The Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) 2023 MidWinter Conference

[InNeedOfHelp]

The largest research conference in Otolaryngology will take place on February 11-15, 2023: → the 46th Annual MidWinter Meeting of Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO).

It is a 4-day event with a ton of new publications and results.

I separately posted → some results of Acousia Therapeutics and → some research news of Ebselen but there is much more on hearing regeneration, hearing loss, tinnitus, and hyperacusis at this research conference.

You can click on the day/time slot and then click on the presentation for more information/abstract. You can also find the results which are going to be presented. I'm not going to copy paste 100+ results but you are feel free to highlight here the ones that are important.

 

[Hazel]

Thanks @InNeedOfHelp!

Good news: We have just registered for the conference, I will be going there with one other volunteer. Please all take a look at the agenda and let us know which topics or speakers interest you in particular. We intend to do a lot of networking. And there will definitely be some form of reporting, just like we did with the Palm Springs Hearing Seminar, where Dr. Susan Shore recently presented some exciting preliminary results. Hopefully, we are also able to produce some video content/interviews!

Us traveling there will of course come at a cost; I was particularly shocked by the cost of hotel rooms in Orlando! (Probably because the conference venue is right next to Sea World.) Any contributions to help cover the costs are very welcome!

I very much look forward to representing this community at one of the most important conferences for tinnitus. For the very first time we will have an in-person presence there!

​

 

[Nick47]

Good news: We have just registered for the conference, I will be going there with one other volunteer. Please all take a look at the agenda and let us know which topics or speakers interest you in particular. We intend to do a lot of networking. And there will definitely be some form of reporting, just like we did with the Palm Springs Hearing Seminar, where Dr. Susan Shore recently presented some exciting preliminary results. Hopefully, we are also able to produce some video content/interviews!

Us traveling there will of course come at a cost; I was particularly shocked by the cost of hotel rooms in Orlando! (Probably because the conference venue is right next to Sea World.) Any contributions to help cover the costs are very welcome!

I very much look forward to representing this community at one of the most important conferences for tinnitus. For the very first time we will have an in-person presence there!

This is really great news. REALLY great. I will be making another small donation in January as I'm skint at the moment with Christmas and cost of living bullshit in the UK.

 

[Damocles]

Us traveling there will of course come at a cost; I was particularly shocked by the cost of hotel rooms in Orlando! (Probably because the conference venue is right next to Sea World.) Any contributions to help cover the costs are very welcome!

 

[Hazel]

We're busy preparing for the conference, and it's getting close now. I'm happy to report that @TuxedoCat, aka Linda, will be joining me at the conference. That's awesome, because there's so much to do: attending sessions, networking, recording interviews, etc. Thanks, Linda, for volunteering your time

We've gone through the conference schedule and made a tentative plan for what to attend. Sometimes there are parallel sessions, so we have to choose one or the other. Also, the days are fully packed, from 8 AM to 8 PM with barely a break. All in all, this means we need to prioritise. We would love to hear which sessions you are curious about, let us know!

From what we know, the BTA and ATA are not attending, so it looks like we'll be the only tinnitus patient organization there.

Apart from attending the sessions, we've already made coffee/lunch appointments with Daniel Polley, Chris Cederroth, Will Sedley, and the folks from Hyperacusis Research. I will also be traveling to Washington DC to catch up with Josef Rauschecker. And I have an appointment in New York City with the CEO of Hearing Health Foundation.

If there are people you feel we MUST interview on camera, let us know. We're there to represent YOU after all

 

[UKBloke]

catch up with Josef Rauschecker.

Wow. Now that IS a turn up for the books. His 2011 paper massively influenced my own thinking about what tinnitus is and how it's generated.

The idea of dysfunction in an upstream gating mechanism that essentially allows the tinnitus percept to 'leak' over into consciousness is the only explanation that's ever made sense to me.

It certainly would explain why some people with hearing loss get tinnitus whilst others don't (I've never bought the 'hidden hearing loss' theory).

Would love to hear Josef Rauschecker's current views on his 2011 paper and whether his perspective on it has changed. If you're able to get those views on camera, that would be a real scoop.

 

[Fightthearmy]

We're busy preparing for the conference, and it's getting close now. I'm happy to report that @TuxedoCat, aka Linda, will be joining me at the conference. That's awesome, because there's so much to do: attending sessions, networking, recording interviews, etc. Thanks, Linda, for volunteering your time

We've gone through the conference schedule and made a tentative plan for what to attend. Sometimes there are parallel sessions, so we have to choose one or the other. Also, the days are fully packed, from 8 AM to 8 PM with barely a break. All in all, this means we need to prioritise. We would love to hear which sessions you are curious about, let us know!

