432
pounds, but few have advanced to mammalian testing. Close collaboration
between fi sh and mammalian researchers is necessary to facilitate this “bench to
bedside” pipeline.
Thanks to decades of study in fi sh mechanosensory systems using chemical ototoxins, we are closer to understanding (1) hair cell evolution and the different subtypes found across vertebrate taxa, (2) the role(s) of the fi sh inner ear and lateral line
to behavior, (3) how chemical ototoxins kill hair cells, and (4) how fi sh regenerate
hair cells following ototoxic damage. We believe the next several decades will see
continued progress in these areas, leading to answers to the questions above and to
many others we do not yet foresee.
Acknowledgements The authors thank Drs. Richard R. Fay and Arthur N. Popper for their mentoring, scientifi c inspiration, and encouragement. Both ABC and JUR were Ph.D. students in the
Popper Lab and we consider Art’s guidance, advice, and example as central to the advancement of
our own careers. Similarly, we both interacted with Dick Fay throughout our graduate education,
with Dick serving on JUR’s dissertation committee.
ABC thanks Art Popper for his continued mentoring, both in the lab and in her administrative
pursuits. She credits both Art and Dick for teaching her to think like a comparative and evolutionary biologist, even when pursing biomedical questions. ABC is honored to serve as an associate
editor (along with J. Sisneros) for the Springer Handbook in Auditory Research series, a series
created (and still led) by Art and Dick. ABC also thanks Dick Fay for his ongoing career support,
including attending one of her interview talks to provide moral support when she was searching for
a faculty job. ABC thanks former Popper Lab undergraduate Payal Razdan for her early (unpublished) work on fi sh ototoxicity, and current and former Coffi n Lab members Phillip Uribe,
Matthew Kruger, Alex Young, Nicole Smith, Sarah Neveux, Lauren Hayashi, and Meghal Sheth
for their contributions to our work on hair cell damage and regeneration.
JUR is sincerely thankful to Dr. Arthur Popper for being an outstanding mentor in graduate
school, and through the various stages of his professional development and career—to this day. Dr.
Arthur Popper inculcated in JUR a true appreciation and excitement for the process of science,
from the very conception of experimental ideas, to publication and presentation at public scientifi c
meetings. Tremendous credit is owed to both Art and Dick for the successes JUR enjoyed at the
bench, especially at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where experimental tools acquired at the
University of Maryland were used to investigate ototoxic effects in fi sh models, including goldfi sh
and zebrafi sh. Much of the work conducted in the research lab of JUR at SMCM was driven by
undergraduate effort. This was made possible by a mentoring style inherited, in large measure,
from Dr. Arthur Popper.
A. Coffi n is supported by NIH grants DC011344 and DC013900, and by start-up funds courtesy
of Washington State University Vancouver. The ototoxicity research of J. Ramcharitar was supported by a SOMAS award (supported by NSF, HHMI, and Davison College) and by funding from
the Capita Foundation. Thanks to Matthew Kruger for providing the image for Fig. 3 and to Alex
Young for the images in Fig. 5 .
References
Baker CF, Montgomery JC (2001) Sensory defi cits induced by cadmium in banded kokopu,
Galazias fasciatus , juveniles. Environ Biol Fish 62:455–464
A.B. Coffi n and J. Ramcharitar
pounds, but few have advanced to mammalian testing. Close collaboration
between fi sh and mammalian researchers is necessary to facilitate this “bench to
bedside” pipeline.
Thanks to decades of study in fi sh mechanosensory systems using chemical ototoxins, we are closer to understanding (1) hair cell evolution and the different subtypes found across vertebrate taxa, (2) the role(s) of the fi sh inner ear and lateral line
to behavior, (3) how chemical ototoxins kill hair cells, and (4) how fi sh regenerate
hair cells following ototoxic damage. We believe the next several decades will see
continued progress in these areas, leading to answers to the questions above and to
many others we do not yet foresee.
Acknowledgements The authors thank Drs. Richard R. Fay and Arthur N. Popper for their mentoring, scientifi c inspiration, and encouragement. Both ABC and JUR were Ph.D. students in the
Popper Lab and we consider Art’s guidance, advice, and example as central to the advancement of
our own careers. Similarly, we both interacted with Dick Fay throughout our graduate education,
with Dick serving on JUR’s dissertation committee.
ABC thanks Art Popper for his continued mentoring, both in the lab and in her administrative
pursuits. She credits both Art and Dick for teaching her to think like a comparative and evolutionary biologist, even when pursing biomedical questions. ABC is honored to serve as an associate
editor (along with J. Sisneros) for the Springer Handbook in Auditory Research series, a series
created (and still led) by Art and Dick. ABC also thanks Dick Fay for his ongoing career support,
including attending one of her interview talks to provide moral support when she was searching for
a faculty job. ABC thanks former Popper Lab undergraduate Payal Razdan for her early (unpublished) work on fi sh ototoxicity, and current and former Coffi n Lab members Phillip Uribe,
Matthew Kruger, Alex Young, Nicole Smith, Sarah Neveux, Lauren Hayashi, and Meghal Sheth
for their contributions to our work on hair cell damage and regeneration.
JUR is sincerely thankful to Dr. Arthur Popper for being an outstanding mentor in graduate
school, and through the various stages of his professional development and career—to this day. Dr.
Arthur Popper inculcated in JUR a true appreciation and excitement for the process of science,
from the very conception of experimental ideas, to publication and presentation at public scientifi c
meetings. Tremendous credit is owed to both Art and Dick for the successes JUR enjoyed at the
bench, especially at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where experimental tools acquired at the
University of Maryland were used to investigate ototoxic effects in fi sh models, including goldfi sh
and zebrafi sh. Much of the work conducted in the research lab of JUR at SMCM was driven by
undergraduate effort. This was made possible by a mentoring style inherited, in large measure,
from Dr. Arthur Popper.
A. Coffi n is supported by NIH grants DC011344 and DC013900, and by start-up funds courtesy
of Washington State University Vancouver. The ototoxicity research of J. Ramcharitar was supported by a SOMAS award (supported by NSF, HHMI, and Davison College) and by funding from
the Capita Foundation. Thanks to Matthew Kruger for providing the image for Fig. 3 and to Alex
Young for the images in Fig. 5 .
References
Baker CF, Montgomery JC (2001) Sensory defi cits induced by cadmium in banded kokopu,
Galazias fasciatus , juveniles. Environ Biol Fish 62:455–464
A.B. Coffi n and J. Ramcharitar