Yang receives Hartwell award to research ear infection treatment

Rong Yang, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Cornell, will research a novel approach to ear infection treatment as the recipient of a 2023 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award from The Hartwell Foundation.

Yang’s proposal, “Neutrophil-Mediated Drug Delivery to Minimize Antibiotic Exposure in Treatment of Ear Infection,” was one of only 10 selected by The Hartwell Foundation, which announced the awards on April 1. The awards, which come with a three-year, $300,000 grant, support faculty involved in early-stage, cutting-edge biomedical research with the potential to benefit children.

Ear infections are a common issue among children and have significant implications for speech and language development due to associated hearing loss. Current treatment involves oral antibiotics, however, these antibiotics pose risks of side effects and long-term health issues, including antibiotic resistance.

To address this, Yang’s approach proposes localized treatment directly to the middle ear by non-invasive antibiotic delivery across an intact eardrum. Leveraging the immune response triggered by infections, the method involves designing antibiotic-loaded nanoparticles to ‘hitchhike’ on immune cells, aiming for high efficacy with minimal side effects. If successful, this technology could drastically reduce antibiotic usage and provide a more targeted and effective treatment for middle ear infections in children.

Yang said the drug delivery technique harnessing neutrophils is unprecedented for the treatment of ear infections, but early research in her lab has shown promising results.

“Middle ear infection represents the number one reason that U.S. children are prescribed oral antibiotics, and our proposed approach could reduce that five to seven-day course of regimen to a single dose administered in the pediatrician’s office while obviating systemic antibiotic exposure entirely,” said Yang, who directs the Laboratory for Bio-Interface Engineering. “I am very grateful for The Hartwell Foundation’s recognition and support, and I look forward to making new discoveries and improving childhood health care with their generous support.”

In selecting awardees, The Hartwell Foundation takes into account the compelling and transformative nature of the proposed innovation, the extent to which a strategic or translational approach might accelerate the clinical application of research results to benefit children, the extent of collaboration in the proposed research, the institutional commitment to provide support to the investigator, and the extent to which funding the investigator will make a difference.