NEW YORK—The board of the Deafness Research Foundation announced September 14 that the organization has changed its name, effective immediately, to the Hearing Health Foundation (HHF). To signal the 53-year-old foundation’s unwavering dedication to hearing research, it unveiled a groundbreaking research consortium, the Hearing Restoration Project
Clifford P. Tallman Jr., chair of the HHF board, said, “This is an exciting day in the history of our organization. We are revitalizing our image and changing our name to more accurately communicate our mission and our dedication to the prevention of, research into, and cure for hearing loss.”
Since its inception in 1958, the foundation has been the leading source of private funding in the United States for research into the science of hearing and balance. “The name Deafness Research Foundation served us well,” explained Tallman. “Our research, however, showed that ‘deafness’ is an outdated term and now has a different connotation from how we were initially using it.”
He added, “Our new name reflects our determination to change the social stigma tied to hearing loss and to fund new and promising research that may bring a cure for hearing loss to the public.”
SETS SIGHTS ON REGROWING HAIR CELLS
The Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) is an alliance of scientists working collaboratively to find a cure for hearing loss. Its goal is to raise $50 million to complete research begun more than 20 years ago, when researchers discovered that birds have the ability to regrow damaged hair cells in their inner ears. Hair cells convert sound information into electrical signals that are sent to the brain.
In humans, when hair cells die, the resulting hearing loss is permanent. The challenge facing HRP is to find a way to trigger hair cell regrowth in humans, which could mean a cure for millions suffering from various forms of hearing loss.
“Many labs are on the cusp of a major breakthrough in this field of research,” said Edwin Rubel, PhD, of the University of Washington, one of the researchers who discovered that hair cells regenerate in chickens. “We need some luck and what the HRP is providing: sustained funding and collaboration between a number of good researchers.”
Project members include some of the leading scientists in the country, affiliated with such universities as Harvard, the University of Washington, Stanford, Washington University of St. Louis, Baylor, and the University of Michigan.
George Gates, MD, the scientific director of the Hearing Restoration Project, said, “If we can get hair cells to grow back in humans, we can restore hearing without surgery and without batteries, and we think we can get to clinical trials for this research within the next decade.”
