College of Medicine – Phoenix welcomes new Department of Translational Neurosciences professor, Ebenezer N. Yamoah, PhD

Ebenezer N. Yamoah, PhD, will join the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix as a professor in the Department of Translational Neurosciences.

Yamoah is a distinguished research scientist whose work explores the biological mechanisms of hearing and age-related hearing loss. His research has been dedicated to understanding the genetic and cellular mechanisms of hearing loss. This work is essential to identifying ways to restore age-related hearing loss, the most prevalent chronic sensory deficit experienced by older adults, according to the National Institutes of Health.   

Yamoah joins the College of Medicine – Phoenix from the University of Nevada, where he serves as professor of physiology and cell biology and director of the Communication Science Program. He also serves as a professor in the Department of Biology of the Inner Ear at the Marine Biological Laboratory, an international center for research and education in biological and environmental science. 

The primary goal of his laboratory has been the continuous pursuit of innovative science to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the exquisite technical qualities of inner ear sensory cells. These cells consist of hair cells and auditory and vestibular neurons that allow people to decipher sound frequencies faster than any neural system in the body. Yamoah’s vision is to use the principles from these studies to design therapeutic strategies to restore hearing in the congenitally deaf and during age-related hearing loss. For nearly two decades, the laboratory has been funded with multiple grants by the National Institute for Deafness and Communication Disorders and the National Institute on Aging (NIA). Yamoah is the principal investigator of a program project grant on age-related hearing loss.

Yamoah earned his doctorate in neuroscience and Master of Science in surgery from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. His areas of interest include neurophysiology, the auditory system and biophysics.

The College of Medicine – Phoenix seeks to establish the Department of Translational Neurosciences, chaired by James A. Bibb, PhD, as a premier center of innovation and excellence in translational discovery and precision therapies.

Bibb said, “We are excited to have an established investigator like Dr. Yamoah join our growing department.”

Yamoah will assume his role July 8.