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Paul Fuchs, Ph.D.

Paul Albert Fuchs, Ph.D.

David M. Rubenstein Research Professor of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
Professor of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery

Research Interests

Cochlear hair cell; Cochlear neurons; Afferent transmission; Efferent transmission; Pathogenesis of hearing loss, hyperacusis ...read more

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Background

Paul Fuchs, Ph.D., is the David M. Rubenstein Research Professor of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, with secondary appointments in Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience. He is co-director of the Center for Sensory Biology in the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences at Hopkins.

He received a Ph.D. in Neuro- and Bio-behavioral Sciences from Stanford University in 1979 for studies of presynaptic inhibition at the crayfish neuromuscular junction. After postdoctoral training with John Nicholls at Stanford, Fuchs joined Robert Fettiplace at Cambridge University to begin his focus on synaptic physiology of the inner ear. In 1984 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Physiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and in 1995 was recruited to the Johns Hopkins Center for Hearing and Balance.

His research centers on the cellular electrophysiology of the inner ear with particular attention paid to excitability and synaptic transmission between sensory hair cells, afferent and efferent neurons. These efforts have: 1.) discovered the molecular mechanisms by which acetylcholine release from efferent neurons inhibits hair cells, 2.) detailed the diversity of synaptic ribbon function among cochlear hair cells, 3.) catalogued the roles of gated ion channels in hair cells and 4.) provided the first evidence for the function of type II cochlear afferents. At Johns Hopkins Dr. Fuchs oversees research programs in Otolaryngology, and is director of the T32 training grant to the Center for Hearing and Balance. His laboratory has trained more than 30 doctoral and postdoctoral students. He teaches regularly in the graduate, medical and undergraduate curriculum, serving as co-director of “Structure and Function of the Auditory and Vestibular Periphery” with Elisabeth Glowatzki, and directing “Cellular and Molecular Biology of Sensation” with Stewart Hendry, as well as lecturing in the Neuroscience and Medical school curricula. He lectures regularly in the U.S. and abroad, and directs the semi-annual Biology of the Inner Ear course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA.

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CV

Titles

David M. Rubenstein Research Professor of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
Co-Director, the Center for Sensory Biology
Professor of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor of Neuroscience

Departments / Divisions

Centers & Institutes

Hearing and Balance, Center for
Sensory Biology, Center for

Education

Degrees

B.A.; Reed College (Oregon) (1974)
Ph.D.; Stanford University (California) (1979)

Additional Training

Stanford University, Stanford, California, 1981, Synaptic Physiology; Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK, 1983, Inner Ear Physiology

Research & Publications

Research Summary

The Fuchs laboratory uses cellular electrophysiology, immunolabeling and electron microscopy to study synaptic connections between sensory hair cells and neurons in the cochlea. One effort focuses on an unusual cholinergic receptor that mediates efferent inhibition of hair cells, driving discovery of the molecular mechanisms, and offering a target for protection against acoustic trauma. A second topic concerns the small number of unmyelinated ‘type II’ afferent neurons whose synaptic connectivity and response properties argue for a role as the pathway for noxious (too loud) sound. Our studies are motivated by curiosity about fundamental mechanisms, and to provide a foundation for understanding cochlear pathogenesis.

Selected Publications

View all on PubMed

Fuchs, P.A., T. Nagai and M.G. Evans (1988). Electrical tuning in hair cells isolated from the chick cochlea. Journal of Neuroscience 8:2460-2467.

Fuchs, P.A. and B.W. Murrow (1992a). Cholinergic inhibition of short (outer) hair cells of the chick's cochlea. Journal of Neuroscience. 12(3):800-809.

Fuchs, P.A. and B.W. Murrow (1992b). A novel cholinergic receptor mediates inhibition of chick cochlear hair cells. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London, B 248:35-40.

Martinez-Dunst, C., R. Michaels and P.A. Fuchs (1997). Release sites and calcium channels in hair cells of the chick's cochlea. Journal of Neuroscience 17:9133-9144.

Ramanathan, K., T. Michael, G-J. Jiang, H. Hiel and P.A. Fuchs (1999). A molecular mechanism for the electrical tuning of cochlear hair cells. Science. 283:215-217.

Glowatzki E and PA Fuchs (2000). Cholinergic synaptic inhibition of inner hair cells in the neonatal mammalian cochlea. Science 288:2366-2368.

Lustig LL, Peng H, Hiel H, Yamamoto T and PA Fuchs (2001). Molecular cloning and mapping of the human nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α10 (CHRNA 10). Genomics 73(3):272-83.

