Coordination center for the NIDCD National Human Ear Resource Network

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Project summary The purpose of this proposal is to create and establish our laboratory as a Coordination Center for the NIDCD National Human Ear Resource Network, which will streamline and facilitate communications between the NIDCD staff and temporal bone laboratories, as well as coordinate scientific collaborations and services provided by the Network laboratories. The Coordination Center will have multiple purposes: (1) creation of a dedicated website for the NIDCD National Human Ear Resource Network; (2) organize, host, and chair several meetings, which include recurring teleconferences, steering committee meetings, and virtual seminar series; (3) liaise with the NIDCD staff and the Network’s PIs to ensure achievement of the activities proposed in the parent application; and (4) work with the NIDCD Temporal bone Registry to streamline the updating of the registry and coordinate uploading temporal bone images to a database. The Coordination Center will have two main missions: to create an inclusive environment for all members of the Network, ensuring ample and equitable participation from all institutions, and to become a "port of entry" for researchers and scientists to access the services provided by the NIDCD Network. With the new Network of 5 labs in place, we have a vision for a broad, well-diversified, inclusive research community for temporal bone research. The parent proposal provides temporal laboratories with funding dedicated to support basic operations and further expand their research. Additional coordination of efforts will accelerate progression of temporal bone research. We, at the Otopathology laboratory at the University of Minnesota (UMN), envision that the creation of a university and laboratory-agnostic Coordination Center (under the NIDCD umbrella) is essential to promote inclusivity and encourage equal contributions by all network members while also attracting a diverse group of additional research groups and institutions. Through the Coordination Center, each temporal bone laboratory will be an important piece within the NIDCD Network machinery. Ultimately, the Coordination Center will allow bridging the gaps between individual laboratories to assemble the NIDCD temporal bone Network (as envisioned by the NIDCD), providing a wider scientific community with the unique resource of temporal bone tissue research. The otopathology laboratory at the University of Minnesota has many advantageous attributes that qualify us to become the Coordination Center for the NIDCD Network: (1) experience in the missions of the NIDCD registry, acquired by being an active member of the Registry since its inception; (2) advantageous location (the only otopathology laboratory located in the Midwest); (3) our large track record of scientific and educational efforts that were coordinated and conducted with other temporal bone laboratories; (4) a wide number of technological solutions that allows hosting and conducting state-of-the-art meetings and conferences; and (5) a critical knowledge on the creation of a virtual temporal bone laboratory, acquired through setting up a digital laboratory in “Elevator”.