Otolaryngology Surgeon-Scientist
Principal Investigator, Auditory Development and Restoration Program
Dr. Hoa received a B.A. from Boston University and an M.D. from Boston University School of Medicine. He completed an otolaryngology-head and neck surgery residency at Wayne State University; a neurotology fellowship at House Ear Clinic; and a T32 USC/HRI Hearing and Communications Neuroscience Postdoctoral Research Training Fellowship. Dr. Hoa studied mechanisms responsible for the development of the organ of Corti and auditory regeneration in the laboratory of Neil Segil, Ph.D., where he used a combination of fluorescent-activated cell sorting (FACS), confocal microscopy, and live culture systems to investigate mechanisms relating to hair cell regeneration in the perinatal mouse. Along with Fred Linthicum, Saumil Merchant, and Dr. Segil, Dr. Hoa demonstrated the survival of cochlear supporting cells from human temporal bones obtained from individuals who are profoundly deaf, demonstrating that supporting cells might serve as targets for future attempts at hair cell regeneration in humans. Previous work by others has demonstrated that mammalian cochlear supporting cells can be transdifferentiated into hair cells under certain unusual conditions.
Dr. Hoa is an alumnus of NIDCD's Otolaryngology Surgeon-Scientist Program. His laboratory uses a combination of molecular biology and bioinformatics including single-cell mRNA-sequencing to examine auditory restoration in the mature cochlea utilizing adult mammalian systems.
Auditory Development and Restoration Program