Kresge Hearing Research Institute Laboratories
Explore Our Research Labs
Affiliated Faculty Labs
The Altschuler Laboratory examines the cochlear response to stress and the intracellular molecular pathways that lead to protection, repair and recovery. Researchers also study how the central auditory pathways react and adapt to deafness at the genetic, molecular, neurochemical and morphological levels.
The Apostolides Lab studies how cellular mechanisms, such as the properties of synapses and ion channels, support network-level computations that underlie auditory perception.
The Corfas Laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms involved in the development, function and maintenance of the nervous system and how to use this knowledge to understand nervous system disorders and develop new therapies to treat them.
The Duncan Laboratory studies the excitability of sensory cells in the cochlea. The laboratory uses molecular biology, histology and electrophysiology to address the structure and function of hair cell ion channels. Researchers are particularly interested in mechanisms that regulate ion channel behavior, in the normal, regenerative and pathological cochlea.
The Kim Laboratory focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms whereby auditory inputs, sound, influence the structural and fictional plasticity of the central nervous system in the developing brain or during aging. Researchers have elucidated neuron-glia interactions, synapse function and dysfunction and myelination within the auditory nervous system.
The Maddox Laboratory studies how the human brain encodes natural sounds like speech and music, and how to diagnose hearing loss faster and more completely by developing new clinical tools.
Lab website coming soon.
The McCaslin Neurovestibular Laboratory is dedicated to translational research in vestibular and auditory science, driven by questions that emerge directly from patient care. By bridging clinical needs with basic science, the lab aims to generate actionable insights that drive innovation in vestibular research.
Research in the Mehta Laboratory uses behavior, EEG and fMRI to investigate questions related to pitch perception, perceptual bias, context effects and the effects of hearing loss on auditory perception.
The Raphael Laboratory studies repair and regeneration in the inner ear, tissue engineering technologies as applied to the cochlea and vestibular organs, and hereditary sensorineural deafness.
The Roberts Laboratory investigates the cellular, synaptic, and network mechanisms used by neural circuits in the auditory system to extract and encode important features of sounds.
The overall aim of the Waldhaus Laboratory is to develop rational treatment strategies aiming to overcome hearing loss by cellular regeneration of lost hair cells.
The Whiteford Laboratory studies mechanisms of human auditory perception across the adult lifespan using a combination of behavioral methods and EEG.
The Zhu Lab studies how the brain interprets gravitational signals and transforms vestibular input into stable movement. Using behavioral, imaging, and computational approaches, the lab aims to understand how neurons and glia support balance function, why balance fails in neurological disease, and how circuit function can be restored.
