Karolina Charaziak, PhD
charazia[at]usc.edu
Welcome to my Lab at USC! I have been studying the ear and hearing for over a decade now mostly focusing on the physiology of the inner ear. My earventures started back in my home country (Poland) where I completed my BS in Hearing Science and MS in Acoustics. I moved to the US in 2008 to dive deeper in the earworld by joining Dr. Jonathan Siegel Lab at Northwestern University, IL. After finishing my dissertation on earsounds (known as otoacoustic emissions) I continued my education as a post-doctoral fellow at Dr. Christopher Shera Lab, first at MEEI & Harvard Medical School, and then at USC. I put my roots down in SoCal and now I run my own laboratory at USC’s Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.
My work focuses on studying mechanics of cochlear function through direct and indirect measurements of inner ear responses to sounds in animal models. In particular, we embrace a new imaging tool developed by Drs. Applegate and Oghalai labs which allows to capture vibrations of inner ear structures in vivo! In my lab, I combine the power of noninvasive tests, such as measurements of otoacoustic emissions or far-field electrical responses, with in vivo imaging to reveal how the cochlea processes dynamic sounds and how disruptions in this processing can be diagnosed.
When I am not earsciencing, I enjoy the great outdoors. Hiking, rock climbing, and, snowboarding are my favorite activities. I constantly try to convince my five cats to join me on some of my adventures, but they seem to prefer a lifestyle of a couch potato..
My CV can be found here. An interview with me published in KSOM newsletter can be found here.
If you are interested in joining the lab, do not hesitate to contact me
Lab Members
Sahil Katta is currently an undergraduate student at USC studying Quantitative Biology and Economics/Mathematics. He is interested in understanding more about neuroscience and specifically responses to sound. In his free time, he likes to play the guitar, poker, and read market-related news.
In the lab, Sahil works on modeling distortions in nonlinear systems, such as inner ear.
Cooper Swan is currently a junior at USC studying Human Biology and Sports Business. He is interested in discovering exactly how sound is perceived by humans. When not in the lab he is the President of the USC Men’s Rugby and an avid sports fan in general.
In the lab, Cooper works on a project studying vocalizations in mice and how they can produce distortions in the inner ear.
Amina Khan is currently a medical student at Keck School of Medicine of USC. She graduated from UCLA in 2021 with a BS in Psychobiology. She is interested in expanding her knowledge base in conducting research and gaining insight into what medical specialty she may be interested in. In her free time she can be found cuddling with her two cats (Bruce and Beans), cooking, or nose deep in a book.
In the lab, Amina is working on a project that aims to verify efficacy of ETDQ-7 questionnaire in identifying Eustachian tube disorders.
Lawrence Wang is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California majoring in computational neuroscience. He is interested in research and learning more about anything neuroscience related. In his free time, he likes to run, play soccer, and hang out with friends.
In the lab, Lawrence focuses on a project relating to extracting data from images such as scanned questionnaires that are typically a part of clinical databases.
Past lab members
Sheiva Hodtjati, B.S, has worked in the lab as a Research Technician while preparing for her career as a dentist. Sheiva worked with mice, helping to manage the colony, as well as she worked with Cooper on a project investigating how mice ears’ respond to vocalizations.
Marko Pliso has worked in the lab during his gap year before starting graduate school at USC. He worked on a project studying otoacoustic emissions in mice, and their sensitivity to application of ototoxic drugs. He has presented his preliminary results at MidWinter ARO conference in 2023.
Natalia Novikova, MD PhD, joined the labs of Dr. Charaziak and Dr. Dewey’s as a Research Technician II. Natalia is a neurologist and a scientists that worked on electrophysiological, and acoustical methods to study normal and abnormal hearing function in the lab.