Los Angeles, CA – January 22, 2013 – L.A.-based House Research Institute and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given final approval to begin a clinical trial of an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) procedure for children. The trial is a surgical collaboration sponsored by the House Research Institute in partnership with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Vittorio Colletti, MD of the University of Verona Hospital, Verona, Italy.