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<p>Lukas Varga, MD, MSc, PhD is an associate professor and ENT consultant / otologist at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital of the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He also works as a researcher at the Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava. Dr. Varga graduated from Faculty of Natural Sciences and Faculty of Medicine at the Comenius University. He is an author and co-author of more than 40 in extenso scientific papers and four books/book chapters. His main research interests include otogenetics, otology, implantable hearing devices and various topics in biomedical research.</p>

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<p>Previous work experience includes Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital (UCL, UK), Manchester Royal Infirmary (University of Manchester, UK)</p>

<p>Dr. Hideki Mutai, DVM, PhD, is a Lecturer in Kitasato University School of Medicine. His research focuses on the molecular genetics and pathophysiology of hereditary hearing loss, integrating otorhinolaryngology, genomics, molecular biology, and cell biology.</p> <p>He has worked on identifying the genetic causes of hearing impairment, particularly through genomic studies of Japanese patients with hereditary and syndromic hearing loss using whole-exome sequencing. His research has contributed to improved molecular diagnosis and a better understanding of the genetic heterogeneity of deafness.</p> <p>A major focus of his work is SLC12A2-associated hearing loss, DFNA78. He contributed to the identification of pathogenic SLC12A2 variants in patients with nonsyndromic hearing loss and has further investigated their disease mechanisms using experimental model mouse.</p>