The Mouse as an Instrument for Ear Research VII - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The funds requested in this application are for partial support of the workshop “The Mouse as an Instrument for
Ear Research VII”, to be held at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, on September 18–23, 2016.
This workshop is one of a kind and will focus on comparative, translational aspects of characterizing auditory
and vestibular function in mouse models of human hereditary hearing and balance disorders. It represents an
intensive training opportunity for graduate students, postdocs and investigators wishing to gain expertise in
characterizing mouse auditory and vestibular function. This workshop is for a small number of participants and
includes classroom lectures in the morning, followed by hands-on laboratory sessions in the afternoon. The
primary aims of this workshop are to provide practical laboratory training and didactic instruction to students
and to promote communication between students, postdocs and faculty in various fields of biology related to
hearing and balance, with a focus on the realized and potential applications of the mouse to their field of study.
Toward this end, students, postdocs and established investigators from several disciplines will have an
opportunity to share new ideas, identify potential collaborations and help chart a course for their future
research. Lectures will be offered in the Highseas Conference Center, and hands on sessions will be held at
The Jackson Laboratory main campus in the Applied Genetics Training Laboratory. In an era of expanding
mouse model resources, practical training in phenotyping and related methodologies will continue to be of
enormous benefit to researchers in the field. The only current educational offerings that address auditory
biology and disease are either large amorphous society meetings or limited-entry workshops that require more
than a two-week time commitment.
