Ashley E. Kita, MD
Accepting new patients

Ashley E. Kita, MD

(she/her)
  • Otolaryngology
Santa Monica Head & Neck Surgery | 1131 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 302, Santa Monica, CA 90401
424-259-6559
+1 more location
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About

Dr. Kita is an NIH-funded Assistant Professor who attended the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA after graduating Magna Cum Laude in Engineering from the University of California Berkeley. She chose to study medicine with dreams of translating engineering innovations from the bench to the bedside. While completing her clinical training at UCLA, she was able to collaborate with numerous colleagues to develop some exciting technologies. She helped create and validate a point-of-care test for cerebrospinal fluid. In doing so, her team obtained an American Academy of Otolaryngology Resident Research Award, an NIH R21 grant, and won both UCLA's MedTech Challenge and Innovation Challenge. She also has interests in nerve regeneration, hearing preservation, and sleep apnea diagnostics. Her work designing methods of prolonged therapeutic delivery for nerve regeneration and hearing preservation has earned her funding from the NIH NIDCD, the American Hearing Research Foundation, the American Neurotology Society, the American College of Surgeons, and the Triological Society. She is also working with engineering colleagues to develop an imaging-based sleep study with funding from UCLA’s Medtech Challenge, and technology from this project has been adapted to help track recovery from Los Angeles’s tragic 2025 wildfires.

She is devoted to providing excellent, evidence-based care for patients with problems of the head and neck while continuing to work innovating the technologies that will improve Otolaryngology in the future. She serves on the American Academy of Otolaryngology’s Sleep Disorders Committee and is an active participant in the Medical Devices and Drugs Committee and Outcomes Research and Evidence Based Medicine Committee. She has co-hosted an annual innovation competition at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and helps to develop clinical practice guidelines, state of the art guidelines, and reviews of current technology.

Languages

English

Education

Fellowship

Biodesign, UCLA Health, 2021

Residency

Head and Neck Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine, 2020

Degree

MD, UCLA School of Medicine, 2015

Recognitions

  • Winner of second place poster ribbon from the Triological Society, 2024
  • Faculty Excellence Award, 2022
  • Winner of first place poster ribbon from the American Neurotology Society, 2022
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Locations

Santa Monica

Santa Monica Head & Neck Surgery

Head and Neck Surgery| Pediatric Head and Neck Surgery| Head and Neck Medical Oncology +1 more specialty
424-259-6559
Fax:310-458-3129
Location Details

Hospital Affiliations

UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center

Research

Interests

  • Procedural treatments for obstructive sleep apnea
  • Hearing preservation
  • Point-of-care diagnostics for cerebrospinal fluid
  • Contactless diagnostics for sleep apnea detection
  • Lip biopsy for Sjogren's syndrome
  • Critically assessing emerging technologies in Otolaryngology

