Biology of the Inner Ear: Experimental and Analytical Approaches

描述(申请人提供)：内耳功能障碍和与听力和平衡相关的问题影响了大约3000万美国人，随着人口老龄化，这个数字预计还会增加。然而，尽管有巨大的社会经济影响，内耳的听觉和平衡感是所有感官中最鲜为人知的。我们理解滞后的一个重要原因是与内耳研究相关的困难。这些困难给希望开始内耳检查的个人带来了相当大的障碍。为了应对这一尚未解决的挑战，我们设计了一个雄心勃勃的为期三周的课程，重点是内耳的生物学，该课程将于2009年、2011年和2013年夏季在马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔的海洋生物实验室(MBL)由一批领先的科学家和临床医生授课。内耳生物学课程于2007年首次开设。使用其他非常成功的MBL课程的典型聚焦方法，本课程旨在满足听觉和前庭科学领域新研究人员的特定需求。该课程将招收一个由研究生、博士后研究人员、临床医生科学家和来自其他领域的知名研究人员组成的班级。这些有才华的学生将被提供关于尖端技术和专门方法的指导和动手实验室培训，这些技术和方法是内耳调查所独有的。在学生和教师将在实验室并肩工作的三周时间里，通过讲座、研究研讨会、圆桌讨论和非正式互动，该课程将促进学生作为研究人员的发展，不仅强调已知的，而且还强调重要发现、创新新方法的机会，以及将这些发现转化为对人类健康有意义的改善。该课程旨在加强有天赋、高度上进的科学家进入该领域的渠道；提供挑战他们的指导，帮助他们进行独立、严格和原创的研究，同时引入新的想法和方法，并促进建立创新和富有成效的合作，以加快科学发现的步伐，促进将发现转化为有意义的改善听力和平衡障碍患者的生活。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Inner ear dysfunction and the associated problems with hearing and balance affect about 30 million Americans and that number is expected to grow as the population ages. Yet despite the enormous socioeconomic impact, the inner ear senses of hearing and balance are the most poorly understood of all the senses. One significant reason for the lag in our understanding is the difficulties associated with inner ear research. These difficulties present sizable barriers for individuals who wish to initiate investigations of the inner ear. To address this unmet challenge we have designed an ambitious three-week course focused on the biology of the inner ear that will be taught by a team of leading scientists and clinicians during the summers of 2009, 2011 and 2013 at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA. The Biology of the Inner Ear course was first offered in 2007. Using the focused approach that typifies other highly successful MBL courses, this course is designed to meet specific needs of new researchers in auditory and vestibular science. The course will enroll a class comprised of graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, clinician scientists, and established investigators from other fields. These talented students will be provided with instruction and hands-on laboratory training in cutting-edge techniques and specialized methods that are unique to investigations of the inner ear. Through lectures, research seminars, roundtable discussions, and informal interactions during the three weeks when students and instructors will work side-by-side in the laboratory, the course will foster the development of the students as investigators, emphasizing not just what is known, but also the opportunities for important discoveries, innovative new approaches, and the translation of those discoveries into meaningful improvements in human health. The course is designed to enhance the pipeline of gifted, highly motivated scientists entering the field; provide instruction that will challenge them and help them undertake independent, rigorous, and original research while introducing novel ideas and approaches, and facilitate the establishment of innovative and productive collaborations, in order to advance the pace of scientific discovery and promote the translation of discoveries into meaningful improvements in the lives of persons affected by hearing and balance disorders.