Prof. Dr. Thomas Lenarz studied medicine and biochemistry at universities in London and Tübingen, Erlangen, and Heidelberg, Germany, from 1975 until 1981, when he received his medical degree. He received his doctorate of philosophy in pharmacology of the auditory system in 1987 and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, in 1989. He has served as professor and chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology, Hannover Medical School, since 1993. In 2009, he created a new research center, the Institute of Audioneurotechnology (VIANNA). In 2013, he became co-director of the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4All Hannover-Oldenburg. He also serves as director of the German Hearing Centre and the Research Institute of Audio and Neurotechnology in Hannover, and he is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) and the German Academy of  Technology (Acatech). A past president of the German Society of Biomedical Technology, Lenarz maintains broad research interests in the areas of auditory implants, biomaterials for medical implants, audiology, and neurotology.