Glowatzki E and PA Fuchs (2002) Transmitter release at the hair cell ribbon synapse. Nature Neuroscience 5(2):147-154.

Katz E, Glowatzki E, Vetter D, Knipper, ME, Gomez-Casati ME, Elgoyhen AB, Fuchs P (2004). Developmental regulation of nicotinic synapses on cochlear inner hair cells. Journal of Neuroscience 24(36):7814-20.

Juan Diego Goutman, Paul Albert Fuchs and Elisabeth Glowatzki (2005). Facilitating efferent inhibition of inner hair cells in the cochlea of the neonatal rat. Journal of Physiology 566: 49-59. PMCID: 1464729.

Philemon S. Yang, Badr A. Alseikhan, Hakim Hiel, Lisa Grant, Masayuki X. Mori, Wanjun Yang, Paul A. Fuchs, and David T. Yue (2006). Switching of Ca2+-Dependent Inactivation of CaV1.3 Channels by Calcium Binding Proteins of Auditory Hair Cells. Journal of Neuroscience 26:10677 – 10689.

Seunghwan Lee, Olga Briklin, Hakim Hiel and Paul A. Fuchs (2007). Calcium-dependent inactivation of calcium channels in cochlear hair cells of the chicken. Journal of Physiology 583 (3):909-922. PMCID: 2277178

Grant, L and Fuchs PA (2008). Calcium, calmodulin-dependent inactivation of calcium channels in inner hair cells of the rat cochlea. Journal of Neurophysiology 99(5):2183-93.

Jee-Hyun Kong, John P. Adelman and Paul A. Fuchs. (2008). Expression of the SK2 calcium-activated potassium channel is required for cholinergic function in cochlear hair cells. Journal of Physiology. 586:5471-85. PMCID: PMC2655383.

Taranda J, Maison SF, Ballestero JA, Katz E, Savino J, Vetter DE, Boulter J, Liberman MC, Fuchs PA, Elgoyhen AB (2009). A point mutation in the hair cell nicotinic cholinergic receptor prolongs cochlear inhibition and enhances noise protection. PLoS Biol. 2009 Jan 20;7(1):e18. PMCID: 2628405

Weisz C., E. Glowatzki and P.A. Fuchs (2009). The postsynaptic function of type II cochlear afferents. Nature 461:1027-1162. PMID: 19847265; PMCID: PMC2785502. Cited in Faculty of 1000: Andy Groves: Faculty of 1000 Biology, 13 Nov 2009

Wersinger E, J. McLean, P.A. Fuchs and S. J. Pyott (2010) BK channels mediate cholinergic inhibition of high frequency cochlear hair cells. PLoS One. 5(11):e13836. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2973960.

Jimena Ballestero, Javier Zorrilla de San Martín, Juan Goutman, Ana Belén Elgoyhen, Paul A. Fuchs and Eleonora Katz (2011). Short term synaptic plasticity regulates the level of olivocochlear inhibition to auditory hair cells. Journal of Neuroscience 31(41):14763-74.

Isabelle Roux, Eric Wersinger, J. Michael McIntosh, Paul Fuchs, and Elisabeth Glowatzki (2011). Onset of cholinergic efferent synaptic function in sensory hair cells of the rat cochlea. Journal of Neuroscience 31(42):15092-101. PMCID: PMC3213862.

Marcela Lipovsek, Gi Jung Im, Lucía F. Franchini, Francisco Pisciottano, Eleonora Katz, Paul A. Fuchs, A. Belén Elgoyhen. 2012. Phylogenetic Differences in Calcium Permeability of the α9α10 Cholinergic Nicotinic Receptor. PNAS. 109(11):4308-13. PMCID: PMC3306713

Amanda M. Lauer, Paul Fuchs, David K. Ryugo, Howard W. Francis. Efferent synapses return to aged inner hair cells. 2012 Neurobiology of Aging, 33(12):2892-902. PMCID:PMC3398161

Weisz CJ, Lehar M, Hiel H, Glowatzki E, Fuchs PA. Synaptic transfer from outer hair cells to type II afferent fibers in the rat cochlea. J Neurosci. 2012 Jul11;32(28):9528-36. PubMed PMID: 22787038; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3433252.

Kong JH, Zachary S, Rohmann KN, Fuchs PA. Retrograde Facilitation of Efferent Synapses on Cochlear Hair Cells. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2012 Nov 27. [Epubahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23183877.

