deafness
New NIDCD Director
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins

LabTV: Curious About Genetics of Deafness
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
What do Miami, music, and genetic research have in common? They are all central to the life of Joseph Foster, the young researcher who’s in the spotlight for our next installment of LabTV.
Foster, a research associate in Mustafa Tekin’s lab at the University of Miami’s Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, is involved in the hunt for the remaining genes responsible for congenital forms of deafness.This area of research is a good fit for Foster. Not only does he have a keen interest in genetic diseases (a close family member was born with cystic fibrosis), he’s a musician with a deep appreciation of the gift of hearing—loving to play the saxophone in his free time.
A White Halloween Costume That’s Not a Ghost
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins

Caption: Dr. Jay Rubinstein and his mini-me, Landon Browne
Credit: Courtesy of Mary Guiden, Seattle Children’s Hospital
What costume to wear for Halloween? For many kids, it’s a difficult choice, but not so for 7-year-old Landon Browne. This year, he’s not going as a zombie or an action hero—he’s going as an NIH-funded researcher!
Landon, who was born almost completely deaf, has decided to dress up as his real-life superhero: Jay Rubinstein, M.D., Ph.D., a physician-scientist at Seattle Children’s Hospital who performed the surgeries that have enabled the boy to hear.