Kristy J. Lawton, Ph.D.

Meet the Researcher

Lawton received her doctorate in neurobiology and behavior from Cornell University, New York, and then completed postdoctoral research at Reed College, Oregon. She is currently a postdoctoral research associate in the integrative physiology and neuroscience department at Washington State University Vancouver. Her 2019 Emerging Research Grant was generously supported by donors to Hearing Health Foundation.

Many labs successfully use the zebrafish for drug-induced hearing loss research, but we are one of the very few utilizing them for noise-induced damage. Our device to create noise damage in fish was years in the making, with dozens of prototypes. I got excited about the prospect of using this unique system to study the relatively newly discovered phenomenon of noise-induced synaptic damage seen in mammals, often called “hidden hearing loss” because the deficit isn’t caught by traditional audiograms. Our recent work showed evidence for synaptic loss in zebrafish, so now I am digging into mechanisms that will hopefully be relevant to understanding similar human hearing loss.

I’m a first-generation college student in my family, the only scientist, and was an undeclared major for two years. I took a smattering of courses from several disciplines to try to figure out what I wanted to do, and biology was what really pulled me in. I grew up in the countryside, and spent the summers gleefully climbing trees and playing in the fields catching insects, snakes, etc. Animal behavior had always fascinated me, and nowadays I foster kittens. Watching how they develop and interact with the world reminds me of the complexities of our sensory and motor systems. It never ceases to amaze me how well everything performs and integrates.

In between undergrad and grad school, I decided I wanted to take a break and go do something completely different. So I moved to Japan for a year to teach English in a small remote fishing village. Foreigners were so rare there that they featured me in the newspaper, and many strangers in town would recognize me and greet me. I really miss the food!

My father suffers from noise-induced hearing loss from his time in the military and some industrial work. He only recently got hearing aids through the VA and they have helped him tremendously, but they’re still not a perfect fix. Watching him struggle has propelled a shift in my work from a predominantly curiosity-driven passion to a strong desire to perform research that is directly helpful to people.

Kristy J. Lawton, Ph.D., is funded by donors to Hearing Health Foundation who designated their gifts for the most promising research. These projects address the full range of hearing and balance science.

Click to download a PDF of Dr. Lawton’s Meet the Researcher profile.

The Research

Washington State University Vancouver
Characterizing noise-induced synaptic loss in the zebrafish lateral line

Recent findings indicate that noise levels thought to be safe for auditory sensory hair cells may actually damage hearing at the level of peripheral auditory synapses. Little is known about this type of damage, which is usually not detectable using traditional audiograms and so has been dubbed “hidden hearing loss.” This project will study noise-induced hearing loss using zebrafish, where the auditory sensory cells are easily accessible and highly similar to those in humans, in order to uncover mechanisms of synaptic damage due to noise exposure. It will use a combination of techniques including immunohistochemistry and calcium imaging to directly examine the timing and extent of noise damage on peripheral auditory synapses.

Long-term goal: To identify mechanisms underlying noise-induced peripheral synaptic damage to inform the development of preventative measures and/or therapeutic options for noise-induced hearing loss.