Catalyzing New U.S.-Swedish Collaboration: Howard University-Karolinska Institute Planning Visit for Research on Auditory Mechanics of the Inner Ear

通过研究计划访问，霍华德大学的Sonya Teresa Smith博士将与瑞典合作伙伴Anders Fridberger博士和Pierre Hakizimana博士在斯德哥尔摩卡罗林斯卡研究所发起一个合作项目。他们打算共同探讨与人类听力有关的问题，特别是听觉传导，以及它是否通过耳朵中的流体-结构相互作用来调节。利用她在工程学和计算流体力学方面的专业知识，史密斯博士开发了一个流体动力学模型，该模型解释了与听力相关的转导过程中涉及的复杂相互作用。这个模型研究了位于哺乳动物内耳的内毛细胞立体神经束对刺激的反应。她的瑞典同行已经开发出高速共焦成像技术，可以用来测量内耳结构的运动。使用史密斯的模型结合改进的卡罗林斯卡实验技术得出的初步数据有望帮助研究小组扩大他们的研究范围，以包括所有可听频率。如果成功，结果可能有助于我们从根本上理解内毛细胞对声刺激的反应，这些细胞位于耳蜗螺旋的各个位置。为了在初步发现的基础上再接再厉，首席研究员计划向国家科学基金会提交计算神经科学合作研究的后续申请。可能产生的更广泛影响包括理论和实际听觉力学知识的进步，以及在包括神经科学和生物医学工程在内的一系列跨学科领域的长期应用。这些新的见解可能会对未来人工耳蜗的工程设计和更好的手术安置技术产生影响。此外，由于霍华德大学的一名美国研究生和一名美国本科生将与史密斯博士一起前往斯德哥尔摩，并参加卡罗林斯萨研究所的合作活动，他们也将获得有益的国际研究经验。这种早期职业接触到瑞典专家实验者和他们使用的专门设备可能会启发学生的职业选择，从而促进听觉力学研究领域的多样性。

Through a research planning visit, Dr. Sonya Teresa Smith of Howard University will initiate a collaborative project with Swedish partners Drs. Anders Fridberger and Pierre Hakizimana at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Together, they intend to pursue questions related to human hearing, specifically, auditory transduction and whether it is mediated via fluid-structure interactions in the ear. Drawing on her expertise in engineering and computational fluid dynamics, Dr. Smith has developed a hydrodynamic model that accounts for the complex interactions involved in the transduction process associated with hearing. This model studies the response to stimuli of the inner hair cell stereococila bundle, located in the mammalian inner ear. Her Swedish counterparts have developed high-speed confocal imaging techniques that can be used to measure motions of inner ear structures. The preliminary data derived using Smith's model combined with refined Karolinska experimental techniques is expected to help the team extend their research to include a full range of audible frequencies. If successful, results may contribute to our fundamental understanding of the inner hair cell response to acoustic stimuli at locations all along the cochlea spiral. To build on preliminary findings, the principal investigator plans to submit a follow-on application to the National Science Foundation for collaborative research in computational neuroscience. Likely broader impacts include advances in knowledge of theoretical and practical auditory mechanics with long-term applications foreseen in a range of interdisciplinary fields, including neuroscience and biomedical engineering. Such new insights could have implications for future engineering design of cochlear implants and better techniques for surgical placement. Furthermore, because one U.S. graduate student and one U.S. undergraduate student from Howard University will travel with Dr. Smith to Stockholm and participate in collaborative activities at the Karolinsksa Institute, they too will gain beneficial international research experience. This early career access to expert Swedish experimentals and the specialized equipment they use may inspire the students' career choices and thereby contribute to diversity in the field of auditory mechanics research.