School of Medicine
Showing 1-10 of 55 Results
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Daibhid O Maoileidigh
Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Current Research and Scholarly Interests The Ó Maoiléidigh group employs mathematical and computational approaches to better understand normal hearing and hearing impairment. Because complete restoration of auditory function by artificial devices or regenerative treatments will only be possible when experiments and computational modeling align, we work closely with experimental laboratories. Our goal is to understand contemporary experimental observations, to make experimentally testable predictions, and to motivate new experiments. We are pursuing several projects.
Hair-Bundle Mechanics
Auditory and balance organs rely on hair cells to convert mechanical vibrations into electrical signals for transmission to the brain. In response to the quietest sounds we can hear, the hair cell's mechanical sensor, the hair bundle, moves by less than one-billionth of a meter. To determine how this astounding sensitivity is possible, we construct computational models of hair-bundle mechanics. By comparing models with experimental observations, we are learning how a hair bundle's geometry, material properties, and ability to move spontaneously determine its function.
Cochlear Mechanics
The cochlea contains the auditory organ that houses the sensory hair cells in mammals. Vibrations in the cochlea arising from sound are amplified more than a thousandfold by the ear's active process. New experimental techniques have additionally revealed that the cochlea vibrates in a complex manner in response to sound. We use computational models to interpret these observations and to make hypotheses about how the cochlea works. -
Lucy Erin O'Brien
Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Current Research and Scholarly Interests Many adult organs tune their functional capacity to variable levels of physiologic demand. Adaptive organ resizing breaks the allometry of the body plan that was established during development, suggesting that it occurs through different mechanisms. Emerging evidence points to stem cells as key players in these mechanisms. We use the Drosophila midgut, a stem-cell based organ analogous to the vertebrate small intestine, as a simple model to uncover the rules that govern adaptive remodeling.
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Hugh O'Brodovich
Arline and Pete Harman Professor for the Chair in the Department of Pediatrics in the School of Medicine, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly Interests Clinical:
Pulmonary edema, acute respiratory distress syndromes (ARDS), hyaline membrane disease (HMD), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)
Basic Science:
Lung epithelial sodium transport
Genetic influences on the development of BPD -
Ruth O'Hara
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Public Mental Health and Population Sciences)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests Dr. O'Hara's research aims to investigate how cognitive information processing deficits subserve affective symptoms in psychiatric disorders, and interact with key brain networks integral to these disorders. To do so, she has implemented a translational, interdisciplinary program that encompasses cellular models, brain and behavioral assays of affective and cognitive information processing systems in psychiatric disorders across the lifespan.
