EarBase

NIDCD: Our Mission

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) is a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Our mission is to advance the science of communication to improve lives.

Millions of children and adults around the world suffer from disorders of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, and language—our Mission Areas. Those vital functions depend on the health of important structures of the head and neck.

The human temporal bones, located on both sides of the skull, contain the organs of hearing and balance, as well as nerves important for taste, tearing, salivation and control of the facial muscles. The brain interprets the signals it receives from these structures and regulates their functions. Injury or disease involving the temporal bone or brain are responsible for many communication disorders and related health problems. Unfortunately, effective treatments are not available for the majority of disorders, which is why we continue the search for cures through scientific research and the training of clinicians. For more details, please see What We Do.

The NIDCD Temporal Bone Initiative supports a nationwide temporal bone donation program and network of affiliated laboratories dedicated to advancing research and discovery, and the EarBase repository, which serves as the central hub for data preservation, dissemination and analysis. Please see Who We Are.

EarBase

EarBase is a database and repository supporting temporal bone research. Its purpose is to foster new discoveries by facilitating data analysis, tissue sharing, and collaboration.

Clinical data is integrated with histopathology and imaging to permit combined data analysis. Biorepository capabilities support tissue sharing.

EarBase is fully integrated with the FaceBase platform, where the data provided by craniofacial and temporal bone researchers are made available to the research community.