Fan-Gang Zeng
Chancellor's Professor, Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, Cognitive Sciences, and Otolaryngology, University of California Irvine
Research Director, Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, University of California Irvine
Biography
Fan-Gang Zeng, Ph.D., is Chancellor's Professor and Roger L. Crumley Endowed Chair in the Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, Cognitive Sciences, and Otolaryngology at the University of California, Irvine. He also serves as Research Director of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and Director of the Center for Hearing Research at UCI. Zeng received a Ph.D. in Audiology and Neuroscience from Syracuse University in 1990 and completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2022.
Zeng has spent over three decades studying auditory perception and developing technologies to restore hearing in individuals with hearing loss. His research encompasses cochlear implants, auditory neuropathy, tinnitus, and the integration of acoustic and electric hearing. He has published more than 160 peer-reviewed journal articles and holds multiple patents related to cochlear implant signal processing and tinnitus treatment. Zeng co-founded Nurotron Biotechnology Inc., which developed a cochlear implant system that received regulatory approval in China and Europe, benefiting more than 30,000 people worldwide. He also co-founded SoundCure Inc., which developed an FDA-cleared device for tinnitus treatment.
Zeng is an elected Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He is also an elected member of the Collegium Oto-Rhino-Larygologicum Amicitiae Sacrum and an International Member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has served on numerous editorial boards, including as Chairman of the Editorial Board of The Hearing Journal and Section Editor of Hearing Research. Zeng has received multiple honors, including the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering Outstanding Paper Award and the William and Christine Hartmann Prize in Auditory Neuroscience from the Acoustical Society of America.
Return to topEducation
- B.S. in Electrical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, 1982
- M.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Institute of Physiology, Academia Sinica, 1985
- Ph.D. in Audiology and Neuroscience, Syracuse University, 1990
Distinctions
- International Member, National Academy of Engineering, 2023
- William and Christine Hartmann Prize in Auditory Neuroscience, Acoustical Society of America, 2025
- Fellow, The Acoustical Society of America, 2010
- Chancellor's Professor, University of California, Irvine, 2024
- IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering Outstanding Paper Award, 2010
- IEEE Fellow, 2011
- Fellow, Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), 2022
- Roger L. Crumley Endowed Chair in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, 2023
- Elected Member, Collegium Oto-Rhino-Larygologicum Amicitiae Sacrum (Collegium ORLAS), 2008
- Fellow, The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2007
Areas of Expertise
- Auditory Neuroscience
- Cochlear Implant Signal Processing
- Temporal Envelope Coding
- Bimodal Hearing Integration
- Tinnitus Neuromodulation Therapy
- Artificial Intelligence Audiology
- Gene Therapy Hearing Restoration
Recent Publications
- Malekifar M., Hamza Y., Yang Y., Cao H., Zeng F.-G., “Predicting Cognitive Performance from Three-Electrode Auditory Brainstem Responses Using Convolutional Neural Networks” (opens in new tab), IEEE Sensors Journal, 2026.
- Qi J, Xu L, Zeng FG, Chai R, “OTOF-related gene therapy: a new way but a long road ahead” (opens in new tab), Lancet, vol. 405, no. 10481, pp. 777-779, 2025.
- Wang X, Tran P, Kapolowicz MR, Lu T, Stickney G, Starr A, Djalilian H, Zeng FG, “Customized strategies for managing cochlear implant stimulation side effects” (opens in new tab), Cochlear Implants International, vol. 26, pp. 1-14, 2025.
- Yang Ye, Nguyen Dathan, Chen Katherine, Zeng Fan-Gang, “Evaluating synthesized speech intelligibility in noise” (opens in new tab), Jasa Express Letters, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 045202, 2025.
- Wang X, Abdelmalek A, Hoang-Tran C, Meller LLT, Zeng FG, “Can cognitive performance predict individual differences in speech recognition at a cocktail party?” (opens in new tab), Hearing Research, vol. 465, 2025.
- Zeng FG, Qi J, Wu C, Shu Y, Chai R, “Treating Hearing Loss: From Cochlear Implantation to Gene Therapy” (opens in new tab), Advanced Science, vol. 12, 2025.
- Hamza Y, Yang Y, Vu J, Abdelmalek A, Malekifar M, Barnes CA, Zeng FG, “Auditory brainstem responses as a biomarker for cognition” (opens in new tab), Communications Biology, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1653, 2024.
- Richardson ML, Luo J, Zeng FG, “Attention-Modulated Cortical Responses as a Biomarker for Tinnitus” (opens in new tab), Brain Sciences, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 421, 2024.
- Wang X, Ge J, Meller L, Yang Y, Zeng FG, “Speech intelligibility and talker identification with non-telephone frequencies” (opens in new tab), Jasa Express Letters, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 075202, 2024.
