Lab Update – Bo Zhao, PhD

Sensorineural hearing loss research identifies therapeutic target in Laboratory of Bo Zhao

Assistant professor Bo Zhao, PhD, has continued to grow his research program in sensorineural hearing loss with support of grants from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of the National Institutes of Health, and Royal National Institute for Deaf People, UK.

The overall goal of Zhao’s research is to elucidate the mechanisms that regulate the formation and maintenance of the stereociliary bundle of cochlear hair cells, and the mechanisms underlying aminoglycoside-induced hearing loss. They have partially illustrated molecular organizations and functions of several proteins linked to hearing loss in humans in cochlear hair cells, and identified the autophagy pathway as a potential therapeutic target to prevent aminoglycoside-induced hearing loss.