Hearing & Communication Neuroscience (HCN) is a graduate and post-graduate training program at the University of Southern California. The HCN program is a university-wide initiative unfettered by conventional departmental boundaries. We offer students a highly interactive and multidisciplinary training experience that includes basic and translational research. This collaborative endeavor actively fosters creative research in experimental and theoretical neuroscience, with a focus on hearing and vocal communication disorders.
The program includes faculty members across multiple departments in the Keck School of Medicine, the Viterbi School of Engineering, and the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. Cutting-edge research programs investigating mechanisms of audition and vocal communication are located in the Departments of Otolaryngology, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Physiology & Biophysics, Neurobiology, Linguistics, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering. Our goal is to bring together scientists working in diverse areas of hearing and communication neuroscience to provide outstanding training opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The program is supported by an NIH training grant from the National Institute on Deafness & Other Communication Disorders.
Scientists in the HCN program conduct research that spans multiple disciplines, ranging from genetics and cell-molecular biology to cognitive, systems, and behavioral neuroscience. HCN labs investigate everything from the development and function of the auditory nervous system at the cellular and neural circuit levels to cognitive constructs such as neural representations of memories, plans, and actions. An integrated understanding of mechanisms at different levels of analysis is crucial for advancing our knowledge of hearing and communication disorders and developing treatments and cures.
Research Training
The HCN program trains aspiring and newly minted PhD-level scientists to become exceptional, independent researchers and scholars in the field of hearing and communication neuroscience. The program provides extensive hands-on experience in the planning, execution, analysis, and publication of experimental and theoretical research projects relating to audition and vocal communication. HCN trainees conduct original research under the direction of their mentor, acquiring the techniques and expertise necessary to design and complete their proposed research and laying the foundations for independent research careers.
The HCN program encourages trainees to develop the range of skills necessary for a productive and fulfilling research career in academia or industry. Trainees receive extensive mentoring to develop and complete a compelling research plan and to write and submit a competitive individual pre- or post-doctoral NRSA or other grant application.
The HCN program is committed to exposing trainees to relevant aspects of clinical practice in the auditory and communication sciences and involving them in rigorous scientific training and clinical research. Strong connections to patient-oriented studies in Otolaryngology enable the program to facilitate interactions between basic scientific research and its potential applications, providing graduate students and postdocs with exposure to cutting-edge clinical practice.