Dr. Colleen Le Prell (left) and Chicago Section Chair Jon Boley (center) presenting certificate and mug.
Video Recording: https://youtu.be/gV_SxVW-RaQ
Slides (PDF): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yIMUWooNbhZDRJTI7PD4KOIiFZfqWvIQ/view?usp=sharing
There are hundreds of drugs that have the potential to induce unwanted auditory side effects including not only tinnitus and hearing loss, but also dizziness and other balance disorders. Two of the drugs best known for inducing hearing loss and tinnitus are the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin and various members of the aminoglycoside antibiotics family which are used to treat major life-threatening infections. Although the hearing loss induced by these "ototoxic" drugs compromises quality of life, the life-saving benefits of the drugs outweigh the unwanted side effects. In an effort to reduce hearing loss caused not only by these ototoxic drugs but also the hearing loss caused by exposure to loud sound, laboratories around the world have engaged in sustained research activities targeting the development of new "otoprotective" drug agents that ameliorate the harmful effects of noise, cisplatin, and the aminoglycoside antibiotics. In this talk, I will provide a brief overview of how noise, cisplatin, and aminoglycoside antibiotics induce cell death in the inner ear, and how investigational drug agents have protected the inner ear against cell death and hearing loss, preserving auditory function not only in pre-clinical lab studies completed in rodent models but also in early stage clinical trials. Although there are not yet any drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for prevention of hearing loss, multiple promising agents are progressing through the clinical testing process and there is hope that new drug solutions might one day provide a new tool within the hearing loss prevention toolbox.
