From left: Dr Haruna Suzuki-Kerr, Dr Michel Neeff, Associate Professor Philip Bird and Professor Peter Thorne
Congratulations!
Professor Peter Thorne and the team from the Department of Physiology have won an 8.1M research grant for a 5 year project from the 2024 round of the MBIE Endeavour research program. The project is entitled, ‘A novel medical device for delivering therapies to the ear’.
This is a multidisciplinary collaborative project with Professor Frederique Vanholsbeeck, Dr Cushla McGoverin from the Department of Physics, clinical researchers Dr Michel Neeff, Associate Professor Philip Bird, Dr Mike Bergin, Dr Ben Thomson from Health NZ, Associate Professor Jaydee Cabral from the University of Otago, the team at Callaghan Innovation, and Whaea Misty Edmonds and Iwi United Engaged.
The team will investigate the novel method of delivering and assessing the therapies in the inner ear for treating sensorineural hearing loss and other ear diseases using sheep and human tissues. Professor Thorne and the team are in the process of starting up a company to drive the commercialization of the product.