Isabelle Roux, Ph.D.
Meet the Researcher
Isabelle Roux, Ph.D. received her M.S. degrees in genetics and human genetics in 2001 from the Paris VII Denis-Diderot University in Paris, France. She received her Ph.D. in human genetics in 2006 from the same university studying how mutations of the gene OTOF could lead to the human congenital deafness DFNB9. In 2007, she joined The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore as a post-doctoral fellow, where she is studying cochlear physiology.
The Research
Johns Hopkins University
Mechanisms involved in efferent synapse formation and maintenance in cochlear hair cells
This research aims at understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie the formation and maintenance of the connections between the sensory hair cells and efferent nerve fibers that provide feedback from the brain to the ear. Such fibers are important modulators of inner ear activity. Our investigation includes different approaches (electrophysiology, confocal microscopy, and mouse genetics) in parallel.
Research area: synaptic transmission in the inner ear
Long-term goal of research: to understand the developmental machinery in the inner ear, which can lead to the ability to treat deficits in their function.