This is a Fellowship Grant awarded to Dr Samuel Webb at the University of Sheffield. We are co-funding it with the Vivensa Foundation. It will start in January 2026.
Background
Hearing loss is one of the most common conditions affecting older adults. It can make it harder to have conversations, enjoy social activities, and it can even lead to feelings of loneliness and depression. But although hearing loss happens to many people, we still do not fully understand why it gets worse with age – or why some people’s hearing declines faster than others. Recent research has found an important clue: people who are exposed to loud noise earlier in life, even if their hearing seems to recover afterwards, often lose their hearing earlier and faster when they get older. This suggests that loud sounds may cause hidden damage in the ear that only shows up later. However, what form this damage takes, we do not yet exactly know.
This project focuses on a specialised system in the ear called the medial olivocochlear (MOC) system. The MOC system is a network of nerve fibres that act as the ear’s own “volume control”. These nerves connect the brainstem to tiny amplifier cells in the inner ear called outer hair cells. When there is a lot of noise, the MOC system helps by reducing the amplifying activity of outer hair cells, protecting the ear from overstimulation and potential damage.
Samuel’s preliminary research suggests that the MOC system may be particularly vulnerable to noise damage – and that losing this protective system early in life could set the stage for faster hearing decline as we age. In other words, it might not just be damage to the hearing cells themselves but also damage to their protective system that explains why noise exposure speeds up age-related hearing loss.
Aims
To test this idea, Samuel will use cutting-edge techniques in a normal hearing mouse model. He will track hearing ability over time, looking at the efficiency of MOC sound suppression, hearing ability in noisy environments, and signs of hidden damage at the microscopic and cellular levels. By comparing mice exposed to temporary noise damage early in life with those that were not, he will be able to see if early damage to the MOC system leads to faster hearing decline with age.
Benefit
Understanding this process is important for two reasons. First, it could help us develop earlier ways to identify people who are at risk of losing their hearing faster – even before they notice any problems. Second, it could open the door to new treatments aimed at preserving or restoring this protective system, potentially slowing down or even preventing hearing loss progression.
In the future, findings from this research could also inform the design of smarter hearing aids or cochlear implants that better mimic the natural protective role of the MOC system. Overall, this project could help change the way we think about hearing loss – not just as something that happens with age, but as something we might be able to delay or prevent by protecting the ears early in life.