William Lyman, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, taught a Newborn Hearing Screening Training Course at the Caritas Baby Hospital in Bethlehem, Palestine, as part of a research project to determine the cause of the prevalence of hearing loss among newborns in the West Bank region.

On July 10, Dr. Lyman trained the staff and administrators at the hospital who will participate in the two-year study, funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. In addition to Caritas Baby Hospital, other collaborators in the study include geneticists at Bethlehem University and the maternity services staff at Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem and Al Ahli Hospital in Hebron.

While hearing loss in newborns is common on the West Bank, Dr. Lyman said, data about the precise incidence and causes are limited and inconclusive.

He noted that in addition to helping improve public health efforts on the West Bank, the outcome of the study, titled "Epidemiology of Newborn Hearing Loss on the West Bank," may benefit children and families served by Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Detroit Medical Center, many of whom have origins in the Middle East.

Dr. Lyman, with colleague James Coticchia, M.D., WSU professor of otolaryngology, are establishing a newborn hearing-screening program in the southern West Bank, recruiting a statistically significant study population from area birthing hospitals. The newborns will undergo a risk factor survey and otoacoustic testing for hearing loss. If the babies fail the tests, they will be referred to a children's hospital, where a diagnostic algorithm will be incorporated that includes auditory brain response testing and, if indicated, tympanometry, infectious disease and imaging studies. If the tests find a genetic basis for hearing loss, the parents will receive genetic counseling and the infant will be further tested for known and potential new genes that can impact hearing.

Dr. Lyman also lectured about the project during the Coalition for Global Hearing Health annual meeting, sponsored by the International Society of Audiology and held at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, England on July 25.