SPH faculty patent research finding

Dr. Stephen Roth and Dr. John Jeka from the SPH's department of Kinesiology patented their research finding related to the antibiotic gentamicin last month.

Gentomycin, an antibiotic used to treat infections, has been found to cause severe balance problems in about 5 percent of the people who use it.

In 2008, Drs. Roth and Jeka along with Dr. Scott Williams from Vanderbilt University began to study what makes certain people susceptible to having their vestibular systems knocked out, causing those balance problems.

Through their research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, the team was able to identify a specific genetic signature that increases the chances of having balance problems as a side effect of taking gentamicin. They obtained a patent for that genetic signature.

Dr. Roth said the signature could be developed into a genetic test that will allow for people to find out whether or not they are at high risk of severe balance problems as a result of taking the antibiotic.


Take a look at the full patent here.