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History of Facilities
The appointment of Dr. James C. Saunders to the Department of Otorhinolaryngology
and Human Communication: Head and Neck Surgery in 1973 (James B. Snow,
M. D. was then chairman) established the Auditory Research Laboratory at
the University of Pennsylvania. During its 25-year history, the Laboratory
has existed in four locations.
The Philadelphia General Hospital
 In
1975 the Department expended $875,000 to renovate laboratory space in the
Philadelphia General Hospital. This extensive research area was to
serve research in the general area of Communicative Disorders and included space for auditory research.
The new laboratory was functioning only 9-months when the mayor of Philadelphia
(Frank Rizzo) decided to close the entire institution. It
was in reality a mixed blessing. While the Laboratory was situated
adjacent to Penns’ Medical Center it was considered an Off-Campus site.
Moreover, the research space was situated next to the City’s methadone
clinic, and for general security reasons it was deemed unsafe for anyone
to be working after 7:00 PM! Indeed, security insisted that all women be
out of the Lab by 5:30 PM. Dr. Gregory R. Bock was a Research Associate
and Page Else, Dr. Rita Denny and Dr. Susan Fahrbach got their first real
brush with science during this time. [Back to Top]
The John Morgan Building
As investigators scrambled to relocate from the PGH, space at the Medical
School was at a premium. The Laboratory found itself relocated to
the ground floor of the Morgan Building. The space in this Civil War era
structure had not been renovated in over 75 years. Moreover, the
main lab rooms had been used as animal quarters for over 80 years; first
as a sheep grazing area in the 1890’s and for the previous 20 years as
guinea pig holding quarters. Electrical fixtures from the PGH lab
were removed so that grounding sockets could be installed in the outlets
of the Morgan Building lab. More serious was the guinea pig dander
permeating the main laboratory rooms. Despite a thorough cleaning,
for over 10 years if the doors to these rooms were inadvertently slammed,
the resulting rain of dander from the ceiling pipes would send anyone with
an allergic condition (especially Dr. Saunders) into a fit of sneezing.
These drawbacks were offset by the fact that the Lab was back on campus,
the basement location had 4-feet of concrete under the floor (making it
one of the most vibration free locations in the Medical School), and was
situated in the heart of neurocience research. For almost 16 years
the Laboratory functioned in this less than desirable environment with
great success. Drs Relkin, Rosowski, Kaltenback, Dear, Schneider
and Schwartz completed their dissertations in this area. [Back
to Top]
The Richards Building
The arrival of a new Department Chair (David W. Kennedy, M. D.)
brought funds to rejuvenate the Department Research Space. The desirable
aspects of the Morgan space (its low level of vibrations and location)
led to the decision to renovate this area. The lab again relocated
to “swing” space in the Richards Building. For 9 months in 1991-1992 seven
investigators, a histologist and secretary were “jammed” into 1400 sq.
ft. Somehow, everyone survived this adventure in “intimate” living.
Drs. Adler, Cohen, and Szymko worked on their dissertations at this time.
[Back to Top]
The Otorhinolaryngology Research
Suit
 On
September 25th, 1992 a reception marked the official opening of the Otorhinolaryngology
Research Suit which housed the Auditory Research Laboratory. The
complete “gutting” of this space meant that an allergic reaction to guinea
pig dander was finally a thing of the past! The spacious area allowed
plenty of room for all investigators to live comfortably, and since then
Drs. Yvonne Szymko, Yale Cohen, Henry Adler, and Daryl Doan have completed their dissertations
while Mr. Keith Duncan and Mr. Marc Eisen are currently in progress with theirs.
[Back to Top] |
