Prof. Dr. Agnieszka J. Szczepek obtained her Master of Science degree in Microbiology/Immunology from the University of Warsaw in Poland in 1986 and her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Medical Sciences from the University of Alberta in Canada in 1999. From 1999 to 2006, she researched at the Max Planck Institute of Infection Biology in Berlin, Germany, investigating the interface between chronic infections, inflammation, and carcinogenesis. In 2006, she assumed a position at the Department of ORL, Head and Neck Surgery at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Germany, where she continues to work. In 2017, she was appointed to the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Zielona Gora in Poland. Her research interests include the biology of hearing disorders (e.g., Meniere's disease, tinnitus, hyperacusis, and sudden hearing loss), biomarker discovery in the diseases mentioned above, and the immunology of the inner ear.