Merry Christmas from the Translational Ear Physiology Team

Merry Christmas from the Translational Ear Physiology Team.

Merry Christmas from the Translational Ear Physiology Team! I wanted to share a short end-of-year message and to thank you for your support throughout 2025.

This year has been busy, but in a good way. We celebrated a major milestone with a PhD student completing their degree, welcomed new Master’s students into the lab, and towards the end of the year we were joined by summer students who brought great energy and curiosity. Behind the scenes, our research has continued to progress steadily, including encouraging data coming through from our sheep experiments. Everyone has worked incredibly hard, and it has been a genuinely productive year.We were also active beyond the lab, with community engagement work that helps connect our research to the wider world and keeps us grounded in the people and communities we aim to serve.

What I am most proud of, though, is our team culture. The group has been working together beautifully, and I’ve really appreciated the peer support that has grown stronger across the year. That day-to-day encouragement makes a big difference, especially in a research environment where progress comes from persistence and teamwork.

Thank you again to the team and everyone who supported us throughout 2025! I hope you have an awesome Christmas and New Year. I’m looking forward to working with everyone in 2026, another exciting year ahead. Wishing you a safe, restful break and a great start to the new year!

Haruna
Translational Ear Physiology Team

TEP alumna Prakansha N. Kumar’s new first-author paper: “Expression of the P2X1 receptor remains in the type II spiral ganglion neurons in the mature rat cochlea”

We’re delighted to share a new publication led by our TEP alumna Prakansha N. Kumar , based on research from her Master of Audiology : “Expression of the P2X1 receptor remains in the type II spiral ganglion neurons in the mature rat cochlea” ( Purinergic Signalling , Brief Report, open access; published 24 January 2026 ). Article available online: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11302-026-10129-7 A special congratulations to Prakansha - this project was done during her Master of Audiology thesis project , and the paper has continued steadily through the publication process after she moved on. Seeing it now published is a real credit to Prakansha's hard work from MAud, and a fantastic example of thesis work making it into the peer-reviewed literature. From Figure 1F, Kumar et al. 2026 What the paper is about Hearing begins in the cochlea , where sound is turned into signals that travel to the brain through spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) . Most SGNs are type I...

Welcome to our summer students 2025-2026!!

Welcome to our summer students 2025-2026!! Each summer, the Translational Ear Physiology Team aims to host undergraduate summer students, and we are delighted to welcome three students for this year’s programme. We are excited to host Sherlly Christine (University of Auckland Summer Research Scholarship), Alizée Fisher (University of Auckland Summer Research Scholarship), and Jude Anderson (Te Titoki Mataora Pacific Summer Studentship Scholarship). Summer studentships are a fantastic way for undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience in research, learn how a lab team works day to day, and contribute to projects that support our wider goals in hearing and inner ear biology. All three students will be embedded in team-based research projects at the University of Auckland. Sherlly’s project focuses on the cochlear aqueduct, including identifying and characterising this structure. Alizée’s project will explore the shape and anatomical features of the oval window. Jude’s project ...

Update: Translational Ear Physiology Blog & Facebook Live

Update: Translational Ear Physiology Blog & Facebook Live To help public visibilty and open sharing of science, we have setup a blog and facebook page for the translational ear physiology lab and team. We hope this will help us share exciting progress we are making, and celebrate the progress of science with broader audience. We hope to provide some updates, celebrations, upcoming events (e.g. open seminars, outreach or conferences we might be participating), recruitment opportunities (e.g. new postgraduate students project and scholarship opportunities when available through the University) through the blog and website. Websites: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Translational-Ear-Physiology-Lab/61581392826252/ Blog: www.earphysiology.com

Translational Ear Physiology Laboratory

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