Evolution of Neurosensory Cells and Systems

Bernd Fritzsch Ph.D., is the Associate Director of the Aging Mind and Brain Initiative. He is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology, holds an Endowed Entrepreneurial Professor title and is a Fellow of the AAAS. He holds secondary appointments in the Department of Otolaryngology, is a member of the DELTA center and is core co-director of the recently awarded P30 in auditory research. He received his PhD from the University of Darmstadt, was awarded the prestigious Heisenberg Fellowship and has published over 250 papers and reviews. Prior to becoming the Chair in the Department of Biology he served as Assistant Dean for Research in the College of Medicine at Creighton University. He is on the editorial board of three journals, serves currently on an NIH study section, has been ad hoc reviewer for multiple journals and funding agencies across the globe and has organized multiple national and international meetings some resulting in either a book or special journal volume publications. His research focuses on the early development of the inner ears neurosensory system that is prone to be lost with age, isolating seniors from their normal social interactions. While cochlear implants serve as remarkably functional substitutes, a cure would require regeneration of the hearing organ. To this end he is manipulating gene cascades during mouse development to assess their possible use for the reconstitution of a normal hearing organ in the elderly.

Karen Louise Elliot Thompson is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Fritzsch lab. She recently received the D.C. Spriestersbach Dissertation Prize in the biological and life sciences. Thompson received her doctorate in biology in 2013.