Research

Cochlear Implant Surgery Research

Dr. Adrien Eshraghi is a surgeon-scientist with a special interest in cochlear implants and hearing disorders. One major focus of his research is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying loss of residual hearing following cochlear implantation and to develop effective therapies to protect this residual hearing. He has conducted research into the evaluation of macroscopic damage to the inner ear following cochlear implantation, and the grading system he proposed for this is now widely used by the international scientific community. He is now exploring the molecular mechanisms involved in sensory cell death that can lead to the loss of residual hearing. Parallel to investigating these mechanisms, he is also focused on developing and testing novel otoprotective and regenerative therapies, including novel drugs, targeted drug therapies with nanoparticles, therapeutic hypothermia, and stem cell therapy that may be applied simultaneously with a cochlear implant to improve the hearing outcome.

Dr. Eshraghi is also involved in many cochlear implant clinical trials and clinical research outcome studies. He has presented at numerous international conferences (Paris, London, Tokyo, Beijing, Frankfurt, New York, Torento, and more) and published the results of his clinical research in patients that have cochlear implant surgery in complex cases that require preimplantation of patients, cases with cochlear malformations, ossified cochlea, advanced age (over 80 years old), post meningitis, autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Hearing and Tinnitus disorders research

Dr. Eshraghi is seeing patients with hearing disorders (hearing loss, tinnitus, hyperacusis) in his clinics. He is evaluating and searching the best interventions to help them including: lifestyle modifications, integrative and functional medicine, hearing aids, and implantable hearing devices (BAHA, BoneBridge, Osia, Cochlear implants).

Screening Novel Drugs for Hearing Disorders and Neural Preservation

His lab is specialized in screening novel drugs or repurposed drugs to target hearing disorders. He has a comprehensive program that, before starting the clinical trial phase 1, he screens the otoprotective agents on cell culture (in-vitro), tests them on explant of organ of Corti explant (ex-vivo) and evaluates the electrophysiology on animal models (in-vivo), before going to phase one clinical trial in humans.

Autism and Auditory Processing Disorders

Dr. Eshraghi cares for many children with multiple neurosensory disorders including hearing deficit or on the autism spectrum. Many patients are referred for the evaluation of communication disorders, such as hearing loss, speech delay, and central auditory processing disorders (CAPD), and he has performed cochlear implant surgery in these patients to improve auditory outcomes when necessary. He is actively researching the outcomes of these patients with various types of interventions.

The Eshraghi Lab utilizes various animal models of autism spectrum disorder to understand molecular mechanisms involved in this disorder and to test novel therapeutic approaches to improve behaviors. His team is actively developing experimental models of ASD and CAPD to provide insights into the pathophysiology of these neurological disorders and guide the development of novel treatment modalities. Presently he and his team are utilizing genome editing techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 as well as neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from ASD patients to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this neurodevelopmental disorder. At this time, the exciting ongoing research is to screen new drugs that can help autism and is tested on various animal models of autism (genetic models, GI models, and models that involve various epigenetic insults).

In addition to translational laboratory research, his efforts are also directed at clinical studies. He is conducting clinical research in collaboration with CARD at the University of Miami.