Ksenia Gnedeva, assistant professor in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, recently received the 2026 Geraldine Dietz Fox Young Investigator Award from the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, the largest international society for research on the inner ear. The award recognizes accomplishment and promise in otolaryngology research among young investigators who are no more than seven years beyond residency or postdoctoral training.
At USC, Dr. Gnedeva holds appointments in the Caruso Department of Otoaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and the department of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. In her research, she focuses on the molecular and mechanical mechanisms that regulate the development and regeneration of sensory organs, particularly the inner ear. Her laboratory is currently investigating how signaling pathways and tissue mechanics control embryonic growth of sensory organs and how developmental programs of self-renewal and differentiation can be re-initiated in the mammalian inner ear after damage.
Dr. Gnedeva earned her Ph.D. in developmental and cell biology from the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and the Koltsov Institute of Developmental Biology at the Russian Academy of Sciences. She completed postdoctoral training in stem cell research at the University of Southern California.