Hearing Restoration Project

The Hearing Restoration Project of Hearing Health Foundation is a Consortium made up of some of the most talented, creative, inspired researchers in the area of cell regeneration in the ear, both mid-level and senior-level investigators, whose work has already contributed significantly to the field. This alliance of scientists has pledged to work collaboratively and interactively with one another, sharing information and data to expedite the timeline to a cure. Projects funded by the Hearing Restoration Project will commence in early 2012. The goal of the HRP is to develop a biologic cure for severe sensorineural hearing loss in the next decade.

What is Cell Regeneration in the Inner Ear?
Tiny cells called hair cells are located in the inner ears of birds, as well as mammals, and are required for normal hearing. Hair cells were named as such because they have thin structures that resemble the hairs on your head. Hair cells convert sound information into electrical signals that are sent to the brain. Once hair cells die in mammas--including humans-- hearing loss is permanent.

Many types of commonly acquired hearing loss are the result of damage or death to these delicate hair cells, including noise-induced hearing loss, presbycusis (age-related hearing loss), and ototoxic hearing loss (hearing loss that occurs after a patient is exposed to certain life-saving medications).

In the late 1980s, both Dr. Edwin Rubel (then at University of Virginia and now at University of Washington) and Dr. Douglas Cotanche (then at University of Pennsylvania and now at Harvard School of Public Policy) discovered that even after chickens' hair cells had been deliberately destroyed in their labs, the cells grew back.

Today, about a dozen labs in the United States are working on ways to translate to humans what we already know about hair cell regeneration in chickens. One approach is to stimulate existing stem-like cells in the human inner ear to regenerate hair cells, by delivering molecules that stimulate new hair cell production. Studies in animals that spontaneously regenerate hair cells, such as birds and fish, are unveiling important molecules needed to reach this goal. A second approach is to transplant stem-like cells into the damaged ear that can give rise to new hair cells. Different labs are working on different pieces of the puzzle; some are working on gene therapies, some are working on stem cell therapies, and others are working on possible ways to integrate both approaches. When these labs are successful at solving the puzzle of regeneration, there will be a biological cure for deafness.

Why fund the Hearing Restoration Project Now?
We have better technology available today than we did even ten years ago.
Today, there are more tools and information available to researchers than ever before. Scientists have a much better understanding of the mechanisms involved in regeneration because the genomes for many animals that they study, including chickens, mice, and zebrafish, have been or are being sequenced which allows the researchers to characterize and manipulate more genes.
There are several recent lines of evidence that provide strong impetus to researchers to keep trying. Stem cell research is promising; recent research indicates that resident progenitors can be coaxed to form new hair cells in adult mammals; Scientists in this field feel now more than ever that discovery of treatment options in mammalian models is imminent and that biological therapies for humans is within reach.

The state of the economy lends itself to the HRP model.
Federal funding for research, which support most traditional research on hearing loss, are falling and investigators are leaving the field.
Collaborative projects have become more attractive to people whose resources are more limited because they involve logical, economical division of labor.
Investigators are avidly seeking options that involve synergy, to provide them with leads to pursue with federal and non-federal funding.

More people need help with hearing loss today than ever before!
The number one malady of men and women returning from war is hearing loss (and associated tinnitus); 70% of deployed servicemen or women have hearing loss and/or tinnitus. With two wars in progress, hearing loss is a bigger issue than ever before.
The use of personal listening devices in children in particular is poorly monitored and therefore on the rise. Recent statistics show 1 in 5 teenagers now has a hearing loss.
Baby boomers are reaching the age when hearing and balance problems are starting to impact their lives.

Consortium Members

HRP Program Description

HRP Process Flow Chart