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Aidan Hurst - back with us talking scientific research

dedicate my life to help other people was the moment life became very meaningful for me

	23 Mar 2026
	Written by Huw Richards
	OB News

Aidan L Hurst ( SDD, 13-20)

Great to seen Aidan back with us talking about his scientific research into Tinnitus and Crohn’s Disease is captivating and his determination to make a difference is truly inspiring. We all really enjoyed listening to your incredible story. Thank you so much for your time

'At the moment I research Crohn's disease. In particular, we use naked mole rats. These are long-lived creatures from East Africa that are resistant to many forms of cancer. Interestingly, a study published two years ago suggested they were also resistant to Crohn's disease and colitis. We are investigating why they are resistant to Crohn's disease with the hope to make new treatments for human beings.

I am also trying to secure funding for a PhD project at the moment. This will be in tinnitus research. I was very fortunate to have had an internship in Philadelphia in 2022 working on the chemistry of novel antidepressants. One of the compounds we investigated we hypothesise could show promise in treating tinnitus, which is a disease with no cure. Since tinnitus disproportionately affects combat veterans and testicular cancer patients, we hope that this compound could alleviate the ringing in the ears of tinnitus, and also its emotional consequences. This has meant I've had the chance to do clinical interviews with testicular cancer patients who have tinnitus, which has been very motivating to try and get this project funded, because in a lot of cases the tinnitus is debilitating.

I have done other research projects in the past in my undergraduate and master's, but the above is what I spend my life doing at the moment. I think the moment I started to dedicate my life to help other people was the moment life became very meaningful for me.'