Thomas Lenarz MD, PhD

Thomas Lenarz, M.D. Ph.D. is a Professor of Otorhinolaryngology and Chair of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the Medical University of Hannover, Germany, and a pioneer in the development of surgical and pharmacological interventions for hearing loss. Under his leadership, the department has become the center of an internationally recognized world-leading network for diagnosis, treatment, and translational research on hearing loss.

Professor Lenarz and his team have developed the largest international cochlear implantation program in the world. His research activity on surgical approaches to hearing loss extends beyond cochlear implants and includes central auditory implants in the midbrain and brain stem for neural deafness and implantable hearing aids for middle ear and inner ear hearing loss.

Professor Lenarz received his Ph.D. in the pharmacology of the auditory system in 1987 before undertaking postdoctoral research at the University of California in San Francisco in 1989. He is currently vice president of the German Society of Biomedical Technology and speaker of the expert group on healthcare technologies at Acatech (German National Academy of Technology).