From what we know, the BTA and ATA are not attending, so it looks like we'll be the only tinnitus patient organization there.

Apart from attending the sessions, we've already made coffee/lunch appointments with Daniel Polley, Chris Cederroth, Will Sedley, and the folks from Hyperacusis Research. I will also be traveling to Washington DC to catch up with Josef Rauschecker. And I have an appointment in New York City with the CEO of Hearing Health Foundation.

If there are people you feel we MUST interview on camera, let us know. We're there to represent YOU after all

While any information on Josef Rauschecker's research is of high value, the most relevant for those with severe tinnitus might be near-term prospects such as deep brain stimulation.

In your last interview with Dr. Rauschecker, the latter was unfamiliar with Dr. Shore's work. Wonder if that has changed.

 

[DimLeb]

Wow. Now that IS a turn up for the books. His 2011 paper massively influenced my own thinking about what tinnitus is and how it's generated.

The idea of dysfunction in an upstream gating mechanism that essentially allows the tinnitus percept to 'leak' over into consciousness is the only explanation that's ever made sense to me.

It certainly would explain why some people with hearing loss get tinnitus whilst others don't (I've never bought the 'hidden hearing loss' theory).

Would love to hear Josef Rauschecker's current views on his 2011 paper and whether his perspective on it has changed. If you're able to get those views on camera, that would be a real scoop.

For a long time, I thought his theory made the most sense. But if you think about it, it falls apart with all those diseases that sort of "force" tinnitus as their symptom. For example, all patients with Meniere's, otosclerosis etc have some kind of tinnitus, so you would think that some of those people would have the stronger gating system that doesn't allow tinnitus to reach consciousness.

Rauschecker's theory explains the cases of unknown origins, noise or stress induced, but it doesn't say anything about those other diseases. I have also learnt from around here and from a neuro-otologist I visit, that noise and stress can cause events like hydrops in the inner ear, so things get even more complicated.

I agree, though, it's a huge thing to search why some people with hearing loss get tinnitus, while others (even with big or sudden losses) never get it.

 

[InNeedOfHelp]

We're busy preparing for the conference, and it's getting close now. I'm happy to report that @TuxedoCat, aka Linda, will be joining me at the conference. That's awesome, because there's so much to do: attending sessions, networking, recording interviews, etc. Thanks, Linda, for volunteering your time

We've gone through the conference schedule and made a tentative plan for what to attend. Sometimes there are parallel sessions, so we have to choose one or the other. Also, the days are fully packed, from 8 AM to 8 PM with barely a break. All in all, this means we need to prioritise. We would love to hear which sessions you are curious about, let us know!

From what we know, the BTA and ATA are not attending, so it looks like we'll be the only tinnitus patient organization there.

Apart from attending the sessions, we've already made coffee/lunch appointments with Daniel Polley, Chris Cederroth, Will Sedley, and the folks from Hyperacusis Research. I will also be traveling to Washington DC to catch up with Josef Rauschecker. And I have an appointment in New York City with the CEO of Hearing Health Foundation.

If there are people you feel we MUST interview on camera, let us know. We're there to represent YOU after all

I'd love to hear from Acousia Therapeutics. They are targeting KCNQ4 potassium channel cells in the inner ear for several forms of hearing damage, the latest press releases shows Q2 trial starting early 2023 so they are moving fast.

 

[Hazel]

the most relevant for those with severe tinnitus might be near-term prospects such as deep brain stimulation.

I don't think that topic is listed on the conference schedule?

For a long time, I thought his theory made the most sense. But if you think about it, it falls apart with all those diseases that sort of "force" tinnitus as their symptom. For example, all patients with Meniere's, otosclerosis etc have some kind of tinnitus, so you would think that some of those people would have the stronger gating system that doesn't allow tinnitus to reach consciousness.

Rauschecker's theory explains the cases of unknown origins, noise or stress induced, but it doesn't say anything about those other diseases. I have also learnt from around here and from a neuro-otologist I visit, that noise and stress can cause events like hydrops in the inner ear, so things get even more complicated.

I agree, though, it's a huge thing to search why some people with hearing loss get tinnitus, while others (even with big or sudden losses) never get it.

I think this session covers the gating theory, so that will be interesting to see.

I'd love to hear from Acousia Therapeutics. They are targeting KCNQ4 potassium channel cells in the inner ear for several forms of hearing damage, the latest press releases shows Q2 trial starting early 2023 so they are moving fast.

