Raymond L Chai, MD

Dr. Raymond Chai, MD, FACS is a nationally recognized leader in head and neck surgical oncology, thyroid cancer, and parathyroid surgery. His practice is distinguished by its breadth: encompassing complex head and neck cancer surgery, transoral robotic surgery, high-volume thyroid and parathyroid operations, and revision surgery for recurrent disease, and by a research agenda focused on improving how patients live after treatment, from clinical trials investigating whether select cancer patients can safely avoid radiation to prospective studies on how surgical technique affects voice and swallowing outcomes.

An Associate Professor of Otolaryngology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Dr. Chai serves as the Director of Head and Neck Robotic Surgery and Co-Director of the Head and Neck Surgical Oncology Fellowship. He performs approximately 500 surgical procedures annually, including over 200 thyroid and parathyroid operations, one of the highest endocrine surgery volumes among head and neck surgeons in New York City.

Head and Neck Cancer and HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer
Dr. Chai's clinical and academic focus is the surgical treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, with particular expertise in HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer and transoral robotic surgery (TORS). He completed his fellowship training with the co-inventors of TORS at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and has since founded and directed robotic surgery programs at two Mount Sinai hospitals.  He is the principal investigator of the SIRS 2.0 trial (NCT05419089), a phase II clinical trial evaluating whether patients with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer and undetectable circulating tumor HPV DNA after surgery can safely forgo adjuvant radiation and chemotherapy.

Dr. Chai's surgical oncology practice encompasses the full spectrum of head and neck malignancies, including cancers of the oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx, hypopharynx, and salivary glands. He works closely with reconstructive colleagues to provide coordinated ablative and microvascular free flap reconstruction for patients requiring complex surgical treatment.

Thyroid Surgery and Thyroid Cancer
Dr. Chai has particular expertise in complex and reoperative thyroid cancer surgery. Patients with recurrent or persistent thyroid cancer, nodal metastases requiring central or lateral neck dissection, and locally advanced disease are a cornerstone of his practice. His extensive experience with revision thyroid surgery, including reoperative central and lateral neck dissection — has established him as a referral resource for challenging thyroid cancer cases from across the tristate area.

Dr. Chai’s approach to thyroidectomy emphasizes meticulous nerve preservation. He routinely identifies both the recurrent laryngeal nerve and the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve in every case, a practice that goes beyond the standard of care at most centers. The external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve controls vocal pitch, projection, and vocal power, and its injury can result in subtle but lasting voice changes that may not be detected by standard assessment. This commitment to complete nerve identification reflects Dr. Chai’s high surgical volume and his published research on how thyroidectomy technique impacts patient-reported voice and swallowing outcomes.

Parathyroid Surgery
Dr. Chai provides comprehensive surgical management for the full spectrum of parathyroid disease. His approach to primary hyperparathyroidism is a modern four-gland exploration that integrates advanced preoperative imaging with the thoroughness of a complete surgical evaluation. Every patient undergoes 4D-CT imaging prior to surgery, providing detailed localization before the operation begins. In the operating room, Dr. Chai performs a bilateral four-gland exploration through a small cervical incision, typically completed in under one hour. By directly visualizing and evaluating all four parathyroid glands, this approach confirms the preoperative imaging findings while simultaneously assessing for multigland disease, which occurs in 15 to 20 percent of patients and may not be apparent on preoperative imaging alone. Direct visualization of all glands provides definitive intraoperative confirmation of the disease, avoiding reliance on intraoperative parathyroid hormone assays.  These assays can be affected by assay variability, sampling issues, and the inherent limitations of using a surrogate biochemical marker when direct surgical assessment is possible.

Dr. Chai has particular expertise in revision parathyroid surgery for patients with persistent or recurrent hyperparathyroidism after a prior unsuccessful operation. He also evaluates patients with normocalcemic hyperparathyroidism, providing thorough assessment to exclude secondary causes of PTH elevation and evidence-based surgical decision-making in accordance with international workshop guideline criteria.

Scholarly and Professional Leadership
Dr. Chai has published over 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and serves as Associate Editor for Endocrine Surgery for Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the most widely circulated journal in the specialty. He chairs the system-wide Resident Research Committee and has received three Faculty of the Year teaching awards. He holds national leadership positions with the American Head and Neck Society and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and serves on the board of directors of the THANC Foundation.
Dr. Chai is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He completed his residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and his fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

For Patients
Dr. Chai's practice draws patients from New York City, Westchester County, New Jersey, Long Island, and from across the country and abroad.  He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Urgent consultations for newly diagnosed head and neck cancer are available same day. Thyroid cancer consultations can typically be arranged within one week, and parathyroid disease consultations within one to two weeks.

Learn more about the SIRS 2.0 trial: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05419089