Our warmest congratulations to Clare Hall Professorial Fellow Manohar Bance, who was featured in the Financial Times for leading the first human trial for gene therapy for genetic hearing loss.

Professor Manohar Bance is the inaugural Professor of Otology and Skull Base Surgery at the University of Cambridge and Honorary Consultant at the Cambridge University Hospitals Trust (Addenbrookes), appointed in 2017.

The article states the that trial, which aims to transform treatment of auditory neuropathy, a condition caused by the disruption of nerve impulses travelling from the inner ear to the brain, would ‘potentially herald a revolution in the treatment of hearing loss.’

Professor Bance’s research and clinical interests focus on disorders of the ear, particularly of hearing and balance. His current lab focuses on machine-neural interfaces, i.e. how to stimulate the auditory system with implanted electronic prostheses, cochlear implants. He has very strong collaborations with engineering, and much of his work is on how to bioprint models of the ear with embedded sensors that can interrogate the biologic structures we can grow on these materials.

Another major interest is in developing new diagnostic and rehabilitation technologies using machine learning and feedback technologies. Professor Bance’s research lab mixes engineering, clinical, computational and biological students and research associates in interdisciplinary research.

The full article can be found here.