ALEXANDRU Mihaela

Master studentship - 2018

Project status: closed

Nerve regeneration after acoustic trauma

The two main causes of hearing loss are acoustic trauma and presbycusis (age-related hearing loss).

These are probably due to deteriorated innervation of the hair calls, or the inner ear cells involved in hearing. During her second-year master’s internship in the laboratory of Professor Albert Edge, Dr. Alexandru will analyze the potential of two proteins for nerve regeneration between the hair cells and the neurons of the acoustic nerve: the repulsive guidance molecule (RGMa) and the bone morphogenic protein (BMP).

This research will explore new therapeutic avenues for hearing loss related to nerve damage.

Doctor Mihaela Alexandru
ENT resident
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA 

Related scientific publication(s):

Jérôme Nevoux , Mihaela Alexandru, Thomas Bellocq, Lei Tanaka1, Yushi Hayashi, Takahisa Watabe, Hanae Lahlou, Kohsuke Tani & Albert S. B. Edge. An antibody to RGMa promotes regeneration of cochlear synapses after noise exposure. Sci Rep. 2021 Feb 3;11(1):2937. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-81294-5.