One disease we are tackling is Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). CSOM is a chronically discharging hole in the ear drum and produces hearing loss in more than 50% of cases and is associated with poor language and development. According to the World Health Organization, up to 330 million individuals suffer from CSOM associated hearing loss worldwide. It accounts for 28 000 deaths yearly, a disease burden of over 2 million disability adjusted life years and it is the most common cause of persistent hearing impairment among children in developing countries.

The problem occurs in up to 40% of indigenous populations. If we can solve this problem we can restore hearing to hundreds of millions around the world. We already developed a therapy to regenerate the tympanic membrane which will be in clinical trials soon. We have identified several novel mechanisms in pathogenesis and are identifying how people lose sensory hearing with infection. We are also developing our own novel therapeutics to clear ear infections.

Other diseases we are fighting including oral wound healing problems that occur after tonsillectomy. Tonsillectomy remains one of the most common surgeries performed around the world. We discovered a novel mechanism that leads to reducing pain and bleeding after surgery and are translating a new therapy to prevent complications. Oral mucositis occurs in over eighty percent of patients having chemoradiotherapy for head and neck malignancy, often leading to aborting curative therapy that could treat a patient’s cancer. We are translating a novel therapeutic that can prevent this from occurring so that patient’s can have reduced pain and suffering during cancer treatment.

Having made novel discoveries in how wound healing occurs in ear, we’re investigating how we can repurpose our discoveries to other tricky problem areas including preventing bleeding after tonsillectomy, oral mucositis after chemoradiotherapy for head and neck malignancy, and oral aphthous ulcers.