Inside Einstein

Discerning Sounds — Dr. Elyse Sussman has received a renewal grant for $1.7 million over five years from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, in support of her study of the neural mechanisms that contribute to the perception of sound and the ability to distinguish between various auditory sources. The inability to select a single sound when there are multiple sources competing with one another is a common complaint among elderly individuals and others with hearing loss, which also hinders communication ability. By studying the sound organization of adults with normal hearing, Dr. Sussman and colleagues aim to gain understanding of how the auditory system adapts and responds to environments in which various sound sources compete for attention. Their findings could help advance our understanding of auditory perception, as well as offer insights that contribute to the development of medical technologies such as hearing aids and other prosthetic devices. Dr. Sussman is a professor of neuroscience and of otorhinolaryngology.

Heady Success — Dr. Michael Lipton has been awarded a $200,000 grant by the Dana Foundation, as part of its David Mahoney Neuroimaging Program, to study soccer heading-related brain injury.  A private, New York based, philanthropic organization, the Dana Foundation supports brain-related research through grants and educational public outreach efforts.  Dr. Lipton’s research on the effects of heading, a move in which soccer players direct the ball with their head, received national press attention last year and informed the public of its potential dangers.  The foundation’s funding  supports his continuing studies, through which he will use state-of-the-art imaging techniques to further understand the brain injury that occurs.  Dr. Lipton is associate director of the Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center and associate professor of radiology, of neuroscience and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

Collaborating for the Cause — Researchers at the Albert Einstein Cancer Center and the Montefiore Medical Center, led by Dr. Richard Gorlick, are part of a 50-institution, nonprofit consortium, the Sarcoma Alliance for Research Through Collaboration (SARC), whose aim  is tobetter understand the biology of sarcomas and to develop new approaches to their diagnosis and treatment. Sarcomas are cancers of bone and connective tissues and account for about 15 percent of childhood cancers. SARC was recently awarded a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant of $11.5 million over five years from the National Cancer Institute. The SPORE funding will be dispersed among the SARC member institutions to support a variety of clinical research projects, as well as career development awards. Dr. Gorlick is professor of pediatrics and of molecular pharmacology at Einstein and vice chair of pediatrics at Montefiore. He also is leader of SARC’s Clinical Research Committee, which will determine recipients of the SPORE career development awards.