Winter 2006
Diagnosing Hearing Loss Early With Gene Chip Technology
Determining the best course of treatment for an infant with hearing loss depends on a wide range of variables. Foremost among these is how severe the hearing loss will be as the child gets older. Until recently, this crucial piece of information has been largely impossible to predict. At Cincinnati Children's, John Greinwald Jr., MD, is utilizing the latest in genetic technology to make the ability to predict this information a reality and significantly advance the way hearing loss in children is treated.
Dr. Greinwald, an associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, is focusing on the development of a gene chip that uses microarray technology to provide a rapid and accurate means of determining the genetic basis of inner ear hearing loss in children.
The gene chip has the capability of predicting outcomes, such as the progression or stability of hearing loss as a child ages. Having this information early, when the child is an infant, could help parents make informed decisions about the long-term care of the child, minimizing the negative impact on speech and cognitive development associated with hearing loss.
Should the child receive a cochlear implant or would the child benefit most from wearing a hearing aid and using sign language or both? These are among the questions Dr. Greinwald's work addresses.
While 150 genes are suspected of being linked to inner ear loss, the gene chip can currently target 13 of them.
Dr. Greinwald, who is also co-director of the Hearing and Deafness Research Center at Cincinnati Children's, currently has $2.8 million in ongoing research projects that are focused on identifying key genes responsible for hearing loss. His research also focuses on identifying the molecular basis for toxicity among a group of commonly used antibiotic drugs.
