UC Irvine Giving Day

Help Us Discover Personalized Head and Neck Cancer Treatments

Help us meet the challenge! Donor Matthew Wareham is offering this challenge. The first 10 gifts received will unlock $100,000 in support of Head and Neck Cancer education, research and programs. When we reach 20 gifts, an additional $100,000 will be unlocked!

Gifts received on this year’s Giving Day will support resident education for the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, in memory of Dr. Victor Passy, who brought academic otolaryngology to Orange County in 1967 as the department's founder. Passy built his career centered on humanism for patients, colleagues and especially trainees. He served as a steward of the otolaryngology specialty and was passionate about sharing it with others. He received numerous university teaching awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 for his extraordinary contributions to otolaryngology education and patient care. He and a patient of his developed the Passy-Muir tracheostomy speaking valve, which is now used worldwide to restore voice to patients with a tracheostomy. Passy consistently emphasized the importance of otolaryngology education and was a consummate ambassador of our specialty. He passed away in June of 2024 at the age of 93, but his legacy still persists in the spirit of the department.

Gifts will also support our pathbreaking cancer research and treatments, which continue to impact current and future generations.

As the only academic head and neck cancer center in Orange County, our surgeons are dedicated to delivering state-of-the-art care with compassion.

We are also backed by the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Orange County. Led by Dr. Tjoson Tjoa, the head and neck cancer team at UCI Health and UC Irvine School of Medicine is deeply committed to improving the care and treatment of head and neck cancer patients. We focus not only on the treatment of head and neck cancers but also on maintaining quality of life with minimally invasive and cutting-edge treatment options. Our goal is to provide a multidisciplinary, research-driven approach to cancer treatment so that every patient receives personalized care from our world-class team of specialists.

At the forefront of research, we are training the next generation of head and neck surgeons and leading the way to a cure. Help support our efforts to advance our vital research and life-saving care this Giving Day!

We are proud to share that within the last year, our department:

• Recruited an additional four surgeons and a hearing scientist, expanding both our clinical access and research infrastructure. 
• Opened an ambulatory clinic in Brea, which is our largest-ever clinical expansion outside of the medical center in Orange. 
• Saw and treated over 20,000 patients in ambulatory clinics and performed over 2,500 surgeries.
• Strengthened our collaboration with the Center for Neural Circuit Mapping to investigate the genomic composition of head and neck cancers.
• Contributed as first or senior author on over 55 manuscripts and authored over 130 scientific articles.

All donations benefit the essential, life-saving care and programs only available through the UCI Health ENT program, including the following vital programs and resources.

• Head and Neck Cancer Research – breakthrough clinical and basic science research, advancing innovative trials of new drugs and pioneering surgical techniques which are moving us towards the personalization of head and neck cancer treatments. A portion of these funds will be used to support the recruitment of a basic scientist to perform AI-supported analyses of the spatial genomics and transcriptomics behind head and neck cancers.
• Rehabilitation Services – dedicated personnel and resources directed at helping patients navigate more easily through the many different challenges they face.
• Head and Neck Cancer Education – supporting lectureships, residents and fellowships and physician continuing education.

Last year during our first Giving Day campaign, we raised over $77,000 from 25 gifts in support of our vital head and neck cancer care, pathbreaking research and compassionate patient care.

We invite you to join us again this year to meet or exceed that goal so we can continue to advance our innovative research and find a cure.

Please contact Joy Kliewer, PhD, senior director of development, at joy.kliewer@uci.edu or 310-486-9265 to learn more about the Head and Neck Cancer team’s research and opportunities for support.