<p>Vlasta Lungova, RNDr, PhD, is a Scientist in the Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, at the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA. Her academic journey began at Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic, where she started to do voice research with Prof. Dr. Jan Švec. She earned her PhD in Developmental Biology and Genetics at the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Brno, Czech Republic. In 2013, she relocated to the United States and joined the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Susan Thibeault at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.</p> <p>Recently, Dr. Lungova received a prestigious five-year, $2.7 million research grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), awarded in collaboration with Dr. Thibeault, which emphasizes the role of vocal fold epithelial stem cells in maintaining epithelial homeostasis and investigates the mechanisms underlying the formation of vocal fold hyperplastic lesions.</p> <p>Dr. Lungova's work is published in renowned scientific journals, including Nature Communications, Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, Disease Models and Mechanisms, and Development. Her research encompasses the guided differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells into vocal fold cell lineages, with applications in clinical and pharmaceutical research, as well as mechanisms of laryngeal and vocal fold development in humans and transgenic mouse models. Her work aims to advance the understanding of congenital laryngeal disorders, disease- and aging-related laryngeal pathologies while paving the way for tissue-engineering strategies to create neo-vocal fold tissue. Through these contributions, Dr. Lungova has significantly advanced the understanding of vocal fold biology and its associated disorders.</p>