Core Center for Balance and Hearing Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This competing continuation of the Core Center Grant for Balance Research at the University of Pittsburgh will consist of a single core, a Computing Core. The Computing and Hearing Core will serve both basic scientists and clinical investigators who perform research related to balance and hearing using animal models, balance in normal human subjects, and patients with balance disorders. The overall goal of the Computing Core is to provide efficient and cost effective computing support to a group of scientists who are independently funded in NIDCD mission areas. The Core Center aims to foster collaborative research activities, as well as improving research productivity. The Computing Core will support activities in multiple laboratories and shared facilities, primarily via the activities of a scientific programmer who is an expert in real-time computing and scientific data analysis. The laboratories and facilities to be supported by the scientific programmer each perform research in an NIDCD mission area on either animal models or human subjects. Software will be developed and maintained for delivering sensory stimuli, recording physiologic responses, and processing data. Animal research activities that will make use of the services of the Computing Core will be performed in several facilities capable of delivering precise, computer-controlled physiologic stimulation and recording in the mammalian models. The laboratories that study human subjects that will be serviced by the Computing Core include: 1) a Virtual Environment Laboratory that consists of a projection-based immersive environment allowing control of the entire visual field while subjects stand on a fixed or moving surface, 2) a Human Vestibular Laboratory consisting of rotational devices and computerized posturography, and 3) a Vestibular Psychophysiology Laboratory. The Computing Core is expected to facilitate additional new experiments that go beyond the capabilities of the existing individual laboratories. The Computer Core will foster collaborative interactions among investigators with various backgrounds including bioengineering, and neurology. The Computing Core will occupy primarily a 100 square foot office in the Otolaryngology Research Center in the Eye & Ear Institute for the Scientific Programmer. The Core Grant Director will manage the resources of the Core to assure appropriate resource allocation. Center Administration Program Director: Joseph M. Furman, M.D., Ph.D.