Publications

Link to Dr. Kita's PubMed publications

  1. Wu FM, Gorelik D, Brenner MJ, Takashima M, Goyal A, Kita AE, Rose AS, Hong RS, Abuzeid WM, Maria PS, Al-Sayed AA, Dunham ME, Kadkade P, Schaffer SR, Johnson AW, Eshraghi AA, Samargandy S, Morrison RJ, Weissbrod PA, Mitchell MB, Rabbani CC, Futran N, Ahmed OG. New Medical Device and Therapeutic Approvals in Otolaryngology: State of the Art Review of 2022. OTO Open. 2024 Jan 22;8(1):e105. PMID: 38259521
  2. Kita A, Kedeshian K, Hong M, Hoffman L. An in vitro model for postoperative cranial nerve dysfunction and a proposed method of rehabilitation with N-acetylcysteine microparticles. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2024 Apr 23. doi: 10.1007/s00405-024-08622-z. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38649541.
  3. Kedeshian K, Hong M, Hoffman L, Kita A. N-acetylcysteine microparticles reduce cisplatin-induced RSC96 Schwann cell toxicity. Laryngoscope Investig Otolaryngol. 2024 May 17;9(3):e1256. doi: 10.1002/lio2.1256. PMID: 38765675
  4. Commesso EA, Kedarisetty S, Kita AE, Sharma A, Woodson BT, Green KK, Kent DT, D'Agostino MA, Kezirian EJ. Palate Shape, Drug-Induced Sleep Endoscopy Findings, and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Pharyngeal Surgery Outcomes. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2024 Jun 11. doi: 10.1002/ohn.849. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38860752.
  5. Hong MK, Echanique KA, Hoffman LF, Kita AE. Designing a Prolonged Method of Therapeutic Delivery to Support Rehabilitation From Ototoxic Damage in a Schwann Cell Model. Otol Neurotol. 2023 Feb 15;. doi: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000003839. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 36791364.
  6. Kita AE, Boisoneau D, Lambert D. Nonopioid Combination Formulations. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2022 Apr;166(4):791. doi: 10.1177/01945998211027349. PubMed PMID: 35363584.
  7. Upton M, Kita A, Scapa J, St John M. Prognostic Value of Tumor Staging: Predicting Nodal Metastases in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Laryngoscope. 2021 Jan;131(1):E170-E175. doi: 10.1002/lary.28633. Epub 2020 Mar 25. PubMed PMID: 32212346.
  8. Kita A, Saldate J, Chang C, Chellappa N, Jong J, Matsuda R, Schmidt A, Shih B, Shafqat I, Schoettler K, Acharya S, Seidlits S, Hoffman L. Implantable Drug Reservoir Devices for Inner Ear Delivery of Pharmacotherapeutics. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020 Oct;163(4):791-798. doi: 10.1177/0194599820930229. Epub 2020 Jun 2. PubMed PMID: 32484378.
  9. Bradbury DW, Kita AE, Hirota K, St John MA, Kamei DT. Rapid Diagnostic Test Kit for Point-of-Care Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak Detection. SLAS Technol. 2020 Feb;25(1):67-74. doi: 10.1177/2472630319877377. Epub 2019 Sep 22. PubMed PMID: 31544595; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6980299.
  10. Kita AE, Bradbury DW, Taylor ZD, Kamei DT, St John MA. Point-of-Care Cerebrospinal Fluid Detection. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2018 Nov;159(5):824-829. doi: 1177/0194599818789075. Epub 2018 Jul 24. PubMed PMID: 30040545; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6980298.

Insurance

  • Aetna
  • Anthem Blue Cross
  • Blue Shield of California
  • Centivo
  • Cigna
  • First Health
  • Health Net of California
  • Interplan (part of HealthSmart)
  • L.A. Care
  • Medicare Advantage
  • MultiPlan
  • UFCM Health System
  • Prime Health Services
  • Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
  • TRICARE
  • UnitedHealthcare

The list of health care plans above may not be comprehensive and could change. 
Please contact your benefits coordinator or health insurance company directly to verify coverage.

Visit our health insurance information page for more details.

Recognitions

  • Winner of second place poster ribbon from the Triological Society, 2024
  • Faculty Excellence Award, 2022
  • Winner of first place poster ribbon from the American Neurotology Society, 2022
  • Departmental Well-being Officer, since 2020
  • American Academy of Otolaryngology CORE Grant Reviewer, since 2020
  • UCLA Med Tech Challenge Winner, 2021, 2019
  • UCLA Health Innovation Challenge Winner, 2019
  • Academic Chief Resident, 2019-2020
  • Los Angeles Research Study Club Resident Research Presentation, First Place, 2019
  • UCLA Emergency Department Consultant of the Semester, Fall 2017
  • Academy of Otolaryngology Resident Research Award CORE Grant, 2016
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, 2014
  • Viola G. Hyde Scholarship Fund Research Award, 2014
  • Letter of Distinction - Family Medicine, Neurology, Systems Based Healthcare, 2014
  • American Society of Hematology Trainee Research Award, 2011
  • Associated Society of Civil Engineers Steel Bridge Competition National Winner, 2008