Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL)  afflicts 5% of the population worldwide. To date there are no effective interventions to prevent or treat NIHL. In October 2014 we were funded by the Department of Defense to work towards developing the blueprint of the cell type-specific molecular changes that occur as a result of NIHL. As part of this work we adapted the RiboTag mice and generated mouse models that allow for outer hair cell and supporting cell-specific gene expression analysis from intact cochlear tissue. The project is focused on understanding molecular pathways that can lead to prevention of age and noise induced hearing loss.