We covered them as part of our Palm Springs Hearing Seminar reporting, but as far as I could see they will not be present at ARO.

Just a kind reminder that I'm looking for specific tips about who to meet/see at the ARO conference. You can use the search field at the top of the conference schedule (it's a very long schedule) to check for specific topics or people that interest you.

 

[InNeedOfHelp]

I don't think that topic is listed on the conference schedule?

I think this session covers the gating theory, so that will be interesting to see.

We covered them as part of our Palm Springs Hearing Seminar reporting, but as far as I could see they will not be present at ARO.

Just a kind reminder that I'm looking for specific tips about who to meet/see at the ARO conference. You can use the search field at the top of the conference schedule (it's a very long schedule) to check for specific topics or people that interest you.

Hi Hazel,

They are there. A bit tricky to find in the conference as they do not present under Acousia but under ACOU085.

Hearing loss company Acousia Therapeutics to present data for lead candidates ACOU085 & ACOU082 at ARO 2023 MidWinter Meeting February 11–15

Name of the poster presentation:

SU141 Small-Molecule Kv7.4 Activator ACOU085 Protects from Cisplatin-Induced Hearing Loss and Outer Hair Cell Death in a Guinea Pig Model

 

[Hazel]

Hi Hazel,

They are there. A bit tricky to find in the conference as they do not present under Acousia but under ACOU085.

Hearing loss company Acousia Therapeutics to present data for lead candidates ACOU085 & ACOU082 at ARO 2023 MidWinter Meeting February 11–15

Name of the poster presentation:

SU141 Small-Molecule Kv7.4 Activator ACOU085 Protects from Cisplatin-Induced Hearing Loss and Outer Hair Cell Death in a Guinea Pig Model

Oh, right! Good find. We'll definitely go see the poster and hope to chat with them... Any particular question you'd like to ask?

 

[InNeedOfHelp]

Oh, right! Good find. We'll definitely go see the poster and hope to chat with them... Any particular question you'd like to ask?

Would be great to know if tinnitus is one of the indications of ACOU085 or ACOU082 and timeline for clinical trials. Both molecules are for noise/ototoxicity induced hearing damage with purposes of managing chronic hearing loss as well as future damage so very curious how they will look at tinnitus and if this will be a secondary endpoint in their clinical trials. Many thanks!

If you talk to Jonathan Kil of Sound Pharmaceuticals, of course we are very curious what the anecdotal evidence is so far for SPI-1005/Ebselen for tinnitus and not just Meniere's disease, and what their timeline looks like for completion of Phase 3 and potential market submission.

Dr. Susan Shore's 'team' is also there. Nothing specific to ask, any news is welcome, but I'm really interested how they interpret the results and if they are satisfied with the outcomes or if they were expecting more.

Very nice that you travel there, I'm assuming that air travel/sound does not impact your tinnitus. Your itinerary seems noisy

 

[HopeForSilence]

First poster I'm interested in:
Poster Session 1: SA225 Drug Discovery for Noise-Induced Tinnitus Based on the SBAD Model (Joseph Pinkl, McKenzie Rice, Jianxin Bao)

Particular questions: What's the development stage of this treatment? Is there a timeline for upcoming milestones?

Second poster I'm interested in:
Podium #13 - Synapse and Auditory Nerve in Hidden Hearing Loss
Transtympanic Delivery of Soluble Fractalkine Peptide Repairs Cochlear Synapses and Function After Acoustic Trauma (Vijayprakash Manickam, Andrew Stothert, Elyssa Pereyra, Lyudmila Batalkina, Tejbeer Kaur)

Particular questions: What's the development stage of this treatment? What are the results from the transtympanic delivery of "Soluble Fractalkine Peptide"? Can you visualize the results? Is there a timeline for upcoming milestones?

 

[UKBloke]

I think this session covers the gating theory, so that will be interesting to see.

Hi @Hazel, the above link didn't work my side. Anyhow, I've been to the site and searched for sessions specifically covering gating. Did you mean this one?: Link to PDF here.

Looks like a fascinating study. I wasn't even aware University of Canterbury had been involved in this or are even ready to release interim data.

 

[Damocles]

From what we know, the BTA and ATA are not attending, so it looks like we'll be the only tinnitus patient organization there.

We're busy preparing for the conference, and it's getting close now. I'm happy to report that @TuxedoCat, aka Linda, will be joining me at the conference. That's awesome, because there's so much to do: attending sessions, networking, recording interviews, etc. Thanks, Linda, for volunteering your time

Us traveling there will of course come at a cost; I was particularly shocked by the cost of hotel rooms in Orlando! (Probably because the conference venue is right next to Sea World.) Any contributions to help cover the costs are very welcome!

