Memorial University Researcher Discovers Gene Mutation Linked to Hearing Loss in Children in Newfoundland and Labrador
From the Memorial University Gazette:
“A PhD researcher in the Faculty of Medicine has discovered a gene mutation that is linked to significant hearing loss in young children in Newfoundland and Labrador. The mutation is in a gene known as CLDN14”.
Researcher Justin Pater works from the Craig L. Dobbin Genetics Research Centre at Memorial University.
“With this hearing loss mutation, we found that children are actually born with normal hearing and pass newborn screening tests,” explained Mr. Pater, who is originally from Montague, Prince Edward Island”.
“Children with our CLDN14 mutation develop hearing loss by three to four years of age, which is an important time for language learning. Our audiologist, Anne Griffin, will be helping to translate this new knowledge into the clinical setting to identify at-risk children and thereby prevent speech-language and developmental delay.”
Centre for Hearing Loss Research Opens In Grand Falls-Windsor
From the Memorial University Gazette:
“A team of researchers—led by Memorial—is setting up shop in Central Newfoundland to study families from this province with genetic forms of hearing loss.
Their goal is to try and model hearing defects and develop better algorithms for hearing aids and other devices. If they’re successful, the research could improve the lives of people here at home and around the world”.