Amanda Lauer

Amanda Lauer is the George T. Nager Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she also serves as Vice Director of Faculty Affairs. She leads the Lauer Lab, which is part of the David M. Rubenstein Hearing Research Center and the Center for Hearing and Balance.

Her research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying hearing loss and auditory system plasticity. Using integrative approaches, her lab investigates how noise exposure, aging, and disease affect both peripheral and central auditory pathways. She employs behavioral, optogenetic, gene therapy, physiological, and anatomical methods to study synaptic changes and the protective role of efferent feedback systems.

• Neuroscience Training Program
• Center for Hearing and Balance T32
• Otolaryngology Resident Research T32

Dr. Lauer co-directs the R25-funded Research Training Program in Otolaryngology and mentors undergraduate and medical students in summer research programs. Her lab emphasizes intellectual, cultural, and disciplinary diversity, with members from medicine, biology, biopsychology, and audiology.

Collaborations span electrophysiology and molecular biology labs, enhancing the depth and breadth of auditory system analysis. The lab also conducts comparative studies across species to understand natural resilience to noise and hearing damage, including in humans.

Dr. Lauer supports other research groups by characterizing auditory phenotypes in mouse models of rare diseases, neurological conditions, and developmental disorders.