Funding of Tinnitus Research in Regensburg

Worldwide 10% of the population is affected by tinnitus. In approximately 1% of the population the ear noise has far-reaching consequences which make a normal life diffcult to impossible. The patient can no longer overcome the pressure of suffering without professional help.

 

To improve the treatment of tinnitus patients and based on neuroscientific findings to develop new methods for treatment of chronic tinnitus, since 2001 the Regensburg Tinnitus Center at Regensburg University Clinic has been in existence. This center represents intensive collaboration between the Clinic for Ear, Nose & Throat and the  Clinic for Psychiatry.

 

In combination with the foundation of the Tinnitus Research Initiative (TRI) this led to increasing international networking of research activities. The purpose of the foundation is the funding of science and research as well as public healthcare in the field of the researching of tinnitus and its related fields, the support of patients and improvement of their treatment as well as the dissemination of new information on tinnitus research. These goals are to be achieved amongst other means through the alignment of congresses, lectures, continuing education and the establishment of funding and  scholarships.

 

With Prof. Langguth and Dr. Schlee from the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Regensburg at the Regional Hospital (medbo) and the support of the Bavarian Research Alliance (Bayrische Forschungsallianz, BayFOR), an important joint project for tinnitus research with 12 partners from 10 EU countries in the European Union succeeded in receiving funding. For the project "European School for Interdisciplinary Tinnitus Research" (ESIT) with the tendering of 15 PhD positions, tinnitus research is to be intensified. For this 3.8 million € is to be made available for 4 years.

 

The coordination is to take place from the Tinnitus Center at the University of Regensburg which has made a name for itself internationally with comprehensive studies for the development of novel treatment methods. At the Regional Hospital imaging studies are used such as nuclear magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography, and also electrophysiological methods and genetic testing. A further focus research topic is the question of the association of tinnitus with depression, anxiety, insomnia and other somatoform disorders. Furthermore in 2007 the Assoziation of the German Tinnitus Research Initiative (Förderverein Deutsche Tinnitusforschungsinitiative e. V.) was founded there to research Tinnitus and to support tinnitus patients.