Courtney E. Stewart, Ph.D.
Dr. Courtney Stewart completed her PhD in Neuroscience at The University of Mississippi Medical Center with a focus on vestibular afferent characterization in the lab of Dr. Hong Zhu. Her thesis investigated how noise exposure altered vestibular hair cells and afferent activity, revealing that not only can the vestibular periphery be stimulated by sound, but also lesioned with adequate sound level and duration of noise leading to changes in afferent properties.
While visiting the University of Michigan to give a talk, Dr. W. Michael King from the University of Michigan met Dr. Stewart and recruited her to the University of Michigan for a postdoctoral fellowship. During her fellowship, Dr. Stewart developed a model of noise-induced vestibular loss in the King lab. This work correlated vestibular hypofunction with cellular changes in the vestibular periphery, and altered motor function in rats. Dr. Stewart was awarded a Career Development Award during her fellowship, which provided an opportunity to develop an independent line of research at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. Since this time, Dr. Stewart has been awarded an R01 to explore cumulative impacts of repeated noise exposures on the vestibular periphery, and related motor deficits. Dr. Stewart is now examining the impact of military-relevant noise exposures on the vestibular periphery and potential treatments that may protect the vestibular periphery or restore vestibular function following noise-induced injury.