The Ear Institute

Dr. B. Maya Kato, MD is board certified in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. She is a fellowship-trained Otologist/Neurotologist, and focuses her practice on disorders of the ear, hearing, and balance. Dr. Kato’s clinical expertise is in the fields of hearing loss, dizziness and balance disorders, pediatric otology, cochlear implants, implantable hearing devices, and skull base surgery. In her clinical practice, she draws upon knowledge gained from her distinguished academic career, award-winning research experience, and extensive sub-specialty training. She provides care to pediatric and adult patients. A native of Los Angeles, Dr. Kato graduated with honors in biology from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1989. In 1994, she received her MD degree from the University of California, San Francisco. She completed her residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Washington in 2000. Dr. Kato then completed a two-year fellowship in Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at the Michigan Ear Institute. She has published numerous research articles in the fields of otology, otolaryngology, and neurosceiences, and presented nation-wide at clinical and scientific meetings. She has been active in residency training, and for several years directed the temporal bone dissection course for Northern California Kaiser Otolaryngology residents, and was a member of the teaching faculty at UC San Francisco and UC Davis. Dr. Kato is the medical director and founder of the The Ear Institute, Center for the Ear, Hearing, & Balance in Palm Desert, California. It is her vision that The Ear Institute will serve as the regional center of excellence for her patients with ear, hearing and balance disorders. She lives in Rancho Mirage, California with her husband and son.