I have been a leader in the field of inner ear neuroembryology and evolution [1] for 30 years, have organized multiple conferences, books and special journal editions, published over 300 papers and have received over 14,000 citations for my work. My contributions to the field are both conceptually through the development of novel testable hypotheses [2] and technically, mostly through the development of novel tracing techniques and their combination with other techniques. The goal of my research is to understand basic aspects of specification, development and maintenance of the neurosensory system of the ear using predominantly genetically engineered mice to achieve conditional or global deletion of specific genes or their targeted overexpression (Gof and LoF approach). The specific genes I am focusing on are those relevant to specify the prosensory domains, initiate and guide differentiation of sensory neurons and hair cells and maintain and guide the innervation of the ear. In 2008, I became the DEO (Chair) of the Department of Biology at the University of Iowa, from which position I stepped down on 30 June 2016. Despite carrying this administrative load, I continued my research and have published over 100 papers since 2008. My work has received thus far about 22,000 citations and an h-index of 83. About 6000 citations were accumulated during the last five years indicating the long-term impact of my work. http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KlJrz9MAAAAJ&hl=en