- Yang Y, Zeng FG, “Syllable-rate-adjusted-modulation (SRAM) predicts clear and conversational speech intelligibility” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 18, pp. 1324027, 2024.
- Xi X, Gong Zezhong, Zeng FG, “OTC Hearing Aids: Opportunities and Challenges”, Journal of Audiology and Speech Pathology, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 293-298, 2023.
- Meng Q, Zhou H, Lu T, Zeng FG, “Pulsatile Gaussian-Enveloped Tones (GET) for cochlear-implant simulation” (opens in new tab), Applied Acoustics, vol. 208, pp. 109386, 2023.
- Muhonen EG, Abouzari M, Yang Y, Zeng FG, Djalilian HR, “Audiometric Validation of a Smart Watch Decibel Meter” (opens in new tab), JAMA Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, vol. 149, no. 5, pp. 466-467, 2023.
- Zeng FG, Turner KE, “Tinnitus as Central Noise Revealed by Increased Loudness at Thresholds”, Frontiers in Audiology and Otology, vol. 1, pp. 1272880, 2023.
- D'Onofrio K, Zeng FG, “Tele-Audiology: Current State and Future Directions” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Digital Health, vol. 3, pp. 788103, 2022.
- Morgan SD, Zeng FG, Clark J, “Adopting change and incorporating technological advancements in audiology education, research, and clinical practice” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Audiology, vol. 31, no. 3S, pp. 1052-1058, 2022.
- Suh MW, Tran P, Richardson M, Sun S, Xu Y, Djalilian HR, Lin HW, Zeng FG, “Electric hearing and tinnitus suppression by noninvasive ear stimulation” (opens in new tab), Hearing Research, vol. 415, pp. 108431, 2022.
- Zeng FG, “Celebrating the one millionth cochlear implant” (opens in new tab), JASA Express Letters, vol. 2, no. 7, pp. 077201, 2022.
- Tran P, Richardson ML, Zeng FG, “Input-output functions in human heads obtained with cochlear implant and transcranial electric stimulation” (opens in new tab), Neuromodulation: Journal of the International Neuromodulation Society, vol. 24, no. 8, pp. 1402-1411, 2021.
- Sun S, Kapolowicz MR, Richardson M, Metherate R, Zeng FG, “Task-dependent effects of nicotine treatment on auditory performance in young-adult and elderly human nonsmokers” (opens in new tab), Scientific Reports, vol. 11, pp. 13187, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Shannon, R.V., Zeng, F.G., Wygonski, J., Kamath, V., Ekelid, M., “Speech recognition with primarily temporal cues”, Science, vol. 270, pp. 303-304, 1995.
- Zeng FG, Rebscher S, Harrison W, Sun X, Feng H, “Cochlear Implants: System Design, Integration and Evaluation” (opens in new tab), IEEE Reviews in Biomedical Engineering, vol. 1, pp. 115-142, 2008.
- Zeng, F.G., “Trends in cochlear implants” (opens in new tab), Trends in Amplification, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 1-34, 2004.
- Zeng FG, Nie K, Stickney GS, Kong YY, Vongphoe M, Wei CG, Cao KL, “Speech recognition with amplitude and frequency modulations” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 102, no. 7, pp. 2293-2298, 2005.
- Kong, YY, Stickney, G, Zeng, FG, “Speech and Melody Recognition in Binaurally Combined Acoustic and Electric Hearing” (opens in new tab), The Journal of Acoustical Society of America, vol. 117, no. 3, pp. 1351-1361, 2005.
- Kong, Y.Y., Cruz R., Jones, J.A., Zeng F.G., “Music perception with temporal cues in acoustic and electric hearing” (opens in new tab), Ear and Hearing, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 173-185, 2004.
- Stickney G.S., Zeng F.G., Assmann P., Litovsky R., “Cochlear Implant Speech Recognition with Speech Maskers” (opens in new tab), The Journal of Acoustical Society of America, vol. 116, no. 2, pp. 1081-1091, 2004.
- Zeng, F.G., “Temporal pitch in electric hearing” (opens in new tab), Hearing Research, vol. 174, pp. 101-106, 2002.
- Zeng FG, Kong YY, Michalewski, H. J., Starr, A., “Perceptual consequences of disrupted auditory nerve activity” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 93, pp. 3050-3063, 2005.
- Zeng, F.G., Fu, Q.-J., Morse, R.P., “Human hearing enhanced by noise” (opens in new tab), Brain Research, vol. 869, no. 1-2, pp. 251-255, 2000.
Contact Information
Website: https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/hesplab/
Email: fzeng@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-1539
Address: Medical Sciences E, Room E110
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Last updated on 4/28/2026.