Dr. Hudspeth is the winner of many awards. The W. Alden Spencer Award was given to him in 1985 for “outstanding research contributions” from Colombia University. In 1991, he was awarded the K.S. Cole Award by the Biophysical Society for making ‘substantial contributions to the understanding of membrane biophysics” (Biophysical Society). Dr. Hudspeth has also won the Charles A Dana Award, the Talph W. Gererd Prize from the Society of Neuroscience, and the Guyot Prize. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Americal Philosophical Society. In his current employment at Rockefellar University, Dr. Hudspeth is considered a well-respected and published author in his field of hair
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Hudspeth has not patented his discovery since it is scientific knowledge that will be used to promote the field and not so much as a product. It is unlcear whether anyone else was attempting to patent those discoveries. His recent discovery of Sox4 and Sox11 activation of downstream genes provides new insight into the function and development of hair cells. However, this information just scratches the surface because the pathway could be enormously complicated with dozens of possible components that are interacting in some manner. Whether that be activating or repressing other downstream genes is currently unknown. The major questions that are being brought up from this discovery are: What are the downstream targets of Sox4 and Sox11? What genes do they activate or repress and what do those genes do? Are there any other layers of transcription factors? What are the signaling proteins such as second messengers? And where does the progression end? The overall goal is to find a method to overcome deafness. The hope is that if there is a blueprint provided of how these cells differentiate and by what means, then we would be able to control those portions and turn them on or off in order to help restore the hearing of individuals. This would cause the persuading of the system to produce more hair cells. This could lead to the possibility of not having patients undergo surgery for the cochlear implant, a sort of artificial ear that allows patients to hear if their hair cells are damaged and they are
Hudspeth has not patented his discovery since it is scientific knowledge that will be used to promote the field and not so much as a product. It is unlcear whether anyone else was attempting to patent those discoveries. His recent discovery of Sox4 and Sox11 activation of downstream genes provides new insight into the function and development of hair cells. However, this information just scratches the surface because the pathway could be enormously complicated with dozens of possible components that are interacting in some manner. Whether that be activating or repressing other downstream genes is currently unknown. The major questions that are being brought up from this discovery are: What are the downstream targets of Sox4 and Sox11? What genes do they activate or repress and what do those genes do? Are there any other layers of transcription factors? What are the signaling proteins such as second messengers? And where does the progression end? The overall goal is to find a method to overcome deafness. The hope is that if there is a blueprint provided of how these cells differentiate and by what means, then we would be able to control those portions and turn them on or off in order to help restore the hearing of individuals. This would cause the persuading of the system to produce more hair cells. This could lead to the possibility of not having patients undergo surgery for the cochlear implant, a sort of artificial ear that allows patients to hear if their hair cells are damaged and they are