The Curran Foundation Chair in Neuroscience at the Garvan Institute was established in 2007 with a focus on finding a cure for hearing loss.The $1 million donation from the late Mr Paul Curran, Mr Lang Walker and the Curran Foundation will provide for the perpetual appointment of a world-leading researcher to study the brain mechanisms of hearing.

Professor David Ryugo, who boasts a long and distinguished research career at John Hopkins University and Harvard Medical School, has been appointed as the inaugural Professor to the Chair. Professor Ryugo and his research team have scored numerous ‘firsts’ in understanding the mammalian auditory system, and their studies of the impact of deafness on development have become standards for the field.

Professor Ryugo’s experience will add substantial strength to Garvan’s Neuroscience and hearing loss research teams as well as the Vincent’s Ear, Nose & Throat specialists and surgeons with whom they collaborate.