Middle and outer ears: from evolution to clinical problems

The middle ear and outer ears of mammals are unique: how they develop and the problems associated with them. My lab has been investigating ear development across a range of mammals to highlight the conserved steps, and to try and understand the mechanisms at play in creating complex integrated structures. I will discuss our research on how the middle and external ears develop and connect during development to create complex structures, such as the ear drum, and outline our recent focus on middle ear stem cells and adult ear repair.

Career synopsis:

Abigail Tucker obtained her DPhil from Oxford University in 1996 in the lab of Prof Jonathan Slack. She then worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Guy’s Hospital, London, in the labs of Prof Paul Sharpe and Prof Andrew Lumsden. Here she started her interest in formation of the head. She set up her own lab as a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development fellow in 1999 in the MRC centre for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s. In 2002 she moved to the department of Craniofacial Development within the Dental Institute at King’s College London and was promoted to Professor in 2015. She is currently a holder of a Wellcome Senior Investigator Award. In addition the lab is currently funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) with addition grants from Action on Hearing Loss (RNID). Prof Tucker is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, a Fellow of the Anatomical Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She was awarded the 2016 inaugural Cheryll Tickle medal from the BSDB for her outstanding contribution to Developmental Biology.

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