Fuchs PA, Lehar M, Hiel H. Ultrastructure of cisternal synapses on outer hair cells of the mouse cochlea. J Comp Neurol. 2014 522(3):717-29. PubMed PMID: 24122766.

Weisz JC, Glowatzki E, Fuchs PA. (2014). Excitability of type II cochlear afferents. Journal of Neuroscience 34(6):2365-73. PubMed PMID: 24501375; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3913877

PubMed

Contact for Research Inquiries

Ross Research Building
720 Rutland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21205 map
Phone: 410-955-6311
Fax: 443-287-4334

Academic Affiliations & Courses

Graduate Program Affiliation

Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience

Activities & Honors

Honors

Honorary Member, Argentine Society for Neuroscience, 2012
March of Dimes, Basil O’Connor Research Award, 1986
Wellcome Foundation Research Fellowship, Cambridge, 1983
Plenary Lecture, Chinese Society for Neuroscience, 2007
the John E. Bordley Professorship in Otolaryngology/ Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins, 2004
Visiting Scientist, Kyoto, 1993
Grass Foundation Fellowship, Marine Biological Laboratory, 1977
Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Institute of Health, 1980
Predoctoral Fellowship, National Science Foundation, 1975
Postdoctoral Fellowship, NATO, 1981
Phi Beta Kappa, Reed College, 1974
Guest Professor, Southeast University Medical School, 2007
Medical School Teaching Award, U. Colorado, 1987
Medical School Teaching Award, U. Colorado, 1992
Medical School Teaching Award, U. Colorado, 1993
Medical School Teaching Award, U. Colorado, 1995
Kaiser Permanente Teaching Award, U. Colorado Medical School., 1995
The A.R. Martin Lecturer, U. Colorado., 2006
National Needs, National Science Foundation , 1979
Research Career Development Award, NIH, 1985
Research Award, National Organization for Hearing Research., 1992
Traveling Scientist Award, Grass Foundation , 1997

Memberships

Association for Research in Otolaryngology, 1988
Biophysical Society, 1987
Society for Neuroscience, 1979
The Physiological Society of Great Britain, 1990 - 2012
Foreign Member
The Society of General Physiologists, 1999

Professional Activities

Ad hoc, National Institute for Neurological Disease and Stroke, NIH, 2014
Ad hoc reviewer, National Science Foundation's Sensory Physiology, 1987 - 1994
Ad hoc reviewer, NIH Hearing Research Study Section, 1987 - 1994
Ad hoc reviewer, National Institute for Deafness and Communication Disorders, 1992
Ad hoc reviewer, NIH Hearing Research Study Section, 2000
Advisor, Fondation Voir et Entendre, 2008
Board of Scientific Counselors, National Institute for Deafness and Communication Disorders, 2003 - 2008
Chair, National Institute for Deafness and Communication Disorders, 2006 - 2008

Videos & Media

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Paul Fuchs: Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences' Center for Sensory Biology
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Augmenting Neural Protective Feedback in the Ear

