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Mashudu Tshifularo: The First Middle-ear Transplant

For nearly 430 million globally, hearing loss is a disability. It is expected that by 2050, this number could rise to more than 700 million, according to the World Health Organization.

Published

4 years ago

February 15, 2023

Oakland Post

A team of surgeons led by Dr. Mashudu Tshifularo, using 3D technology, successfully pioneered the transplant of a patient’s middle ear to cure his deafness.

Mashudu Tshifularo: The First Middle-ear Transplant

For nearly 430 million globally, hearing loss is a disability. It is expected that by 2050, this number could rise to more than 700 million, according to the World Health Organization.

Prior to 2019, there was no known cure, treatment, or surgical procedure for deafness worldwide. On March 13 of that year, a team of surgeons led by Dr. Mashudu Tshifularo (1964–) using 3D technology, successfully pioneered the transplant of a patient’s middle ear to cure his deafness. The team was from the University of Pretoria Faculty of Health at the Steve Biko Academic hospital in Pretoria, South Africa.

The patient, a 35-year-old man, suffered hearing loss after a car accident caused his inner ear what was thought to have been permanent damage. Tshifularo recreated the bones that make up the inner ear, replacing the damaged ones. The one-and-a-half-hour surgery, performed through endoscopy, was the first-ever transplant of the middle ear that allowed a deaf man to hear.

During Tshifularo’s first doctorate studies, he focused on conductive hearing loss and through this, came up with the idea of using 3D technology to recreate any of the inner ear bones that may be damaged, restoring a patient’s hearing. While studying at the University of Pretoria, he forayed into the use of 3D printing technology.

Today, 3D technology has proved to be extremely useful and needed in the medical industry.

“By replacing only the ossicles (three bones in either middle ear) that aren’t functioning properly, the procedure carries significantly less risk than known prostheses and their associated surgical procedures,” Tshifularo told Radio Nigeria during a post-surgery interview. “The technique could be the cure for hearing defects irrespective of the patient’s age.”

Tshifularo added that the patient’s hearing will be restored immediately, “but since they will be wrapped in bandages, only after two weeks, when they are removed, will they be able to tell the difference.”

Tshifularo grew up as a herdsman in the rural village of Mbahela outside Thohoyandou, in Venda, South Africa. By age 13, he knew he would be a medical doctor. After attending the Mbilwi Secondary School, he began training in medicine at the University of Natal. In 1990, he began working as a practicing physician at Tshilidzini Hospital and in 1995 became a professor and began heading the Department of Otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) at the University of Pretoria.

In 2000, he was appointed as the youngest and only Black professor of ENT in South Africa. Tshifularo is also the senior pastor and founder of the Christ Revealed Fellowship Church near Pretoria. He has also authored several books in this ministry.

“People like me never arrive,” Tshifularo said. “After climbing one mountain we want to climb another one. If I was easily satisfied, I would have never achieved all the breakthroughs in my life.”

Learn how three young men took their place among the 5% of Black U.S. doctors in “Pulse of Perseverance,” by Pierre Johnson, Maxime Madhere, and Joseph Semien.

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Four Candidates, Including Incumbent Barbara Lee, Qualify for Oakland Mayor’s Race

POST NEWS GROUP — Four candidates, including incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, filed their papers to run for office by last Friday’s deadline, and the City Clerk issued a list this week of those who are qualified to run.

Published

2 days ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

View of downtown Oakland, California and City Hall. iStock photo.

By Post Staff

The four mayoral candidates who will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot are:

Brenda Grisham. A business owner in East Oakland and public safety advocate, Grisham led the successful recall campaign against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. As part of her platform, she pledges to work with local, state, and federal partners to secure stricter gun control measures and investments in community violence intervention programs.

Barbara Lee. A former congressional representative and state Assembly member, Lee was elected by voters in a special election last year for a two-year term. Now running for a four-year term, she points out that her administration achieved major successes in addressing some of the city’s major challenges, including balancing the city budget, dramatically reducing crime, and making significant inroads into homelessness and illegal dumping.

Mindy Pechenuk. An educator and activist, Pechenuk is a registered Republican and supporter of Lyndon LaRouche, who has been described by observers as a conspiracy theorist and cult leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in last year’s special election and for the at-large council seat in 2024. She seeks to end Oakland’s police commission and MACRO and invest in more police while launching a new local war on drugs.

Julius Robinson. While little information is available so far about Robinson, he was quoted in a KTVU story about Thao’s recall, stating that people in Oakland want to come together as a community but lack infrastructure and leadership.

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Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

2 days ago

August 15, 2026

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George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.