Clockstop SIGNED

Project "Clockstop" data sheet

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 Project objective

SHORT SUMMARY ABSTRACT (2,000 characters max.) The widespread increase in Hearing Loss is one of the major threats to future well-being in ageing human societies. The World Health Organisation (WHO) expects that by 2050 more than 900 million people will suffer from disabling hearing loss (i.e. a hearing loss >40dB in the better hearing ear for adults and >30 dB for children, respectively). The corresponding global cost is estimated to be more than US$ 1 trillion per year. The associated societal costs however - and costs to individual well-being – exceed the monetary domain. Hearing loss threatens to erode the very core of human social cohesion, namely their ability to communicate by speech. Within the various forms of hearing loss, Age-related Hearing Loss (ARHL) carries the vast bulk of the global disease burden. Nearly 1 out of every 3 people over the age of 65 is affected by disabling ARHL. Urgent action – and faster progress – is required. We here offer a novel way how to expedite this effort. Based on preliminary data generated in an ERC-funded project on the interrelation between the auditory and circadian system, we devised an accelerated model of Age-related Hearing Loss (aARHL) in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. In this project we will (i) test, validate and apply the Drosophila aARHL model in order to identify novel compounds that can be used to counter-act ARHL in humans and (ii) add our novel experimental paradigm as a powerful new tool to the drug discovery pipeline dedicated to curing (or preventing) human deafness. Most crucially, we will closely interact with partners from pharma and biotechnological industry and the UCL Innovation & Enterprise teams, to tap the project’s full biomedical and commercial potential.