Hi my name is Dr Zoe Mann, and I am a researcher in the Centre for Craniofacial and Regenerative Biology at King’s College London.

My current research is focused on understanding how cell metabolism influences cell fate decisions in the developing cochlea and how this might be translated into novel regenerative therapies for hearing loss. Hearing and vestibular defects are growing and unmet medical needs in the wider community, resulting primarily from loss of or damage to sensory hair cells.

Current projects in the lab are investigating the different signals that tell hair cells where they should form and what they should become in order to carry out their functions in the auditory system.

(i) We are looking at differences in the metabolic properties between high and low frequency hair cells and how this links to their functional differences;
(ii) how metabolic activity regulates the hair cell development;
(iii) and how interactions between metabolism and developmental signalling pathways work together to fine-tune the properties of hair cells along the cochlea that allow them to respond to different sound frequencies.

The long-term aim of the lab is to use what we understand about hair cell development to improve our knowledge of hair cell regeneration and translate into therapies to address hearing loss.

︎ learn more about Zoe’s work

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/zoe-mann

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