The University of Washington (UW) has a long-standing history of commitment to research in the areas of hearing, speech and language studies, and communication disorders. In addition, it has an outstanding interdisciplinary community of investigators in all of the subdisciplines of basic neuroscience. At the intersection of these communities is a diverse and highly productive group of investigators who study the fundamental neural mechanisms that underlie hearing and communication. One important mission of the auditory neuroscience community at UW is to mentor the trainees who will carry on this line of research and advance our knowledge of the field in the future. Although UW currently has training programs in Otolaryngology and Speech and Hearing Sciences, both of these are aimed primarily at training clinically oriented researchers. The proposed establishment of an Auditory Neuroscience Training Program would complement the two existing programs and help train the basic neuroscience researchers whose work will form the foundation for research in the clinical disciplines. The proposed training experience at UW will include both pre- and postdoctoral training, but will emphasize predoctoral training since this is the area in which strong support during the early stages of training is most crucial. Trainees will have the opportunity to participate in active research programs in neuroanatomy, development, genetics, cell and molecular biology, neuropharmacology, and electrophysiology of the peripheral and central auditory system as well as psychoacoustics, language perception and processing, and communication behavior, and to combine research in more than one area through collaborative efforts. Program trainees will be exposed to a wide range of research techniques, enabling them to conduct technologically and conceptually sophisticated programs of research. Importantly, the support provided by the proposed training program should greatly enhance the ability of the UW to attract and retain high-caliber minority trainees in auditory neuroscience.
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