Faculty

Dr. Houghton is committed to facilitating surgeons and hospital systems adoption of surgical technologies for the benefit of patient care.

She is an esteemed member of the Upper GI and General Surgery Division and serves patients at Keck Hospital and Orange County locations. Dr. Houghton graduated with honors from Wayne State Medical School in Detroit. She then completed her surgical residency at UC Irvine before heading to UC San Diego, where she completed a fellowship in Minimally Invasive and Advanced Endoscopic Surgery. Dr. Houghton has a particular expertise in robotic surgery and was the first robotically trained general surgeon at USC. She is responsible for the development of growth of the residency program at USC, serving as the Director of Robotic Residency Training and the Directory of Robotic Surgery for the General Surgery Department.

As a leader within the foregut community, she frequently trains and proctors surgeons implementing robotic technologies into their practice around the country. She is also a proctor for implanting LINX. She former co-chair or the Robotics committee and mentor for the American Foregut Society, member and speaker for the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, and on the board for the Institute of Surgical Excellence. Her expertise is often utilized as a moderator for society meetings, focusing on her research in the clinical outcomes and safety advantages of the robotic approach in foregut surgery.

Her clinical interests include benign and malignant disorders of the esophagus and stomach.
These include the diagnosis and treatment gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), hiatal and para-esophageal hernias, esophageal motility disorders, including achalasia, gastroparesis, and esophageal and gastric cancer.