Gabriel Corfas, PhD

Gabriel Corfas obtained an MSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires and a doctorate in Neurobiology from the Weizmann Institute of Science. During his postdoctoral training, first at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and then at Harvard Medical School, he contributed to identifying and cloning the trophic factor Neuregulin 1 and its mechanism of action. In 1996 he obtained a faculty position at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), eventually becoming a Professor of Neurology and Otolaryngology and director of basic research in Otolaryngology at BCH.

Since 2014 Corfas has been the Director of the Kresge Hearing Research Institute and associate chair for research for the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Dr. Corfas’s research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of nervous system development, plasticity, degeneration, and regeneration. Current efforts are devoted to identifying the mechanisms of noise-induced and age-related hearing loss and developing therapies for these prevalent disorders. The lab also investigates how social isolation alters brain structure and function.

For his work, Dr. Corfas has received many honors and awards, including a Klingenstein Fellowship in the Neurosciences, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, an award from the EJLB Foundation, a Young and an Independent Investigator Award from NARSAD, as well as being elected secretary and treasurer of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of brain development and plasticity
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of inner ear development and function
Hearing loss and Balance disorders
Neuron-glia interactions
Mechanisms of peripheral neuropathies
Development of drugs for peripheral neuropathies