I very much look forward to representing this community at one of the most important conferences for tinnitus. For the very first time we will have an in-person presence there!

️

 

[Hazel]

Hi @Hazel, the above link didn't work my side. Anyhow, I've been to the site and searched for sessions specifically covering gating. Did you mean this one?: Link to PDF here.

Looks like a fascinating study. I wasn't even aware University of Canterbury had been involved in this or are even ready to release interim data.

Thanks, that's it! Indeed seems like a fascinating study...

View attachment 53214


View attachment 53216

️

Woohoo! How generous of you, @Damocles! We truly could not make this trip without such donations.

I'm very excited to be going and representing you guys there. It's well worth sacrificing a week's worth of vacation days from my day job for.

 

[Nick47]

@Damocles, really generous of you man!

 

[InNeedOfHelp]

@Hazel, if there is time, I think reaching out to AudioCure would also be very helpful. We don't have a thread on them yet here on the forums but they are working on an injection that targets to reverse hearing damage/regenerate synapses. It is currently in Phase 2 in Europe. It is very much under the radar. Pre-clinical studies showed almost complete reversal of acute hearing loss. It also targets acute tinnitus. They have EMA orphan drug designation. They will present Phase 1 data at the ARO. Perhaps some questions on timelines and outlook on specifically recovering from chronic vs. acute tinnitus?

https://www.audiocure.com/newsroom/news-in-brief/

The primary focus of AudioCure's development program for AC102 is acute hearing loss and acute tinnitus. Currently there are no approved drug treatments available for these disorders. Our front-runner molecule has undergone comprehensive preclinical research which demonstrates that it acts upon the sensory cells and neurons with their connections that are central to the hearing process. As no other drug has shown any such action, AC102 has the potential to become the first breakthrough causative therapy (i.e. treatment aimed at eliminating the cause) for acute hearing loss and acute tinnitus. By treating these conditions as soon as possible after onset, it is our vision to prevent the development of long-term, chronic hearing impairments.

How AC102 works
In acute sensorineural hearing loss, the sensitive structures within the inner ear which are critical for the hearing process are damaged; namely the inner and outer hair cells and their synaptic connections to the auditory nerve. Preclinical studies have demonstrated the unique potential of AC102 to tackle the damage to these key players.​

 

[Nobody19]

Hyperacusis: Results of a Novel Treatment Approach

Please ask them what their scientific source is when claiming that protection against painful sounds worsens one's hyperacusis.

Spoiler

There very likely is none.

 

[ZFire]

From what we know, the BTA and ATA are not attending, so it looks like we'll be the only tinnitus patient organization there.

View attachment 53214

I can't say I'm surprised, but it's still embarrassing to see. Have they ever attended an ARO conference? You would think the bigger organizations for tinnitus would attend one of the largest and important research conferences for tinnitus...

BTA/ATA feel like outdated organizations. There's a stark contrast between them and what Tinnitus Hub does IMO, yet they get all the money.

Nice donation btw, @Damocles.

 

[gotearsimhere]

Hi, this ARO looks particularly good!

The presentation regarding the BK channel modulator also fit a theory I already had; glad to see research being published about it.

The Presentation is presented by Celeste Ferraguto.

SA181 BK Channels as a Therapeutic Target for Auditory Impairments in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Preclinical Findings From a Mouse Model of Williams-Beuren Syndrome.

I don't know if they will be there since it is just a poster presentation, but they are putting the poster up on Saturday, February 11.

The question I have is two-parts.

Part 1:

Given the positive association on BK (which make up the fast afterhyperpolarization current) potassium channel in hyperacusis present in neuro-developmental disability, what are the authors' thoughts on the findings of Prof. Thanos Tzounopoulous, that the main constituents of the medium afterhyperpolarization (Kv7 and HCN) currents have been found to be dysregulated after the onset of tinnitus?

Part 2:

In consequence of the findings of the presentation, physiologically, It is now known that activators of fast afterhyperpolarization current, and medium afterhyperpolarization current can act as a mechanism to attenuate hyperexcitability in the aduitory system. Given that the perception of sound, like any other sensory input, is transmitted through the neurons, as an electrical action potential, is it possible that activating afterhyperpolarization current in general could serve to control burst firing and action potential trains which we experience as the percept of hyperacusis? This would be a very thorough physiological explanation for the condition which lines up very neatly. If so, activation of the slow afterhyperpolarization current would serve as a potent inhibitor of burst firing and action potential trains. And thus, hyperacusis. Thoughts?

