UMMC expands research to address hearing and balance disorders

Published on Monday, September 22, 2025

By: Rachel Vanderford, rvanderford@umc.edu

Photos By: Melanie Thortis/ UMMC Communications

The University of Mississippi Medical Center is advancing medical research for two of the most prevalent yet underserved health challenges: hearing and balance.   

The Medical Center has received an $11.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence program to establish the Balance and Auditory Research Center within the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. 

The grant, payable over five years in Phase 1 and competitively renewable up to 15 years (Phases 2 & 3), will support cutting-edge research into molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms of balance and hearing with the aim of developing new diagnostic tools, therapeutic strategies and rehabilitation techniques. 

“This grant arrives at a pivotal time and will provide the essential resources needed for our team to advance state-of-the-art vestibular and auditory neuroscience research. Areas of focus will include gene therapy, hair cell regeneration, traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases,” said Dr. Wu Zhou, professor and director of the research division in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery and PI and director of the BARC. 

“A central goal of the BARC is to build a critical mass of independent investigators by training early-stage scientists and recruiting new faculty members. This achievement reflects the cumulative efforts of the team over the past 20 years, made possible by strong institutional support from Dr. Bidwell and sustained departmental leadership from Drs. Scott Stringer (founding chair), Melissa Scholes (interim chair), and Rakesh Chandra (current chair).” 

Balance impairment and falls are among the most prevalent and morbid conditions affecting older adults. Hearing loss is the most common congenital disorder, the third most common chronic health condition in adults, and one of the strongest modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia. Yet, balance and hearing are largely uninvested areas of research, which has contributed to a lack of medical interventions. 

Dr. Christopher Spankovich, professor and vice chair of research in the department and associate director of the BARC, said the grant marks an important achievement.  

“First, this award is validation of the already tremendous hearing and balance research at UMMC,” he said. “Dr. Zhou and our basic science faculty (Hong Zhu, Doug Vetter, Brad Walters, Kathy Yee, Sung-ho Huh and Sumana Ghosh) have positioned UMMC and the state of Mississippi to be a leading center for balance and hearing research in the United States and globally. This award is meaningful for not only our research, but our Doctor of Audiology program and clinics.” 

The new center will join the existing COBRE centers at UMMC— the Cardiorenal and Metabolic Diseases Research Center, the Mississippi Center of Excellence in Perinatal Research, the Molecular Center of Health and Disease – and the Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research — to advance NIH-funded work in the state. 

“We’re the only center of that nature in the state, and it's an opportunity to serve a large patient population,” Chandra said. “And then we also have a tremendous core of faculty that are here now, and a lot of them are very active nationally and internationally in mission work. The group of people here, not only are they experienced and skilled, they also share that vision to make a difference. 

“Center grants like the MCCTR and the COBREs are key infrastructure-building grants for UMMC,” said Dr. Lee Bidwell, associate vice chancellor for research. “I’m very proud of the BARC team for this accomplishment.  These grants are highly competitive, and winning them requires the existence of a robust, well-funded research team doing sound science.  The BARC COBRE will provide new resources to develop young scientists and expand core facilities, all of which will strengthen our auditory and balance research programs.”