Recent advances in personalised stem cell regenerative medicine and gene therapies have highlighted the potential success of new hearing loss therapies. Given that currently, there are no pharmacological or cellular treatments available for disabling sensorineural hearing loss, our focus on hearing therapeutics provides hope for inner ear tissue repair and regeneration using cellular and pharmacological treatments.
Our Hearing Therapeutics team is collaborating with clinicians at Lions Hearing Clinics, Lions Eye Institute, hospitals and Genetic Services of WA to develop the Australasian Hearing Registry and Biobank (AHRB). The first of its kind in Australia, the Biobank will store tissue related to genetic-associated hearing loss with the goal of advancing personalised care and novel treatments.
Significantly, two-thirds of childhood hearing loss has a genetic cause. The Biobank will allow increased access to genetic samples by linking to national and international registries, helping researchers develop therapies for various types of inherited hearing loss. Over 100 genes have been identified as associated with hearing loss. Gene therapy has the potential to restore hearing in patients with profound genetic hearing loss.
Recent gene therapy trials overseas have shown life-changing results in children who could previously not hear, and we anticipate the biobank facilitating more of this research in Australia.
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