Lectures and Presentations

Visiting Professor, Sendai, Japan (03/01/1993)
Tohoku University Department of Physiology
Kyoto, Japan (01/01/1993)
Kyoto University Department of Physiology
"Cochlear Efferent Path Structure and Function"
Acoustical Society of America Symposium, Cambridge, MA (01/01/1994)
Member International Advisory Committee., Inner Ear Neuropharmacology First International Symposium, Montpellier, France (01/01/1994)
Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors Philippe Laudat Conference, Strasbourg, France (01/01/1994)
Program in Neuronal Growth and Development, Ft. Collins, CO (01/01/1995)
Colorado State University
Las Cruces, NM (05/01/1995)
New Mexico State University - Department of Biology
(01/01/1996)
University of Michigan -
Bethesda, MD (01/01/1996)
NIH-NIDCD
Portland, Oregon (01/01/1996)
RS Dow Neurological Institute
Ithaca, NY (01/01/1997)
Cornell University - Neurobiology and Behavior
(01/01/1997)
Duke University - Neurobiology Department
(01/01/1997)
University of Maryland College Park - Cell and Molecular Biology
Biophysics of Auditory Function Symposium, Florida (01/01/1998)
Association for Research in Otolaryngology Annual Meeting
“Molecular Sensory Physiology”
Guenzburg, Germany (01/01/1999)
“Diverse Intracellular Signaling Pathways”
The George Raiziss Biochemical Rounds, Philadelphia, PA (01/01/1999)
University of Pennsylvania
(01/01/1999)
University of Maryland - Program in Human Genetics
Mass. Eye and Ear
Boston, MA (01/01/1999)
Eaton-Peabody Laboratory
Charleston, SC (01/01/2000)
Medical College of Carolina
University College, London (01/01/2000)
Biophysics
Tennessee (01/01/2001)
University of Tennessee - Physiology and Neurobiology
Rocky Mountain Regional Neuroscience Meeting
Plenary Lecture, Denver, Colorado (01/01/2001)
Auckland, New Zealand (01/01/2001)
International Union of Physiological Sciences
(01/01/2001)
Rutgers University
(01/01/2002)
University of Chicago
Iowa City, (01/01/2002)
University of Iowa
Champaign-Urbana, (01/01/2002)
University of Illinois
(01/01/2002)
American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting
Birmingham, AL (01/01/2003)
University of Alabama
New Orleans, (01/01/2003)
LSU Medical
Seattle, (01/01/2003)
University of Washington
Davis, (01/01/2004)
University of California
Argentina, (01/01/2004)
University of Buenos Aires
(01/01/2004)
National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Philadelphia, PA. (01/01/2005)
Keynote add Eastern Auditory Research Symposium
Houston Integrative Biology and Pharmacology
(01/01/2005)
UT
Biomedical Sciences
(01/01/2005)
Creighton University
Buenos Aires, Argentina (01/01/2005)
School of the Neurosciences
University of Colorado
(01/01/2006)
The A.R. Martin Lecture
Portland, Oregon (01/01/2006)
The Vollum Institute
Chinese Society for Neuroscience
Hangzhou, China (01/01/2007)
H.X. Chang Plenary Lecture
Nanjing, China (01/01/2007)
Southeast Medical University
Seoul, Korea (01/01/2007)
Hanyang University Department of Otolaryngology
Paris, France (01/01/2008)
College de France
Boston, MA. (01/01/2008)
Eaton-Peabody 50th Anniversary Lecture
the Ribbon Synapse Symposium
Platform lecture, Goettingen, Germany (01/01/2009)
Kyoto, Japan (01/01/2009)
International Union of Physiological Sciences
“Rare Diseases of Hearing and Vision”
Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain (01/01/2009)
European Science Foundation
Capital Science Evenings
Plenary Lecture, Washington, DC (01/01/2009)
The Carnegie Institute of Washington DC
the Tinnitus Research Initiative
Plenary Lecture, Dallas, TX (01/01/2010)
Symposium speaker, Cordoba, Argentina (01/01/2010)
Society for Neuroscience
Symposium speaker, Scottsdale, AZ (01/01/2011)
American Auditory Society
University of Goettingen
Goettingen, Germany (01/01/2011)
Sensory Physiology Series
University College London
London, UK (01/01/2011)
The Ear Institute
(01/01/2012)
University of Maryland
Goettingen, Germany (01/01/2013)
The Ribbon Symposium
INSERM
Montpellier, France (01/01/2013)
The Neuroscience Institute
Goettingen, Germany (01/01/2013)
Fundamental Principles of Sensory Processing
Society for Neuroscience
Symposium lecture, San Diego, CA (01/01/2013)
Pasteur Institute, Paris, France (01/01/2014)
Clermont-Ferrand, France (01/01/2014)
Regional Auditory Neuroscience
Congrès des Audioprothesistes
Plenary Lecture, Paris, France (01/01/2014)
St. Louis, (01/01/2014)
Midwest Auditory Research and Neuroscience Meeting
(01/01/2014)
National Institute for Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
University of Michigan
(01/01/2014)
The Kresge Institute for Hearing Science
Inner Ear Biology International Conference
Platform address, Kyoto, Japan (01/01/2014)

Recent News Articles and Media Coverage

Augmenting the Ear's Natural Defenses Johns Hopkins University & Medicine (11/25/2019)

Better Connections, Worse Hearing? (4/2016)

When Soft Noises Feel LIke a Knife to the Eardrums Stat News (2/18/2016)

Nerve Cells Warn Brain of Damage to the Inner Ear

Found: A Likely New Contributor to Age-Related Hearing Loss

That Ringing in Your Ears? Don't Assume it will Fade Away, Washington Post (07/14/2015)

NPR – “Talk of the Nation/Science Friday”: “Hearing Loss Pill”

NPR – “Talk of the Nation/Science Friday": “Ear-splitting Sounds”

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