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DONNA FEKETE
| Professor LILY 2-224 496-3058 CV: Link |
Our inner ears do more than hear; they also help to maintain our balance and equilibrium. We perform these tasks using specialized cells, called hair cells, that are topped with stiff microcellular hairs. At the limit of human hearing, a push on the hairs of atomic dimensions (the diameter of a hydrogen atom) can be detected as sound. Our lab seeks to understand how hair cells are formed in the embryo. We are also interested in a host of other ear cells that support hair cells or send their signals to the brain. We use viruses and other methods to trace the origin of inner ear cells. Viruses also allow us to deliver genes into embryonic ear cells to try to influence what type of cell they will become. Chicken, mouse, frog and fish embryos are all important model systems for us. These species allow us to manipulate events that, in humans, happen within the first 3-6 weeks of pregnancy. We aim to understand how inner ear cells are made in the hope that these discoveries may someday prove useful in the treatment of human birth defects, deafness and balance disorders (such as Menieres Disease).
Education
Ph.D., Harvard, 1984
Professional Faculty Research
(Neurobiology, cell and developmental biology) Morphogenesis of the inner ear.
Awards
University Faculty Scholar
Other Activities
Grant Reviews/Study Sections
- Wellcome Foundation, UK
- NIH AUD Study Section (permanent member), 2004-2007
Faculty Presentations
- Connecting sensory neurons to hair cells, Symposium on Molecular Biology of Ear Development, 29th Annual Midwinter Research Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, Baltimore, MD, February 5-9, 2006
- Wnt expression during inner ear development, Symposium on Wnt Signaling Pathways and Inner Ear Development, 30th Annual Midwinter Research Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, Denver, CO, February 10-15, 2007
- Exploring the function of microRNAs in the specification of sensory organ and hair cell fates, Molecular Biology of Hearing and Deafness Meeting, Hinxton, England, September 11-14, 2007
Conferences
- 29th Annual Midwinter Research Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, Baltimore, MD, February 5-9, 2006
- 7th International Conference on Zebrafish Development & Genetics, Madison, WI, June 14-18, 2006
- Axon Guidance, Synaptogenesis and Neural Plasticity, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, September 13-17, 2006
- Midwest Regional Developmental Biology Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 13-15, 2007
- First Pan American Congress in Developmental Biology, Cancun, Mexico, June 16-20, 2007
- 30th Annual Midwinter Research Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, Denver, CO, February 10-15, 2007
- Biology of the Inner Ear (course instructor), Marine Biological Laboratories, Woods Hole, MA, August 27 - September 1, 2007