Hearing loss constitutes one of the country’s most pervasive and serious health problems, affecting people of all ages. Middle ear

infections represent one of the most prevalent health problems for young children and are the most common reason for them to visit their physician. In the adult population, noise-induced hearing loss is one of the top five industrial health problems; in the armed forces, it is one of the most expensive health-care compensation costs. Hearing loss increases substantially in the elderly population, where it can lead to a breakdown in communication skills and increase the risk of social isolation. The human costs of hearing loss are enormous when measured in terms of lost productivity, compromised lifestyle, and impaired cognitive and/or language skills in children. Solutions to these problems require the expertise of a broad range of scientific and clinical specialists.

Richard J. Salvi (left) and Donald Henderson (right)

During the past two decades, enormous advances have been made in the fields of  biology, pharmacology, genetics, neuroscience, engineering, immunology, and computer science. These advances provide new and unique opportunities for addressing the problems of hearing loss and deafness.

The State University of New York at Buffalo established the Center for Hearing and Deafness in order to focus the clinical and research skills of its members on the problems of hearing loss. Drawing upon the university’s many resources, as well as its experts in such diverse areas as anatomy, audiology, biophysics, engineering, otolaryngology, pediatrics, physiology, pharmacology, and psychology, the Center facilitates the transfer of important basic science results into the clinical environment by regularly hosting interdisciplinary seminars and workshops for students, clinicians, and scientists involved in relevant disciplines. The center also seeks to develop cooperative working relationships with businesses and industries involved in hearing-related activities, such as: providing health-care services to the hearing impaired, testing and evaluating drugs used to treat hearing loss, developing new scientific and clinical instrumentation, and assessing industrial hearing loss and noise regulations. In addition, the center provides valuable training opportunities for physicians, engineers, and allied health professionals.

The Center for Hearing and Deafness, State University of New York at Buffalo, is a research institute with a broad research scope on inner ear and central auditory disorders. The Center occupies 11,000 square feet of space, consisting of a molecular biology lab, two anatomy labs, multiple noise exposure booths, a blast tube for acoustic overpressure, multiple auditory evoked response labs, a dedicated auditory perception behavioral lab, a human clinical lab, a cell culture room, and two surgery rooms. Over the past 20 years, the researchers in the Center have conducted a wide range of research projects aiming at a better understanding of the physiological and morphological changes of various acquired hearing loss and their underlying biological and molecular mechanisms. Specifically, the research has been focused on:  

•  Noise-induced hearing loss and inner ear damage

•  Ototoxic drug-induced inner ear damage

•  Tinnitus: mechanisms and prevention, animal models

• Age-related  hearing loss and cochlear degeneration

• Industrial solvents induced hearing loss.

The Center research also focuses on exploration of therapeutic strategies for prevention of acquired hearing loss. Multiple pharmacological strategies have been tested and many are proven to be promising.  These include:

·         Antioxidant therapies

·         Antiapoptotic therapies

·         Membrane repair strategies

·         Tinnitus pharmacotherapy

Personnel

The Center has gathered researchers at various levels with diverse expertise: research scientists, visiting scholars, postdoctoral fellows, research audiologists, technicians, and students. The Center also has adjunct professors with various research backgrounds within the University, across the country, and internationally.  

 Techniques developed

·         Animal and tissue culture models:

o   Multiple species of animals: rat, mouse, and chinchilla.

o   Knockout species:

o   Cell and tissue culture models, whole cell patch clamp technique

o   Using above animal and tissue models, we have developed the models of acoustic trauma (continuous noise, impulse noise or blast), ototoxicity, aging, and tinnitus.

·         Assessment of auditory function:

o   Evoked potential tests

o   Otoacoustic emission tests

o   Behavioral tests of hearing and tinnitus

o   Behavioral tests of memory, depression, anxiety

o   Animal microPET and MRI structural imaging          

·         Tinnitus assessment

o   Startle reflex test

o   Schedule Induced Polydipsia Avoidance Conditioning

o   Operant behavioral models

o   Lick suppression models

·         Assessment of pathology in the auditory system

o   Morphological observation at the levels of light and electron microscopy

o   Various immunolabeling techniques

o   Molecular analyses at RNA and protein levels, including RT-qPCR, gene array, protein array, etc.

·         Various drug delivery techniques:

o   Systemic drug application: Oral and injection (IC, IV, IM, IP)

o   Local drug application: round window application, direct cochlear infusion with a syringe pump or a osmotic pump

Facilities

The Center has well-established facilities for hearing research. The facilities include:   

·        Acoustic systems for the generation of acoustic trauma: Noise-generators, impulse noise and blast-generators, amplifiers, loud speakers and sound calibration systems.

·        Surgical equipment such as animal anesthesia equipment and thermo-blanket control units (Harvard Apparatus), ultrasonic cleaners, and aspirators (Invacare).

·        Complete sets of TDT equipment for the physiological assessment of the auditory system.

·        Equipment for pathological, morphological and immunohistological assessments, such as refrigerators, incubators, pH meters, balances, high-speed drills and assorted microtome.

·        Equipment for microscopic observation, including dissecting microscopes, biological microscopes and fluorescence microscopes.

·        Equipment for molecular studies: such as centrifuges (e.g. Beckman Microfuge 22R), a Bio-Rad MyIQ Single Color Real Time Detection System for the qPCR array analysis and RNA processing equipments.

·        Whole cell patch clamp physiology labs.

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Other resources in the University at Buffalo:

·         Confocal Microscope (Zeiss LSM 5 METH) and 3D Imaging Facilities.

·         NanoDrop 1000 UV/Vis spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific) for RNA quality control.

·         Agilent Bioanalyzer 2001 (Agilent Technologies) for RNA quality control.