Breaking down barriers: USC’s collaborative approach to training the next generation of hearing scientists

The USC Training Program in Hearing & Communication Neuroscience (HCN) was developed in September 2007 by Sarah Bottjer, PhD, who studies biological sciences and psychology in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and Neil Segil, PhD, who studied regenerative medicine and stem cell biology at the Keck School of Medicine until his death in 2022. The program began as a series of regular collegial dinner meetings, at which faculty from various departments at USC and the then-extant House Ear Institute presented their research findings on hearing and vocal communication in an informal setting. These dinner meetings initially served as a means of stimulating interaction and collaboration among faculty across different, overlapping disciplines, but they quickly came to include conversations about extending the benefits to students and postdocs. The next logical step was to formalize an interdisciplinary training program with relevant coursework, workshops, seminars, an annual retreat, and numerous other activities. During the second year of the program, Bottjer and Segil applied for and received an institutional training grant from the NIH, which stimulated further growth and development of the program. Bottjer and Segil would go on to serve as Co-Directors for the first 13 years of the program. 

Fostering collaboration in neuroscience and communication disorders

HCN has since blossomed into a cooperative endeavor involving three major divisions of USC—the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the Keck School of Medicine, and the Viterbi School of Engineering—breaking down the conventional departmental boundaries that can often silo researchers and clinicians. As detailed by Christopher Shera, PhD, the current director of HCN, the program aims to provide a multidisciplinary, collaborative training experience to prepare PhD candidates and postdoctoral scientists to pursue productive and innovative careers in academic research inareas spanning everything from basic science to clinical applications. The program additionally aims to expose physicians-in-training to the rigors of scientific research. “The opportunities created by this collaborative endeavor,” Shera explains, “foster creative research in basic experimental and theoretical neuroscience and its application to disorders of hearing and communication. Not insignificantly, the program also aims to nourish the informal spirit of conversation and friendship exemplified by those early dinner meetings between Bottjer, Segil, and their colleagues.”  

Shera began his association with HCN when he was recruited to the Department of Otolaryngology in 2016. Previously the director of admissions at a similar training program at Harvard University, he was appointed co-director of the HCN program in 2020 when Bottjer retired from her leadership role, and he then assumed full responsibility two years later when Segil passed away. As with other fields, research within the broad area of hearing and communication neuroscience is becoming increasingly complex and interdependent, and Shera recognizes that young scientists hoping for a successful career will require a multifaceted education across different subareas of research as well as an understanding of clinical needs. The HCN program provides this broader perspective through an alliance that bridges research and training among scientists in hearing and communication across USC.

Enhancing biomedical research through multidisciplinary exposure

The intellectual benefits of this multidisciplinary focus—to the trainees, to the faculty, and to the field—are beyond question, even if it can be administratively challenging at times given the occasionally conflicting priorities of the three participating schools (Dornsife, Keck, and Viterbi). In spite of the periodic bureaucratic hurdles that may arise, however, Shera views the endeavor as absolutely necessary, as thriving in the biomedical fields encompassed by the HCN program often requires at least passing familiarity with a broad range of disciplines and approaches, each with its own culture and vocabulary. “We aim to expose our trainees to these multiple ‘languages,’” Shera notes, “hoping that some will stick and lead to new collaborations that advance the field.” For the scientist focusing on basic and/or translational research, a basic familiarity with clinical issues (and the ability to talk with clinicians) is important both to “selling” one’s work to funding agencies such as the NIH and as an ever-abundant source of interesting ideas. 

OHNS faculty: The backbone of the HCN Program

The HCN program would be nearly impossible to sustain without the support of the faculty in the USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS). OHNS faculty members currently make up nearly half of all HCN-affiliated faculty (9 out of 20), and they play an essential role in running the program. For example, many OHNS research faculty serve on the HCN Executive Committee, which guides program policies and admissions, and furthermore, although headquartered in Dornsife during its first 13 years, the HCN program is now administered by the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery and receives valuable support from OHNS’s academic program specialist, Karen Yang and associate research administrator, Nicola Yip. Shera appreciates that graduate and postgraduate HCN trainees come from a wide variety of educational backgrounds—linguists, biologists, engineers, psychologists, mathematicians, and many others. “The most rewarding thing about involvement with any training program,” Shera says, “is getting to know the individual trainees and seeing them progress as they grow and mature into capable, astute, and productive young scientists. Although their different journeys are never without detours and diversions, watching trainees successfully navigate the process is always immensely satisfying.”