Stem Cells for hearing loss live chat tomorrow night, November 19, 2009!

Stem Cells for hearing loss live chat tomorrow night, November 19, 2009!

(Errata: The topic heading said November 18. Correct date is November 19. It has been corrected)

Get ready and dial in at 9 PM Eastern Time (8PM - Central time, 7PM Mountain time, or 6 PM West Coast time)


Topic: "Development and regeneration of hair cells – the latest news in research"

Guest Speaker: Dr. Douglas A. Cotanche

Date & Time: November 19, 2009 at 9 PM

Live Webchat Schedule

Hearing Loss Association of America is proud to present live moderated chats,
featuring the nation's leading experts in hearing loss. This is your opportunity
to ask a question and learn more about hearing loss from leaders in a number of
medical disciplines associated with hearing loss.

How to Participate (no
need to register):
1. Go to www.myhearingloss.org/ (5-10mins before
webchat is scheduled)
2. Click on the "Log in to our Chat Room" button
3. Enter a username to use for the chat
4. Click on the "Connect" button
5. Click on "Rooms" tab (found on the right column)
6. Then double click
on "Guest_Chat" to join the webchat

NOTE: The webchat is a moderated
chat to allow the guest speaker to answer all the questions that have been
submitted in advance, which means you will not be able to type in your question
until after all these questions have been answered.

Here are my questions that I submitted to Dr. Cotanche.

Dr. Cotanche,

I run a blog (Kokonut Pundit) and I do try and keep abrest of these news and developments regarding stem cells and gene therapy for the restoration/cure of hearing loss, mostly in the arena of nerve deafness.

Have you heard recently the latest development about an 18 year old woman Chloe Sohl who had her hearing partially restored (so far - see captioned video http://kokonutpundits.blogspot.com/2009/11/video-interview-caption-with-first.html) by using her own adult stem cells? And if so, is this an indication of how rapidly the field of regenerative medicine using stem cells for the cure/restoration of hearing loss? Instead of a few decades away are we looking at within the next 5 or even 10 years to see this become a common procedure? If not in the United States but what about in other countries (due to FDA lagging behind?).

Thank you