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THE BIONIC EAR INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES NEW
DIRECTOR - ROB SHEPHERD
Professor Rob Shepherd has been appointed as
Director to Australia's Bionic Ear Institute,
following in the footsteps of Professor Graeme
Clark, the Foundation Director of the Institute.
This appointment brings with it the honorary role
of Professor of Medical Bionics within the
Department of Otolaryngology, University of
Melbourne.
His appointment follows a global search for the
right person.
More than 75,000 people around the world have
gained the ability to understand spoken language
with the help of Australia's bionic ear. And the
device, manufactured by Cochlear Ltd, has captured
70% of the global market for cochlear implants.
Rob Shepherd's challenge is twofold. Firstly to
lead the Institute in creating a new generation of
bionic ears that go further-restoring hearing to a
near-normal level. Secondly to apply all that's
been learnt with the bionic ear to new bionic
devices that could repair damaged nerves, calm an
epilepsy storm and more.
"I am honoured to be presented with the
opportunity to lead such a prestigious organisation
into new and exciting areas of medical bionics
while maintaining cutting edge hearing research
into improving the bionic ear," says Shepherd.
With more than 25 years of research, a
publication record of more than 120 peer-reviewed
papers and book chapters, his research has
concentrated on the safety and efficacy of cochlear
implants and the pathophysiology of deafness.
Today, Shepherd's research group is studying what
happens at the cellular level with the onset of
deafness. The researchers have uncovered several
therapeutic compounds that can help preserve and
protect fragile auditory cells, and they are
working at developing technology for delivering
these drugs in ways that can improve the quality of
hearing.
"We are developing new therapeutic techniques to
deliver these drugs into the inner ear to rescue
auditory neurones using procedures that can be used
in association with cochlear implants or bionic
ears."
Shepherd's group has also become interested in
how flexible the brain is-in particular, how the
brain responds to, and copes with, the input from a
newly implanted hearing device. This mix of
consolidating the core area of interest of the
cochlear implant with the cutting edge of nerve
cell research matches how Shepherd sees the future
of the Bionic Ear Institute.
"With more than 75,000 people implanted with
cochlear devices, the bionic ear is now a mature
technology. But there is still much work to do and
if the Institute is to remain successful, it must
expand into other areas. So we will be applying our
knowledge to develop other medical bionic devices,
such as the bionic eye. This work must be done in
collaboration with experts in key areas of
engineering, medicine and neuroscience.
We will also be working with chemists on smart
ways to release nerve growth factors in a
controlled manner. This has huge implications for
helping, for instance, to regrow injured neurones
following injury". Some of these projects-such as
developing intelligent ways of releasing
therapeutic drugs from implants-will be ready to
undergo clinical trials within the next five years,
Shepherd says. Others, such as the bionic eye, may
take 15 to 20 years.
For further information contact: Estelle
Hajigabriel on 03 9667 7500, ehajigabriel@bionicear.org
and visit http://www.bionicear.org.
A full cv is available online.
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