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TThe study of the auditory and vestibular systems is crucial for understanding inner ear medical conditions such as deafness and Ménière’s Disease. As typifies MBL training, The Biology of the Inner Ear Course (BIE) course provides a focused and intense approach to the specific needs of auditory and vestibular research. This three-week multi-disciplinary course provides instruction and hands-on laboratory training in cutting-edge techniques and specialized methods to meet the special challenges of inner ear biology. Students are introduced to the fundamentals of inner ear research through lectures, research seminars, roundtable discussions, and informal interactions when students and instructors work side-by-side in the laboratory. The course fosters future inner ear investigation, emphasizing not just what is known, but also the opportunities for discovery, innovation, and translation into better understanding of the inner ear. The course is designed to accommodate a relatively small number of students and is suitable for individuals with backgrounds in the biological, chemical, and physical/computational sciences.
In the laboratory, students use state-of-the-art equipment to learn microdissection of inner ear organs from various species; methods for culturing inner ear organs in vitro; use of fluorescent and immune probes for light and electron microscopy; hair-cell electrophysiology; adenoviral infection, biolistic transfection, and electroporation for introducing genes into hair cells; the use of zebrafish and transgenic mice for investigations of hair cells; the generation of inner-ear stems cells; bio-informatic analysis of gene expression; and other approaches. New in 2013 is a set of ‘systems level’ experiments in the third week that introduces auditory brainstem evoked response, distortion product otoacoustic emissions and single unit recording in auditory nerve.
During laboratory sessions the students benefit from one-on-one instruction from faculty members who are leaders in auditory and vestibular study. The goal of this course, however, is not merely to introduce students to the technical aspects of working in the inner ear, but also to identify important questions and associated experiment challenges. Over 30 leading inner-ear scientists participate in teaching the BIE course. This unique opportunity offers students the chance to interact with, learn from, and form connections with some of the most highly regarded scientists in the field.
2013 Faculty
Jonathan Ashmore, University College London
Inna Belyantseva, National Institutes of Health
John Brigande, Oregon Health and Science University
Laurel Carney, University of Rochester
Catherine Carr, University of Maryland
Jeff Corwin, University of Virginia
Michael Deans, Johns Hopkins University
Charley Della Santina, Johns Hopkins University
Ruth Ann Eatock, Harvard Medical School
Robert Fettiplace, University of Wisconsin
Andrew Forge, University College London
Jonathan Gale, University College London
Gwenaelle Geleoc, Harvard; Children's Boston Hospital
Elizabeth Glowatzki, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Goepfert Martin, Gottinger
Ronna Hertzano, University of Marylan School of Medicine
Jeff Holt, Harvard; Children's Hospital Boston
Albert (Jim) Hudspeth, Rockefeller University
Philip Joris, Ku Leuven
Patrick Kanold, University of Maryland
Matthew Kelley, National Institutes of Health
Christine Koppl, University of Oldenburg
Amanda Lauer, Johns Hopkins Medical School
Larry Lustig, University California San Fransisco
Anna Lysakowski, University of Chicago
Brian McDermott, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Uli Mueller, The Scripps Research Institute
Teresa Nicolson, University of Oregon Health Services
Donata Oertel, University of Wisconsin
Ben Perrin, University of Wisconsin
Guy Richardson, University of Sussex
Felipe Salles, Stanford University
Mark Warchol, Washington University
Doris Wu, National Institutes of Health
Jian Zuo, St. Jude Children's Hospital
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