 

[Hazel]

Just landed in Miami and excited for the ARO conference to start this weekend!

​

 

[InNeedOfHelp]

Just landed in Miami and excited for the ARO conference to start this weekend!

And, is the cure there yet???

 

[Nick47]

You can use the hashtag #ARO2023 to see some highlights going up live.

 

[Hazel]

Four-and-a-half days of conference passed in a blur of excitement and exhaustion. On the one hand it feels like we accomplished a lot, on the other hand you always wonder whether it was time well spent or whether we could have done more. Either way, we will do our best to post some reports here soon. Fair warning, we will have to disappoint some of you, since it wasn't always possible to get the answers you asked for; either because we couldn't find the people concerned (there were 1700 people and the venue was humungous) or because we couldn't make it to the session concerned (there were many parallel sessions and we had to skip some in order to record interviews). But we did learn some new stuff that might be of interest. And we made a lot of useful connections that could prove useful to this community in terms of for instance future research collaborations, podcast guests, etc.

More detailed reports and insights will follow soon, but just a few teasers:

• We got Jonathan Kil from Sound Pharmaceuticals on camera;
• We got an update from Thanos Tzounopoulos about his work on retigabine;
• Daniel Polley talked on camera about possible therapeutic targets for tinnitus;
• We noticed a little more cohesion and a somewhat clearer agenda within tinnitus research than before;
• We met three of the board members of Hyperacusis Research and we intend to work on joint projects in the future;
• There's increasing attention for hyperacusis and some new insights on how tinnitus and hyperacusis might be related;
• We met a representative of the NIDCD who gave us tips on how to advocate for tinnitus research funding in the US.

 

[Aussie Lea]

 

[Nobody19]

• We met three of the board members of Hyperacusis Research and we intend to work on joint projects in the future;
• There's increasing attention for hyperacusis and some new insights on how tinnitus and hyperacusis might be related;

More awareness for hyperacusis is always good.

 

[Hazel]

It's been over a week since the conference, and I've been super busy with my day job (plus one day of travelling to Washington D.C. to see Dr. Josef Rauschecker, more to follow on that!) So, it has been a struggle getting started on these ARO reports we promised you guys, but I'm happy to present you our first little update. More will certainly follow soon, including videos!

Update on Prof. Thanos Tzounopoulos and Retigabine

I spotted Thanos in ARO's 'poster room' — a cavernous space with hundreds of poster slots — and pretty much accosted him with the request of an update for the Tinnitus Talk community. Luckily, he was happy to oblige, though he prefered not being on video.

Of course, I asked him about retigabine and how his project was going to reinvigorate this drug — once on the market as an ant-epileptic, with lots of anecdotal evidence that it reduced tinnitus, but pulled from the market due to severe side effects. Thanos spoke about this on the Tinnitus Talk Podcast almost three years ago, so it's about time for an update.

Unfortunately, his retigabine research has incurred some delays. During animal testing, some toxicity issues were found. In his opinion, these were not necessarily severe enough to halt the research altogether; however, his investors got nervous because of the increased risk of the revamped drug failing at some point along the FDA approval pathway. So it was back to the drawing board for Thanos.

He has recently been focusing his energy on creating a new chemotype — what he calls a "retigabine-like" molecule — which should act on the same mechanism, targeting the same channels. In fact, he has several candidates that could work, and aims to narrow it down to a lead candidate in the next 6 months. Of course, he cannot reveal exactly what the new molecule(s) are, for reasons of intellectual property.

I asked him about Xenon Pharmaceuticals' drug candidate XEN1101, which is also a Kv7 modulator, being developed for epilepsy. He agreed that the drug has a similar mechanism as his, and could work for people with tinnitus. He seemed unconcerned about who will be first to reach the market, stating that "I just want to see something on the market that could help tinnitus sufferers, something they can try out."

Of course, Xenon's drug, if it is approved, would be for epilepsy, but could still be prescribed by doctors off-label for tinnitus. In fact, Thanos considers this perhaps a more expedient way to get a drug on the market for tinnitus, and suggested that he might consider a similar route for his drug.

It was a pleasure finally meeting Thanos in person, and I can say from my personal impressions that he seems to genuinely care about the tinnitus community and wants to help. His 'radio silence' stemmed from uncertainty about how to communicate on a commercial drug development process — which is new to him — rather than an unwillingness to communicate in general. So we may just need to nudge him again from time to time

 

[Gb3]

Thanks @Hazel! Can't wait to see what you can share from Dr. Rauschecker!