Human Toxicology Program faculty member Dr. Steven Green received a three year $1.3M grant from the Department of Defense to continue studies on noise-induced neurodegeneration. Military personnel and others who are exposed to loud sounds have a much higher risk of hearing impairment.

This funding is for the purpose of developing new compounds to protect against noise damage to cochlear synapses but without affecting the ability to hear clearly. The development strategy is novel, based on research the Green Lab published in 2020 identifying selective blockers of synaptic transmission as neuroprotective compounds that completely prevent damaging aspects of synaptic transmission while allowing sufficient transmission to permit normal hearing.