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William Brownell Baylor College of Medicine Department: Bobby R. Alford Department of Otorhinolaryngology & Communicative Science Address: Baylor College of Medicine One Baylor Plaza, NA 505 Houston, Texas 77030 Phone: 713-798-8540 Fax: 713-798-8553 Email: brownell@bcm.tmc.edu Web: public.bcm.tmc.edu/oto/research/cochlea/index.html

Education

S.B. Physics, University of Chicago (1968)
Ph.D. Physiology, University of Chicago (1973)

Honors

Roche Research Foundation. Travel and research award, 11/31/82- 09/01/83.
Fulbright Scholar, French Fulbright Program 06/01/84 - 08/31/84.
French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) visiting scientist research stipend. 06/01/84 -08/31/84.
Claude Pepper Award from NIDCD, 1990-1997.
Kresge/Mirmelstein Award of Scientific Merit, 1994.
SHHH Special Friends of People with Hearing Loss Award, 1995.
Jake and Nina Kamin Chair of Otorhinolaryngology, 1996.
University of Chicago Medical and Biological Sciences Alumni Award for Distinguished Service, 1997.
Michael E. DeBakey Excellence in Research Award, Baylor College of Medicine 2000-2001.
Honor Award from the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery 2002.
Carhart Memorial Lecturer, American Auditory Society - 2004.

Research Topic

Cochlear biophysics and the mechanism of outer hair cell electromotility.

Research Description

Selected Publications

• Brownell, W.E. (2005) The Piezoelectric Outer Hair Cell. In: Vertebrate Hair Cells, edited by R.A. Eatock. In the Springer Handbook of Auditory Research, edited by A.N. Popper and R.R. Fay, Springer, NY, pp. 313-347.
• Qian, F., Ermilov, S., Murdock, D., Brownell, W.E., Anvari, B. (2004) Combining optical tweezers and patch clamp for studies of cell membrane electromechanics. Review of Scientific Instruments 75: 2937-2942.
• Rabbitt, R.D., Ayliffe, H.E., Christensen, D., Pamarthy, K., Durney, C., Clifford, S., Brownell, W.E. (2005) Evidence of piezoelectric resonance in isolated outer hair cells. Biophysical Journal 88: 2257-65.
• Spector, A.A., Popel, A.S., Eatock, R.A., Brownell, W.E. (2005) Mechanosensitive channels in the lateral wall can enhance the cochlear outer hair cell frequency response. Annals of Biomedical Engineering 33: 991-1002.
• Murdock, D.R., Ermilov, S.A., Spector, A.A., Popel, A.S., Brownell, W.E., Anvari, B. (2005)Effects of chlorpromazine on mechanical properties of the outer hair cell plasma membrane. Biophysical Journal 89: 4090-5.
• Weitzel, E.K., Tasker, R., Brownell, W.E. (2003) Outer hair cell piezoelectricity: frequency response enhancement and resonance behavior. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 114: 1462-1466.
• Brownell, W.E., Farrell, B., Raphael, R.M. (2003)Membrane electromechanics at hair cell synapes. In: Biophysics of the Cochlea: From Molecule to Model, edited by A.W. Gummer, World Scientific: Singapore, pp. 169-176.

Lab Members

Lab Photos

Last edited on: January 04, 2006