Postdoctoral fellowship – Johns Hopkins University Center for Hearing and Balance
The Glowatzki and Lauer labs have open positions for postdoctoral fellows to investigate the mechanisms of afferent synaptic transmission in the mammalian cochlea and the role of the olivocochlear efferent system on auditory nerve fiber activity. Secondly, effects of abnormal acoustic experience on afferent and efferent activity are investigated, to gain insights into possible approaches to prevent hearing loss. Projects are ongoing in the areas of environmental sound experience and aging.
The Glowatzki and Lauer labs collaborate closely to implement an array of techniques to investigate peripheral and central components of the olivocochlear circuit, including electrophysiology in mouse models (evoked potentials, cellular physiology/patch clamp, optogenetic stimulation, calcium imaging), anatomy (immunohistochemistry, confocal and electron microscopy), and behavior (acoustic startle, operant conditioning, noise avoidance, etc.). We also integrate optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulations into functional studies of the olivocochlear system. The ideal candidates will have experience in one or more of these techniques and a working knowledge of the auditory system.
In addition to experimental techniques, postdocs will receive training in dissemination of research, grant writing, research integrity, managing collaborations, and other aspects relevant to professional development. Postdoctoral fellows receive a stipend and benefits consistent with current NIH guidelines and university policies. Applicants should have a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in neuroscience, biology, biopsychology, or related field. Initial appointment will be for one year with possible extension based on performance and availability of funding. Postdocs are part of our large and highly collaborative Center for Hearing and Balance, comprised of  members from Otolaryngology-HNS, Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering, and Psychological and Brain Science departments.
Interested candidates should submit a CV and cover letter to Amanda Lauer alauer2@jhmi.edu and Elisabeth Glowatzki eglowat1@jhmi.edu. For more information about the labs, the center, and postdoctoral affairs at Johns Hopkins, please visit:
To apply for this job email your details to alauer2@jhmi.edu
Kirupa Suthakar, PhD - Dr Kirupa Suthakar is a postdoctoral fellow at NIH/NIDCD, having formerly trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School and doctoral student at Garvan Institute of Medical Research/UNSW Australia. Kirupa's interest in the mind and particular fascination by how we are able to perceive the world around us led her to pursue a research career in auditory neuroscience. To date, Kirupa's research has broadly focused on neurons within the auditory efferent circuit, which allow the brain to modulate incoming sound signals at the ear. Kirupa is active member of the spARO community, serving as the Chair Elect for 2021.
Charles C. Della Santina, PhD MD is a Professor of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he directs the Johns Hopkins Cochlear Implant Center and the Johns Hopkins Vestibular NeuroEngineering Laboratory.
Andrew Griffith received his MD and PhD in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University in 1992. He completed his general surgery internship and a residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Michigan in 1998. He also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Department of Human Genetics as part of his training at the University of Michigan. In 1998, he joined the Division of Intramural Research (DIR) in the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). He served as a senior investigator, the chief of the Molecular Biology and Genetics Section, the chief of the Otolaryngology Branch, and the director of the DIR, as well as the deputy director for Intramural Clinical Research across the NIH Intramural Research Program. His research program identifies and characterizes molecular and cellular mechanisms of normal and disordered hearing and balance in humans and mouse models. Two primary interests of his program have been hearing loss associated with enlargement of the vestibular aqueduct, and the function of TMC genes and proteins. The latter work lead to the discovery that the deafness gene product TMC1 is a component of the hair cell sensory transduction channel. Since July of 2020, he has served as the Senior Associate Dean of Research and a Professor of Otolaryngology and Physiology in the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Gwenaëlle S. G. Géléoc obtained a PhD in Sensory Neurobiology from the University of Sciences in Montpellier (France) in 1996. She performed part of her PhD training at the University of Sussex, UK where she characterized sensory transduction in vestibular hair cells and a performed a comparative study between vestibular and cochlear hair cells. Gwenaelle continued her training as an electrophysiologist at University College London studying outer hair cell motility and at Harvard Medical School studying modulation of mechanotransduction in vestibular hair cells. As an independent investigator at the University of Virginia, she expanded this work and characterized the developmental acquisition of sensory transduction in mouse vestibular hair cells, the developmental acquisition of voltage-sensitive conductances in vestibular hair cells and the tonotopic gradient in the acquisition of sensory transduction in the mouse cochlea. This work along with quantitative spatio-temporal studies performed on several hair cell mechanotransduction candidates lead her to TMC1 and 2 and long-term collaborations with Andrew Griffith and Jeff Holt. Dr. Géléoc is currently Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, at Boston Children’s Hospital where she continues to study molecular players involved in the development and function of hair cells of the inner ear and develops new therapies for the treatment of deafness and balance, with a particular focus on Usher syndrome.
Jeff Holt earned a doctorate from the Department of Physiology at the University of Rochester in 1995 for his studies of inward rectifier potassium channels in saccular hair cells. He went on to a post-doctoral position in the Neurobiology Department at Harvard Medical School and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where he characterized sensory transduction and adaptation in hair cells and developed a viral vector system to transfect cultured hair cells. Dr. Holt’s first faculty position was in the Neuroscience Department at the University of Virginia. In 2011 the lab moved to Boston Children’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Holt is currently a Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology and Neurology in the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center. Dr. Holt and his team have been studying sensory transduction in auditory and vestibular hair cells over the past 20 years, with particular focus on TMC1 and TMC2 over the past 12 years. This work lead to the discovery that TMC1 forms the hair cell transduction channel. His work also focuses on development gene therapy strategies for genetic hearing loss.
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