We’d like to welcome Dr. Jianxin Bao, to the Department of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences at Duke University.
Dr. Bao is coming to Duke University from Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) where he has been working at the founding director of Translational Research Center for almost a decade. Dr. Bao had his postdoctoral training at Stanford University, Harvard University and Columbia University. He started his independent research career at Columbia University, and then became a tenured faculty at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to coming to Duke, he is the founder and CEO for Gateway Biotechnology Inc.
Today, Dr. Bao is dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of hearing loss and tinnitus, problems that affect many people. As we age, our ability to hear naturally declines, which is known as age-related hearing loss. Similarly, exposure to loud noises can also lead to hearing loss, impacting millions of adults. Dr. Bao's research zeroes in on a key cellular process called "synaptopathy," where the connections between our inner ear's sensory cells and the brain's sound-transmitting neurons are lost. The tricky part is that this kind of hearing damage often goes unnoticed in standard hearing tests, even when the sensory cells themselves seem fine. This might explain why some individuals struggle to understand speech in noisy places, despite having seemingly normal hearing.
Dr. Bao and his team are working on innovative tools and techniques to study synaptopathy, both in lab settings and in real-world cases. This is crucial because hearing problems, like tinnitus, where people perceive sounds like ringing in their ears without any external source, can be linked to these cellular changes. Their research even extends to investigating possible connections between tinnitus and changes in a brain area called the hippocampus.
Currently, there are no effective medications for these hearing-related issues. But Dr. Bao's efforts aim to change that. By delving deep into the intricacies of hearing disorders, his team is striving to develop new treatments and preventative measures. Their goal is to alleviate the impact of these common and debilitating hearing challenges that many Americans face.
Beyond his work, Dr. Bao is a family man who enjoys spending quality time with his wife, Helen, and their son James. He's also an outdoor enthusiast who relishes activities like hiking and playing Pickleball.