My research is focused on sensory neuroscience with special interest in espins, a novel family of multifunctional actin-bundling proteins. These proteins are present at high concentration in the parallel actin bundle of hair cell stereocilia, in the microvilli of taste receptor cells, solitary chemoreceptor cells, vomeronasal sensory neurons and Merkel cells. Mutations in espin gene cause deafness and vestibular dysfunction in mice and humans. I am investigating the effect of these mutations on the sensory systems during development and adulthood.