Dr. Hao-Hua Wu is a fellowship-trained UCI Health orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in the management of cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine disorders.
He is passionate about providing excellent care and helping his patients achieve their goals of treatment. Dr. Wu is known for utilizing his expertise in neck and back disorders to recommend non-surgical treatment methods when clinically appropriate. If surgery is indicated, he is able to perform a range of open and minimally invasive spine (MIS) procedures, such as cervical laminoplasty, motion-sparing cervical disc replacement, tubular decompression for disc herniations, and robotic surgery.
Dr. Wu graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California as a Phi Beta Kappa inductee and Trustee Scholar. He earned his medical degree at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received numerous accolades, including the President Gutmann Leadership Award, Petrus Camper Award and Max Kade Fellowship. He completed residency at the University of California, San Francisco, where he was recognized with the James O. Johnston Resident Research Award and the North American Spine Society Value Abstract Award. Dr. Wu then completed the Harvard Combined Spine Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
His current research focuses on patient-reported outcome measures in spine surgery, global health, leadership and medical education. Dr. Wu has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in preeminent orthopaedic journals including Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Journal of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and Spine Deformity. His work in global health includes academic partnerships with surgeons in low- and middle-income countries, such as Malawi and Tanzania. As a faculty member for Elsevier’s Clinical Key Global Challenge, he has given myriad international lectures on leadership in medical school, such as Strategies for Conflict Resolution and Emotional Intelligence: The Art of Succeeding in Medical School. He is internationally recognized as the lead author of the seven-textbook Gunner Goggles series, which is the first exam prep resource to integrate augmented reality. He is in the process of publishing a book on leadership for medical students.