Tamara Alliston, Ph.D.

The Research

University of California San Francisco

The role of cochlear capsule bone remodeling in hearing loss

Although several bone diseases cause sensorineural hearing loss, the mechanism by which bony defects impair auditory function remains unclear. The long term goal of this research is to better understand the role of bone in the sensorineural function of the ear—with the objective of identifying bone targets that might be therapeutically effective in the prevention or reversal of hearing loss. The goal of this proposal is to test the hypothesis that abnormal remodeling of the cochlear capsule results in hearing loss by damaging the material quality of the cochlear bone matrix. Our recent studies on bone disease-associated hearing loss have shown that cochlear bone hardness is critical for hearing. Understanding bisphosphonate action in the ear is clinically important because drugs are commonly used to treat osteoporosis and bone disease-associated hearing loss.