Hong-Bo Zhao

Hong-Bo Zhao, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Surgery in the Division of Otolaryngology at Yale School of Medicine. He holds affiliations with the Center for Brain & Mind Health and the Department of Surgery. Zhao’s research focuses on auditory neuroscience, particularly deafness mechanisms related to genetic mutations (Cx26/GJB2), noise-induced hearing loss, and Alzheimer’s disease’s impact on auditory systems. His lab develops gene therapies for hereditary hearing loss and investigates early biomarkers for Alzheimer’s detection through hearing deficits.

Education: MD from Three Gorges University Medical School (1982), MS in Biomedical Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (1989), PhD in Auditory Neuroscience from Shanghai Institute of Physiology (1992). His NIH-funded research bridges genetics, physiology, and neurodegenerative disease. Key contributions include identifying hyperacusis in Cx26 mutation carriers and linking hearing loss to accelerated Alzheimer’s progression.

Research interests emphasize translational applications like post-noise treatments and auditory biomarkers for early Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Active on NIH study sections and professional boards, Zhao collaborates with the Yale Ear Lab and mentors researchers in auditory and neurodegenerative studies.

His work has been featured in Nature Aging, Science Advances, and Journal of Neuroscience, advancing understanding of cochlear physiology and neurodegenerative connections.