The Hearing Restoration Project Adds a New Working Group

The Hearing Restoration Project’s collaborative team science model and commitment to data sharing continue to drive the group forward, enabling it to meet milestones and launch exciting new experiments and analyses. The 2025 project year that starts in October 2024 marks the beginning of a new three-year plan to guide the consortium members’ work in line with the HRP’s Strategic Plan.

Given the need for platforms that provide efficient, reproducible, and reliable outcome measurements, the HRP has created a new, fourth working group this year: Screening. The tools this group will develop are essential to working more effectively and identifying when fully functional hair cells are achieved. 

The work of the original three working groups continues. The Cross-Species Epigenetics working group compares gene expression and epigenetics across species to identify and describe the molecular mechanisms that prevent hair cell regeneration. The Integrative Analysis working group conducts a meta-analysis of data collected from various species over the years and will curate the data for access via the gEAR, the data-sharing and visualization tool developed with HRP funding. The Reprogramming and Gene Delivery working group focuses on finding ways to stimulate hair cell regeneration by targeting supporting cells. 

We are also pleased to welcome a new member to the consortium, Ksenia Gnedeva, Ph.D., of the University of Southern California. She joins the Cross-Species Epigenetics and Screening groups.

Cross-Species Epigenetics Group

Tatjana Piotrowski, Ph.D. (chair), Stowers Institute for Medical Research

Alain Dabdoub, Ph.D., Sunnybrook Research Institute

Ksenia Gnedeva, Ph.D., University of Southern California

Andy Groves, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine

Stefan Heller, Ph.D., Stanford University

Litao Tao, Ph.D., Creighton University

Integrative Analysis Group

Seth Ament, Ph.D. (co-chair), University of Maryland

Ronna Hertzano, M.D., Ph.D. (co-chair), National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Albert Edge, Ph.D., Mass Eye and Ear

Stefan Heller, Ph.D., Stanford University

David Raible, Ph.D., University of Washington

Jennifer Stone, Ph.D., University of Washington

Mark Warchol, Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis

Reprogramming and Gene Delivery Group

Andy Groves, Ph.D. (chair), Baylor College of Medicine

John Brigande, Ph.D., Oregon Health & Science University

Yehoash Raphael, Ph.D., University of Michigan

Screening Group

Alain Dabdoub, Ph.D., Sunnybrook Research Institute

Albert Edge, Ph.D., Mass Eye and Ear

Ksenia Gnedeva, Ph.D., University of Southern California

Stefan Heller, Ph.D., Stanford University

For more information and updates, see hhf.org/hrp.

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