interest is Head and Neck Cancer Chemoprevention and early detection of head and neck cancer. He is involved in NCI clinical trials for oral cancer prevention. Dr. Armstrong is also interested in noninvasive optical imaging of head and neck cancer and premalignancy. He is actively involved with the Optical Coherence Tomography Project at UC Irvine and Beckman Laser Institute.

Since 1999, Dr. Armstrong is happily married to his wife, and they have two children. Recreational interests include jogging, cooking, planting fruit trees and participating in activities with his two children. The most recent addition to the family is Max, our black lab puppy, who is keeping everyone more active.