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Hong-Bo Zhao is a Professor in the Department of Surgery at Yale School of Medicine. His research primarily focuses on auditory neuroscience, specifically examining the underlying mechanisms of deafness induced by mutations in the Cx26 (GJB2) gap junction gene, contributing to over 50% of nonsyndromic hereditary hearing loss. His work also investigates noise-induced cochlear synaptopathy and its implications for age-related cognitive decline, particularly in Alzheimer's disease. Currently, he is developing gene therapy approaches for treating Cx26 mutation-induced deafness and identifying early hearing biomarkers for the detection of Alzheimer's disease. Zhao's expertise merges genetic, auditory, and cognitive research, shedding light on important therapeutic avenues for hearing loss prevention and intervention.
GRE is optional for PhD applicants. TOEFL speaking scores below 26 or IELTS speaking below 7.5 may require summer English training.