The Explorer: Inside the Tiny Universe of the Cochlea, She Brings Sound Back to Life.
Updated: 1 hour ago
Congenital deafness occurs at an incidence of roughly 2 per 1,000 births, among which 50% to 60% stem from genetic factors. Over 140 pathogenic genes for hereditary deafness have been identified to date.
The ear is humanity’s essential window to perceive the world and connect with everything around us. To the majority, listening to wind, laughter and bird chirps is innate. But for deaf patients, clear, natural hearing is a lifelong dream barely within reach.
At Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, there is a young physician whose “battlefield” lies within the most delicate and confined part of the human body — the ear. From venturing into uncharted territory by participating in China’s first pediatric auditory brainstem implantation, to spearheading the translational clinical research of OTOF gene therapy for future treatments, this post-85s doctor has been striving to solve one core question: how to help those whose lives have been put on “mute” play the melody of life again.
She is Chen Ying, an explorer persistently digging an “acoustic tunnel” for the silent world.
Implanting an “Ear” on the Brainstem for Children Born Without Cochleas
For most patients with profound deafness, cochlear implants are the key to regaining sound. Yet fate can be cruel: roughly 8% of children with congenital deafness are born without cochleas or with underdeveloped auditory nerves, making them ineligible for cochlear implantation. For these children, hearing the wind or birdsong remains nearly unattainable.
On February 26, 2019, an operation tackling the “ultimate challenge” of auditory reconstruction quietly began in the operating room of Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital.
Led by Professor Wu Hao, a leading national otologist, Chen Ying served as a core team member, intently observing the tiny surgical field under the operating microscope. The patient was a two-year-old boy with severe inner ear malformation, set to receive China’s first pediatric auditory brainstem implantation.
“The surgical site is on the brainstem, the vital center regulating breathing and heartbeat. Electrodes must be implanted with millimeter-level precision; even minor deviations carry immense risks,” Chen Ying still vividly recalls this pioneering surgery. Guided by neuro-monitoring equipment, the team precisely targeted the few-millimeter cochlear nucleus among intricate neural clusters, much like a deep-sea probe, and successfully placed the electrodes.
At the device activation one month later, the moment sound signals bypassed the defective cochlea and directly stimulated brainstem nerves, the previously quiet boy let out a loud cry. That cry marked a brand-new chapter for pediatric auditory brainstem implantation in China.
Today, that once infant patient has grown into a cheerful schoolboy, able to attend classes, do sports and communicate normally with peers. During annual follow-ups, watching him converse fluently and thrive brings steady healing and comfort that warm Chen Ying’s medical journey.
“It reinforces my belief that even in medical no-go zones and hopeless cases, physicians’ exploration never ends.” In Chen Ying’s view, auditory brainstem implantation represents not only a pinnacle breakthrough in otology but also a trial of doctors’ original aspiration and courage. When conventional treatments fail, it is physicians’ mission to carve out a path to new life for patients in despair. This ground-breaking achievement drove her deeper into the cutting-edge frontiers of auditory reconstruction.
Rewriting the Code of Life: Bringing Natural Hearing to Reality
In Chen Ying’s research roadmap, brainstem implantation opens the window of hearing for the most complex and rare patients, while deafness gene therapy paves the way to restore native hearing for tens of millions of patients with hereditary hearing loss.
“Hearing aids act like crutches; cochlear implants offer compensation via electrical stimulation. Gene therapy repairs damaged auditory pathways so patients can regain their innate natural hearing,” Chen Ying explains the core differences between the three interventions.
Congenital deafness occurs at an incidence of roughly 2 per 1,000 births, among which 50% to 60% stem from genetic factors. Over 140 pathogenic genes for hereditary deafness have been identified to date. Chen Ying and her supervisor Professor Wu Hao’s team focus on mutations in the OTOF gene, a leading cause of auditory neuropathy in children.
Affected children are not completely deaf. They can detect sound, yet perceive it as if through frosted glass, unable to distinguish speech or follow conversations. Previously, hearing aids or cochlear implants were commonly used for auditory rehabilitation for these children.
Gene therapy, however, holds great potential to restore their natural hearing.
After years of work on cutting-edge clinical translation, the team led the OTOF gene therapy clinical trials, achieving remarkable therapeutic effects superior to many international counterparts. One enrolled child received a unilateral cochlear implant years ago, long awaiting a curative treatment. Just two to three weeks after gene therapy, parents noticed obvious improvements in the child’s sound perception and detection.
At the six-month follow-up, outcomes far exceeded expectations: with hearing restored by gene therapy in one ear, the child could communicate smoothly in daily life and even voluntarily removed the cochlear implant he had worn for years. Inside the consultation room, the child clearly called out “Doctor Auntie” — a natural, pure human voice without the mechanical tone of electronic devices. “At that moment, I truly realized we are not merely treating illness; we are helping children recover their original state of life,” Chen Ying was deeply moved.
