Speaker: Professor Anne Schilder
Date: Tuesday 16 May
Time: 10.00am – 11.30am
Location: Australian Hearing Hub, Level 1, Lecture Theatre
Agenda:
10.00am – 10.05am – Welcome
10.05am – 10.45am – Presentation
10.45am – 11.00am – Q & A
11.00am – 11.30am – Networking & Refreshments
Abstract: Hearing loss disables over 360 million people worldwide. Irrespective of its cause and severity, hearing loss can have a large impact on people’s health and well-being. The treatment of hearing loss is currently limited to the use of hearing aids or devices surgically implanted in the middle or inner ear. These devices often perform poorly in noisy environments and can be very costly. It has been estimated that the costs of untreated hearing loss are €213 billion in Europe alone each year.
Damage to the hair cells in the cochlea (“sensorineural hearing loss”) is the major cause of hearing loss acquired later in life. The assumption has long been that sensorineural hearing loss is irreversible because once the hair cells in the cochlea become damaged, they cannot regenerate. However, recent studies in animals with hearing loss have shown that new and functioning hair cells can be generated through local treatment with a gamma-secretase inhibitor and improved hearing.
The REGAIN consortium is in the unique position to take the next crucial step in translation of these findings to the clinic, and test if this treatment is safe and improves hearing in people with sensorineural hearing loss.
REGAIN project website: http://www.regainyourhearing.eu/
Bio: Anne is an ENT surgeon and a trialist. She leads evidENT, a multidisciplinary clinical research team that bridges the University College London Ear Institute’s discovery science and the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital’s clinical excellence. Her work spans the translational research pathway. Recent successes include an EU Horizon 2020 award for a phase 1/2 trial of local treatment with a Notch inhibitor aimed at restoring hearing in adults with sensorineural hearing loss. And an NIHR award for a 7-year programme of work to determine best management for patients with chronic sinus disease.
Anne is a Professor of Otorhinolaryngology at the UCL Ear Institute and at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands and practices Paediatric ENT at the UCLH Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. She is the Joint Co-ordinating Editor for Cochrane ENT and National Lead for the NIHR Clinical Research Network ENT Specialty.
Who should come: hearing, speech and language researchers and clinicians, cognitive scientists, psychologists, researchers in aging health and health care professionals.
Network: Learn from one another and see what collaboration opportunities are available.
Registration: Entry is free and open to the public.
Please register by Thursday May 11 2017 to louise.dodd@mq.edu.au