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Professor wins grant for research to benefit deaf - News
A Lehigh professor won a $1.8 million grant from the National Institute of Health to fund research to better understand how hearing works.
Michael Burger, a professor of neuroscience, said his research could potentially benefit deaf patients.
"I was definitely excited when I found out I was going to receive the grant," Burger said. "In recent years, it has been hard to get funding for medical research due to the economy."
Burger's research will help to promote a higher understanding of how the brain works by looking deeper into its auditory processes.
The research, which the grant will fund over the next five years, involves the investigation of properties of neurons in the brain that assists hearing.
Burger is interested in efferent inhibitory mechanisms of the brain, which can provide a more detailed understanding of the relationship between the different neural structures housed inside the central nervous system.
John Nyby, a colleague and professor of neuroscience, said the National Institute of Health is interested in Burger's research because it could lead to future clinical research.
"What Dr. Burger is doing is great. This type of study is going to lay down a more solid foundation for understanding the inner-workings of not only the auditory system, but for the entire brain," Nyby said.
The research will take time and patience according to Julie Heidt, '08, who is involved in the project. Her work involves using a microscope to look for special potassium pumps in neurons that would signify a relationship to the auditory system.
"It takes a while for us to do this," Heidt said. "It's not like we come into the lab everyday and find results. It can take months to find something that we are looking for."
Understanding the auditory system takes special equipment. Machines include a sound-proof chamber hooked up to a computer that can produce sound waves and is able to monitor electric signals from neurons, a microelectrode used to create an electrical current while studying the neurons in various types of tissues, and powerful microscopes that can be used to detect certain characteristics of auditory neurons within the brain.
Burger said he is relieved he is able to continue his research for at least another five years, and if new questions arise, the grant is renewable.
The research will be funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, which is a part of the National Institute of Health.
A Lehigh professor won a $1.8 million grant from the National Institute of Health to fund research to better understand how hearing works.
Michael Burger, a professor of neuroscience, said his research could potentially benefit deaf patients.
"I was definitely excited when I found out I was going to receive the grant," Burger said. "In recent years, it has been hard to get funding for medical research due to the economy."
Burger's research will help to promote a higher understanding of how the brain works by looking deeper into its auditory processes.
The research, which the grant will fund over the next five years, involves the investigation of properties of neurons in the brain that assists hearing.
Burger is interested in efferent inhibitory mechanisms of the brain, which can provide a more detailed understanding of the relationship between the different neural structures housed inside the central nervous system.
John Nyby, a colleague and professor of neuroscience, said the National Institute of Health is interested in Burger's research because it could lead to future clinical research.
"What Dr. Burger is doing is great. This type of study is going to lay down a more solid foundation for understanding the inner-workings of not only the auditory system, but for the entire brain," Nyby said.
The research will take time and patience according to Julie Heidt, '08, who is involved in the project. Her work involves using a microscope to look for special potassium pumps in neurons that would signify a relationship to the auditory system.
"It takes a while for us to do this," Heidt said. "It's not like we come into the lab everyday and find results. It can take months to find something that we are looking for."
Understanding the auditory system takes special equipment. Machines include a sound-proof chamber hooked up to a computer that can produce sound waves and is able to monitor electric signals from neurons, a microelectrode used to create an electrical current while studying the neurons in various types of tissues, and powerful microscopes that can be used to detect certain characteristics of auditory neurons within the brain.
Burger said he is relieved he is able to continue his research for at least another five years, and if new questions arise, the grant is renewable.
The research will be funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, which is a part of the National Institute of Health.