Years ago, under the guidance of Professor Wu Hao, Chen Ying and team members advanced disease prevention by working on the frontline of newborn hearing screening. Currently, a two-stage newborn hearing screening program is widely adopted nationwide: initial screening is performed between 48 hours after birth and discharge. Infants who fail or miss the initial screening receive rescreening within 42 days of birth.
Improvements in screening systems, widespread cochlear implantation and iterative cutting-edge therapies have thoroughly transformed the fate of children with hearing impairment. Convincing data bears witness to medical progress: back in the late 1990s, schools for the deaf were scattered across all districts of Shanghai. Now only two special schools admit hearing-impaired students, with single-digit annual enrolment.
“Countless children once diagnosed with permanent deafness or hearing loss now attend regular schools, get admitted to top universities and work in diverse industries. That is the greatest meaning of our decades of dedication and innovative exploration in auditory medicine,” Chen Ying reflects.
Passing the Torch: Compassion and Persistence Hidden in Small Details
From improving the national hearing screening network and mapping deafness-related genes, to helping patients move from “being able to hear” to “hearing clearly and naturally”, Chen Ying’s research scope keeps expanding. What sustains her clinical practice and scientific research is the inherited compassion and professional integrity passed down from generation to generation.
When speaking of her original aspiration and professional ethos, Chen Ying always cherishes the mentorship of Professor Wu Hao. Early in her clinical training, after reviewing a patient’s imaging scans, she casually handed the CT films back to the patient. After the patient left, her supervisor gently yet solemnly reminded her: “Sort the scans chronologically, place them in a bag and hand them back to the patient with both hands. Practicing medicine is not just curing disease; it is also safeguarding patients’ dignity.”
There was no public reprimand, only quiet, private guidance. This small incident left a deep imprint on Chen Ying and shaped her medical practice for more than a decade. She gradually learned that physicians’ warmth lies in every subtle gesture, every patient consultation and every sincere act of empathy.
Over the years, she has upheld a virtuous cycle: identify clinical challenges, solve them through research, and translate findings to benefit patients. Working on the frontline to spot unmet clinical needs, she turns them into targeted research projects; she conducts lab research to refine innovative technologies, then brings research results to clinical practice for public benefit.
Now a master’s supervisor, Deputy Director of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Deputy Director of the Department of Hearing and Speech Rehabilitation, Chen Ying passes on this original aspiration and commitment. She often tells her students: “Never treat patients as assembly-line cases. Clinicians must be compassionate and patient; medical researchers must be pragmatic, truthful and respectful of the profession.”
Under her mentorship, a cohort of young physicians is thriving. Some dive into frontier research and produce high-level findings, while others work in grassroots clinics to spread advanced diagnosis and treatment concepts. “Not every physician can become a renowned scientist, yet every doctor should hold passion, dare to question, explore bravely and treat people sincerely.” This is Chen Ying’s simple, heartfelt expectation for young medical practitioners.
Exploring Further: Lighting Up More Lives With Natural Hearing
From a young medical student to a backbone of otology, from a technology follower to a pioneer of frontier exploration, Chen Ying remains dedicated to the tiny cochlea, protecting auditory health for countless people.
Looking ahead, her research priorities are clear and firm: advancing precise translational research for deafness gene therapy, iterating central auditory reconstruction technologies, and building full-life-cycle hearing health prevention and control. She strives to make hereditary deafness preventable, screenable, treatable and curable.
Chen Ying notes that with ongoing policy support for rare disease medicines and optimized clinical approval systems in China, the OTOF gene therapy developed by her team is expected to be rolled out for large-scale clinical application in the future. The team is continuously accumulating long-term follow-up data to repeatedly verify treatment stability and medication safety, steadily advancing technology translation.
Meanwhile, she actively explores deploying AI-powered hearing screening in grassroots settings, using digital technology to narrow urban-rural medical gaps and extend quality hearing healthcare to more people.
Over the past decade, the medical goal of auditory reconstruction has evolved from simply “enabling patients to hear sounds” to “help patients hear clearly, naturally and enjoy high-quality auditory life.”
When asked what drives her years of commitment, Chen Ying gives a simple answer: her childhood dream of medicine, guidance from mentors during her studies, and the smiles of every patient regaining a new life during clinical work. “To stick to a beloved career, to heal and illuminate others with professional expertise — that is the greatest joy and fulfillment for a physician.”
On the long journey of auditory medicine exploration, the team gathers strength from tiny sparks and forges ahead with persistent research. They tackle tough challenges within the miniature universe of the cochlea, rebooting the audible world for countless silent ears and bringing quiet lives back to liveliness, warmth and vibrancy.
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