Karyn Jourdeuil obtained both her Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Biology and French, and her PhD in Anatomy and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She then worked as a Postdoctoral Associate with Dr. Lisa Taneyhill at the University of Maryland, where she focused on cell-cell communication mediated by gap junction protein Connexin 43 during trigeminal ganglion development in the chicken, Gallus gallus. She then went on to work as a Postdoctoral Scientist, and later a Research Scientist, with Dr. Sally Moody at the George Washington University, where she focused on studying the gene regulatory network of early neural crest and placode cell specification underlying Branchio-oto-renal spectrum disorders in Xenopus laevis and in mouse. She then went on to work as a Staff Scientist (Contractor) at the NIH, where she continued her work into gene regulatory networks regulating inner ear development at all stages of ontogeny in both the mouse and the chick, with a focus in the neural development of the inner ear. She is excited to begin working as an Associate Research Scientist with Dr. Cathy Sung, studying the mechanisms of ototoxicity and blood labyrinth barrier permeability in the inner ear. 

What do you enjoy doing outside of research?

Karyn enjoys reading, playing with her two cats, music, a variety of board and video games, learning languages, and cooking too much food.