William Gao, MD, is a board-certified, fellowship-trained laryngologist at MedStar Washington Hospital Center and Georgetown University Hospital. He specializes in diagnosing and treating disorders that affect the three primary functions of the throat: voice, breathing (airway), and swallowing.

Dr. Gao employs unique in-office diagnostic techniques such as laryngeal videostroboscopy, airway endoscopy, and transnasal esophagoscopy to ensure comprehensive evaluation. Treatment is tailored to each individual and may entail medical, procedural, or surgical approaches. Many procedures he performs can be done in the clinic using local anesthesia, avoiding the need for surgery under general anesthesia. Some of these awake in-office treatments include vocal fold injections, laser treatment of various laryngeal lesions, biopsy of suspicious lesions, and EMG-guided laryngeal Botox injections.

Dr. Gao’s expertise extends to surgery for voice restoration, laser surgery for removal of tumors of the voicebox, and reconstructive endoscopic/open airway surgery. He also works with speech language pathologists as an interdisciplinary team for holistic evaluation and to provide the highest level of care to patients with voice, airway, and swallowing problems.

His clinical interests center on voice and airway disorders, including vocal fold paralysis, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP), spasmodic dysphonia, and airway stenosis. His research interests include injectable laryngeal therapeutics, novel treatments for vocal fold scar and airway stenosis, understanding immune modulation of RRP, and establishing better diagnostics for laryngopharyngeal reflux.

Dr. Gao received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College after completing a six-year accelerated premedical/medical program in conjunction with Penn State University. He then joined Georgetown University for a five-year residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, where he was honored with the Ziad E. Deeb award for resident teaching and selected as Administrative Chief in his last year. Subsequently, he completed a one-year subspecialty fellowship in laryngology and care of the professional voice at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles with Dr. Michael Johns (one of the premier leaders in laryngology). He is an actively involved member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS), serving on the AAO-HNS Voice Committee as well as the ENThealth.org Consumer Health Development Group for Laryngology.

Dr. Gao is fluent in Mandarin.