Stem Cell Research/Sensorineural Hearing Impairment

[SHAMILL]

My son suffers from sensorineural hearing impairment (mild to moderate - it affects the ability to hear high pitch frequency, letter sounds such as 'f', 's' and 'h'. Mild speech issues are related.

I understand there is potential for stem cell research to cure this and I understand I am clutching at straws, but from my perspective, I see a bright child wearing hearing aids and suffering in many aspects of his life. There is still great stigma attached to children wearing hearing aids - my son is a completely normal six year old who has been moved up an academic year for mathematics. The condition was caused by him contracting a viral infection aged two years, thus adding to my frustration.

My question is; how do I go about staying abreast of developments and is there any indication of time scale attached to this groundbreaking science?

Also, is there any way of getting in touch with science bodies looking to research this specific topic?