The team’s analysis uncovered a surprising diversity of supporting cells, the “non-sensory cellular guardians” that surround and protect the sensory hair cells and may facilitate their regeneration
How the Hearing Restoration Project Is Transforming Inner Ear Science
Before the HRP, there was no mechanism for data sharing and collaboration, no way to assess gene expression rigorously or to identify relevant patterns, and no examples of new hair cells generated in a post-hearing mammalian cochlea.
Hair Cell Regeneration Is Ready for Advanced Gene Analysis
The next step in this field is the use of powerful modern sequencing technology in order to map gene activity and gene regulation during hair cell regeneration in fish and birds as well as in mammalian balance organs.
Impact 2025
Our mission to fund innovative, groundbreaking hearing and balance science is only possible because of you. We are grateful for the support of our community.
Zebrafish Study Reveals a Genetic Switch Controlling Ear and Balance Cells
Hearing Restoration Project member and Emerging Research Grants scientist Tatjana Piotrowski, Ph.D., and team show that the transcription factor prdm1a plays a key role in determining hair cell fate in the zebrafish lateral line.
What Birds Teach Us About Restoring Hearing
Research has not yet fully explained the mechanisms behind efficient hair cell regeneration in birds, but recent discoveries have sparked multiple promising research directions that might bring us closer to developing treatments for humans.
Zebrafish Gene Discovery Reveals Clues for Hearing Restoration
New research has identified how two distinct genes guide the regeneration of sensory cells in zebrafish. The discovery improves our understanding of how regeneration works in zebrafish and may guide future studies on hearing loss and regenerative medicine in mammals, including humans.
Webinar Recap: Birds Show the Way to Hair Cell Regeneration
We can now treat otoferlin-related hearing loss. In the next 10 years, we will continue to reach more groups with specific causes of hearing loss—momentum that will help accelerate the process for everyone.
In Memoriam: George A. Gates, M.D., 1935–2025
George Arthur Gates, M.D., the inaugural medical director of Hearing Health Foundation’s Hearing Restoration Project (HRP), passed away on February 8, 2025.
Meeting Our Researchers at ARO 2025
As always we are so thrilled to meet and catch up with our funded scientists, past and present, at this important research conference.