Shinichi KANEMARU Japan

I graduated from Kyoto University in 1988 and received my PhD in larynx regeneration in 2003. My subspecialty is middle ear, inner ear, and skull base surgery, and my research is regenerative medicine in the head and neck area. I am currently the special director of the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery and the chief director of the Hearing Loss and Tympanic Membrane Regeneration (TMR) Center at Kitano Hospital. I developed the world's first TMR therapy, which was approved for health insurance coverage in Japan from 2019. According to the WHO, there are currently at least 330 million patients with TM perforations around the world who suffer from hearing loss. TMR therapy does not require skin incision or tissue collection and transplantation, as is the case with current surgical treatments, and can be completed in just 20 to 30 minutes, resulting in ideal hearing improvement at a low cost. I am working to spread this treatment, which fundamentally changes middle ear surgery, throughout the world. This treatment is currently undergoing Phase II clinical trials at Harvard University MEEI and NYU Langone Medical Center to obtain FDA approval in North America.