SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND — The British Tinnitus Association (BTA) has announced the first recipient of £125,000 (~167K $US) through the organization’s 2020/21 large research grant funding programme. The grant is going to King’s College London and the University of Nottingham for their study which aims to identify tinnitus biomarkers, using the health and genetics data of twins.
The two-year research project is led by Professor Frances Williams, Professor of Genomic Epidemiology at King’s College London, and Dr. Christopher Cedderoth, Associate Professor in Hearing Sciences at the University of Nottingham.
Using data from TwinsUK and the Karolinska Institutet’s Swedish Tinnitus Outreach Project, they will be looking for biomarkers – or special molecules – in the blood that can help to objectively diagnose and/or predict who will develop tinnitus.
“We’re really pleased to have been awarded a grant from the BTA, to allow us to take this significant project forward. We hope that using the large sample from TwinsUK will help us identify a blood molecule which will provide an objective, reliable indicator of tinnitus. This would allow the development of a blood test for tinnitus, leading to it being defined as a “disorder” rather than symptom, and providing an objective measure of a subjective condition.”
–Professor Frances Williams
The organization says the project is an important study and could provide essential information that will propel new research towards a cure.
About BTA
The British Tinnitus Association (BTA) is an independent charity supporting thousands of people who experience tinnitus and advise medical professionals from across the world. We are the primary source of support and information for people with tinnitus in the UK, facilitating an improved quality of life. We aim to encourage prevention through our educational programme and to seek effective treatment for tinnitus through a medical research programme.
