Letter from the President

January 1, 2010

I recently decided to install a well on my property as a result of the rapid increase in the cost of watering the beautiful selection of fruit trees that my family enjoys at our home in Southern California.  The father and son team that operated the drill rig worked for several days adjacent to the roaring loud diesel engine that powered the drill and pumps.  When asked why they did not wear ear protection, the son said, “My father told me that you need to be able to carefully listen to the changes in the sound of the drill to know where the fissure in the rock is.”  At only 66 years of age, the father had been running drill rigs for many years and is already suffering from hearing loss.  I informed him of the exciting hearing research that the Capita Foundation supports, and he said in his warm Midwest accent, “Robert, you can use me as a guinea pig any time.”  With millions of people working in dangerously loud environments, wouldn’t it be fantastic if there were a medication to prevent irreversible hearing damage that occurs from long term exposure to high levels of noise.  Remarkably, Alan Robinson, Ph.D. at Northwestern University has been working on this idea, which was initially funded by the Capita Foundation a few years back with only ten thousand dollars.  We are proud to announce that he has recently successfully protected hearing due to aminoglycoside transtympanic injection using minocycline treatment of gerbils.  It has been very exciting for me to follow Alan’s novel research project and to observe how his passion towards his research and dedication to the tedious detail of counting spiral ganglion neurons has made this clinically applicable project a profound success.  For more information about Alan’s research and to read his current publication, go to:  http://www.capitafoundation.com/Alan_Robinson.html

While the Capita Foundation continues to search for and support cutting edge research programs as Alan Robinson’s, we’ve also been busy putting together an online airline mileage donation program to assist postdoctoral students attend a Gordon Research Conference at Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH on June 12-13.  Qualified postdocs will have their information posted to a page on our website in February 2010 and we hope that meaningful connections can be made between donors and the recipients of frequent flyer miles.  Like the opportunity given to Charles Darwin, who at the young age of 22 was able to sail around the world on board the surveying vessel, the HMS Beagle, as a companion to captain Robert Fitzroy, which resulted in creating one of the most revolutionary ideas of human thinking, the Capita Foundation too hopes to be the conduit that young scientific minds will use to create their own opportunities.

Sincerely,

Robert E. Capita, President and CEO
The Capita Foundation

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