Biology of the Inner Ear: Experimental and Analytical Approaches

描述（由申请人提供）：内耳功能障碍以及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，这一数字预计将增长。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不了解的。我们理解滞后的一个重要原因是与内耳研究相关的困难。这些困难对于希望开始内耳调查的个人来说是相当大的障碍。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，将由一个领先的科学家和临床医生团队在2009年，2011年和2013年夏天在伍兹霍尔，MA的海洋生物实验室（MBL）教授。内耳生物学课程于2007年首次开设。使用集中的方法，典型的其他非常成功的MBL课程，这当然是为了满足新的研究人员在听觉和前庭科学的具体需求。该课程将招收一个由研究生，博士后研究人员，临床科学家和其他领域的研究人员组成的班级。这些有才华的学生将获得指导和动手实验室培训的尖端技术和专门的方法是独特的内耳调查。通过讲座，研究研讨会，圆桌讨论，并在三个星期的非正式互动，当学生和教师将在实验室并肩工作，该课程将促进学生作为调查人员的发展，不仅强调什么是已知的，而且重要的发现，创新的新方法，并将这些发现转化为有意义的改善人类健康的机会。该课程的目的是加强管道的天才，高度积极的科学家进入该领域;提供指导，将挑战他们，并帮助他们进行独立，严谨，原创性的研究，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，为了加快科学发现的步伐，并促进将发现转化为对听力和平衡障碍患者生活的有意义的改善。

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.