ISI News
A collaboration between USC/ISI, Ostrow School of Dentistry, and the National Institutes of Health is creating the first national database for hearing and balance research.
by Julia Cohen June 10, 2026
Hearing loss and balance disorders affect millions, yet scientists know surprisingly little about the inner ear, the tiny, hidden organs responsible for both. “Hearing is an incredibly complicated process,” said Carl Kesselman, William M. Keck Professor of Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. “The anatomy is complex and the data is sparse.”
Because the inner ear is buried deep within the skull, it’s nearly impossible to study in living people. For decades, scientists have had to rely on rare donations after death. Now, a collaboration between USC’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI), the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) is taking on that challenge by creating EarBase, a national database of the organs of hearing and balance.
