# Development of Helper Dependent Adenoviral Vectors for Inner Ear Gene Therapy Approaches

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · 2020 · $193,125

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Hearing loss is a growing epidemic with estimates that by 2050 over 900 million people will have
difficulty hearing. Hearing loss negatively impacts almost every aspect of the human experience.
In addition, it is correlated to promoting cognitive decline and increased risk of dementia. The
most common cause of hearing loss is sensorineural as hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons,
the two cell types essential for transducing auditory information, are lost. While our understanding
of the genes and the signaling cascades that regulate hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons
continues to grow at an explosive pace, the ability to translate this knowledge into effective
treatments for curing hearing loss lags far behind. Currently, there is no known biological
treatment for hearing restoration. However, viral vector-based gene therapy strategies have
shown tremendous potential. Currently, our understanding of their safety, efficacy, and long-term
stable transduction in the adult cochlea is still in the early stages. The goal of this application is
to bridge this gap by developing a recombinant viral vector for gene therapy approaches for the
treatment of hearing loss. Therefore, our objective will be to generate and characterize the safety,
efficacy, and cell type-specific transduction patterns of a helper-dependent adenovirus vector in
a normal functioning cochlea and a deafened cochlea. Our knowledge gained will be of
tremendous value for the development of effective gene therapy approaches in the inner ear.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9981782
- **Project number:** 5R21DC018242-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
- **Principal Investigator:** Marlan R Hansen
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $193,125
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2021-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9981782

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9981782, Development of Helper Dependent Adenoviral Vectors for Inner Ear Gene Therapy Approaches (5R21DC018242-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9981782. Licensed CC0.

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