About the Authors

Rizwan Yousaf

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft

Affiliation Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, School of Medicine University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, United States of America

Chunfang Gu

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Signal Transduction Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, United States of America

Zubair M. Ahmed

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, School of Medicine University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, United States of America

Shaheen N. Khan

Roles Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation National Center for Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

Thomas B. Friedman

Roles Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Section on Human Genetics, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America

Sheikh Riazuddin

Roles Data curation, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan

Stephen B. Shears

Roles Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft

Affiliation Signal Transduction Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, United States of America

Saima Riazuddin

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

sriazuddin@som.umaryland.edu

Affiliation Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, School of Medicine University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.