research
Spotlight On: Lisa Goodrich, Ph.D.
Hearing Health Foundation’s Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) is the first international research consortium investigating how to regenerate inner ear sensory hair cells in humans to eventually restore hearing. Hair cells detect and turn sound waves into electrical impulses that are sent to the brain for decoding. Once hair cells are damaged or die, hearing is impaired, but in most species, such as birds and fish, hair cells spontaneously regrow and hearing is restored. Following a unique, overarching principle of cross-disciplinary collaboration, nearly instant data sharing, and using multiple animal models, the HRP is working to uncover how to replicate this regeneration process in humans. Lisa Goodrich, Ph.D., became the new scientific director of the HRP in January 2021, having since 2016 served as a member of HHF’s Scientific Advisory Board. A professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School whose lab focuses on how neural circuits develop and function, Goodrich received a B.A. in biological sciences from Harvard University and her doctorate in neuroscience from Stanford University. After completing postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco (and Stanford, after the lab moved there), she joined the Harvard Medical School faculty in 2002. In mid-March 2021, Goodrich oversaw the annual HRP meeting, leading discussions of outcomes, plans, and structure. 38
hearing health
hhf.org
