Second Tinnitus Research Initiative Meeting

The second meeting organised by Tinnitus Research Initiative (TRI) is taking place in Monaco�from the�17th�- 21st July 2007.� TRI is a privately funded organisation based in Germany that is dedicated to supporting tinnitus research efforts globally.

Thus far it is begun providing support for over 30 projects worldwide, taking in a broad range of approaches to investigating tinnitus. This covers the basic science of tinnitus to the possible effects of diet on tinnitus. There will be a large group of tinnitus researchers attending over thirty workshop sessions, each covering in detail different aspects of tinnitus.
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This includes sessions on the clinical measurement of tinnitus and consideration of strategies for choice of drugs in clinical trials. Another related presentation will consider the feasibility of drug deliver directly to the inner ear by Professor Jean Luc Puel of Montpellier.�

A number of other presentations will focus on the important area of brain 'plasticity'. This 'plasticity' refers to how discrete parts of the brain change their sensitivity to the neurotranmsitters within the brain and how brain cells can under go re-wiring following damage. This is considered by many scientists to be a contributory� cause to tinnitus.
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Understanding how this happens in other conditions, such as chronic pain is also being covered at the TRI Monaco meeting.� This session will be presided over by Professor Aage M�ller an expert from the US.� Professor M�ller will be asking 'What we can learn from pain research?'. Professor M�ller has had an interest in this particular area for over the last fifteen years and has played an important role in encouraging promoting tinnitus research globally.�
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There will also be a presentation on 'Tinnitus and Virtual Reality Therapy' by�French researcher Isabel Viaud-Delmon.� Another researcher Professor Lucas Parra, who is a biomedical engineer from the US,� will be talking about Computational models of Tinnitus and its� implications for therapy.�
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This cross-disciplinary approach to tinnitus by including clinicians, neuroscientists, geneticists engineers and computer scientists will be one of the great strengths of this meeting. This will lead to the opportunity for cross-fertilisation of ideas for researchers who would not normally have the opportunity to meet and discuss their work.