Our aim is to translate our knowledge of how hair cells develop towards inducing hair cell regeneration in damaged auditory and vestibular organs.

We want to understand how cell fate decision is made and maintained during the critical phase of cochlear development:

1. How does a progenitor cell decide to commit and differentiate into sensory cells?
2. What internal and external cues can influence the sensory progenitors’ cell fate?
3. How do these internal and external cues integrate and pattern the cochlea?

Ongoing work in collaboration with Tony Ricci involves drug screens using in vitro and in vivo assays to identify non-toxic antibiotics and compounds with protective activities against aminoglycoside toxicity.