Research

2022 Emerging Research Grants Announced

We have reported since spring 2020 on the astounding resilience of HHF-funded scientists as they continued their work remotely and in hybrid setups. Just as they continued to conduct scientific work during the past year and a half of lab closures and COVID-19 restrictions, so too were Emerging Research Grants applicants busy collecting preliminary data and drafting research proposals.

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Autism-Related Language Difficulties Tied to Involuntary Attention Capture

We examined data from individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) peers while they listened to both meaningful and meaningless sentences. ASD individuals show significantly stronger cortical responses to meaningless compared with meaningful speech in the same canonical language regions where TD individuals exhibit stronger responses to meaningful speech.

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Specific Group of Cochlear Cells in Mice Demonstrate Regenerative Potential

A surprising finding of this project was that a specific group of cells, called the greater epithelial ridge (GER), contained the majority of cells capable of growing into organoids. This ability can be interpreted as a form of regenerative potential because the GER cells can multiply and generate new sensory hair cells.

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3D-Printed Tumor Guides Brain Surgery for Vestibular Schwannoma

Published in the journal Otology & Neurotology in June 2021, our study details a new, 3D-printed, patient-specific tumor model for quantitatively assessing the accuracy of facial nerve tractography in vestibular schwannoma patients.

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New High-Tech Portal Launched to Speed Innovations to Reverse Hearing Loss

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) including Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) member Ronna Hertzano, M.D., PhD., launched a new online tool that could more quickly advance medical discoveries to reverse progressive hearing loss.

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A Common Ancestor for Cells Involved in Hearing and Touch

The sensory cells in the inner ear and the touch receptors in the skin actually have a lot in common, according to a new study from the University of Southern California (USC) Stem Cell laboratory of Neil Segil, Ph.D., published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences.

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The Latent Regenerative Potential of the Inner Ear

Scientists from the laboratory of Neil Segil, Ph.D., have identified a natural barrier to the regeneration of the inner ear’s sensory cells, which are lost in hearing and balance disorders. Overcoming this barrier may be a first step in returning inner ear cells to a newborn-like state that’s primed for regeneration

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Measuring Children’s Ability to Hear Speech in Different Competing Backgrounds

Young children spend much of their day listening in noise. However, it is clear that, compared with adults, infants and children are highly susceptible to interference from competing background sounds.

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The Gene C1ql1 Is Expressed in Adult Outer Hair Cells of the Mouse Cochlea

We found C1QL1 expression in the cochlear tissue of adult mice, but not in neonatal or developing mice, indicating that the protein is not involved with the development of any aspect of the auditory system. This developmental regulation is surprising as both C1QL1 and the related C1QL3 have synaptogenic functions.

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Webinar Recap: The Present and Future of Inner Ear Hair Cell Regeneration

On July 12, Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) hosted “The Present and Future of Inner Ear Hair Cell Regeneration” on Zoom. This webinar was co-presented by 2009-2010 ERG scientist Ronna Hertzano, M.D., Ph.D. of the Hearing Restoration Project, and the consortium’s scientific director, Lisa Goodrich, Ph.D.

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