Professor Karen Steel is a world-renowned authority in the genetics of hearing disorders whose pioneering research has fundamentally transformed our understanding of inherited deafness. She currently serves as Professor of Sensory Function at the Wolfson Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre, King's College London, where she leads groundbreaking investigations into the molecular mechanisms underlying hearing loss. Having earned her PhD from University College London with research focusing on the inner ear in deaf mouse models, she established herself as a visionary scientist through her foundational work at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute where she established the Mouse Genetics Programme, a large-scale effort to generate and phenotype new mutant mouse lines each year. Throughout her distinguished career, she has held significant leadership positions including service on the Council of the Royal Society and presidency of both the International Mammalian Genetics Society and the Association for Research in Otolaryngology.
Professor Steel's seminal contributions include identifying genes responsible for 25 distinct forms of hearing disorders through innovative use of mouse models, with many discoveries directly translating to human conditions and improving diagnostic capabilities worldwide. Her landmark identification of Myo-7a as the first gene implicated in deafness in mice opened entirely new research pathways for understanding human hearing mechanisms and disorders. She also made the critical connection between deafness and abnormal pigmentation, demonstrating that a lack of pigment-producing cells in the inner ear underlies this well-known association. By establishing large-scale efforts to generate hundreds of new mutant mouse models annually and developing high-throughput screening methods, she has created essential resources that enable researchers to efficiently identify and study gene functions relevant to human hearing and balance disorders across numerous conditions.
Beyond her research achievements, Professor Steel has profoundly influenced the field through her commitment to building collaborative research infrastructure that benefits the global scientific community. Her current work focuses on progressive and age-related hearing loss, integrating findings from mouse genetics with human genetic data to identify the most common types of deafness in populations and discover promising pathways for drug development. As a Fellow of both the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, she continues to mentor the next generation of researchers while forging new connections between genetic discoveries and practical clinical applications. Her enduring legacy lies in creating systematic approaches that bridge basic genetic research with translational medicine, offering renewed hope for future treatments of hearing disorders affecting millions worldwide.
