Founded: 1967
Full Time: from 12 to 40
Part Time: from 4 to 11
Budget: 1,500,000.00
Director: Richard P. Bobbin, Ph. D.
533 bolivar St., 5th floor
New Orleans, LA 70112
Telephone: 504/568-4785 FAX: 504/568-4460 E-Mail: rbobbi@lsuhsc.edu
Research Areas:
The overall mission of the Laboratory is to study basic mechanisms of audition and apply them to clinical practice in an expeditious and responsible manner. Eight major projects and a number of minor ones are supported: patch clamping of hair cells, studies of the chemical environment of the cochlea, and studies of the neurochemistry of the cochlea form one major area. The second area involves cochlear implantation of deafened animals and the survival of nerve fibers in those animals. The third area involves otoacostic emissions, their suppression by the efferent system and development of that suppression. The fourth area involves isolation and manipulation of the genes that cause deafness in mice and humans with special focus on Usher Syndrome. Seventh is the study of GM1 gangliosides as a trophic mechanism to prevent degeneration of unused auditory neural elements. Finally, studies of patients with normally otoacoustic emission but absent ABRS have been especially productive.
Areas of Expertise:
Acoustics, Sound Analysis, Noise Analysis
Special Capabilities and Facilities:
This Laboratory has been selected as the best lab to come for hearing health care in the country with special focus on unusual and rare diagnoses and the construction and configuration of special hearing aids. Proprietary otoacoustic machines, spectral analyzers, and the usual variety of IBM and Macintosh based stimulus generation systems including Tucker-Davis Systems are common in the Laboratory.
Research Equipment:
Keywords:
0760050 Neurotransmitters
0760044 Membranes
0760080 Recombinant DNA
0715050 Communicative Disorders, Hearing
0710050 Electrophysiology
0705000 Anatomical Systems
0705070 Sensory System
0740030 Prosthetic Device, Hearing
0785020 Audiology
0785160 Otorhinolaryngology