By Christopher Geissler, Ph.D.
Hearing Health Foundation has reported since spring 2020 on the astounding resilience of HHF-funded scientists as they continued their work remotely and in hybrid setups. Just as they continued to conduct scientific work during the past year and a half of lab closures and COVID-19 restrictions, so too were Emerging Research Grants applicants busy collecting preliminary data and drafting research proposals. We remain incredibly impressed by scientists’ and clinicians’ dedication to hearing and balance research even during trying circumstances. ERG applications increased in number again this year, and HHF’s scientific reviewers and Council of Scientific Trustees had the very difficult task of deciding whom to fund among an exceptional pool of proposals and applicants.
The 2022 ERG grantees are (top row, from left) Timothy Balmer, Ph.D., James Dias, Ph.D., Subong Kim, Ph.D., Matthew Masapollo, Ph.D., (bottom row) Manoj Kumar, Ph.D., Robert Raphael, Ph.D., and Megan Beers Wood, Ph.D.
We are also deeply grateful for the continued dedication of our generous donors. Your support has ensured that we can fund the innovative and promising research projects listed below. You will have noticed that these projects form the “ERG 2022” cohort. Rest assured, HHF has not skipped a year, nor has there been any interruption in research funding. In 2020 HHF aligned its grant project years with its fiscal year (both now start October 1), and as of this year, HHF will refer to grant years with the same year designator as the fiscal year. You will also note that there are two second-year grant recipients below; ERG awards are now renewable for a second year. Two ERG 2020 grantees will receive their second year of funding on October 1; the remaining five ERG 2020 grantees have requested an extension to complete their first year plans and will apply for their second year of funding in 2022.
Congratulations to this year’s ERG recipients:
Year 1
Timothy Balmer, Ph.D.
Arizona State University
Project: The role of unipolar brush cells in vestibular circuit processing and in balance
James Dias, Ph.D.
The Medical University of South Carolina
Project: Neural determinants of age-related change in auditory-visual speech processing
Generously funded by the Meringoff Family Foundation
Subong Kim, Ph.D.
Purdue University
Project: Influence of individual pathophysiology and cognitive profiles on noise tolerance and noise reduction outcomes
Manoj Kumar, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh
Project: Signaling mechanisms of auditory cortex plasticity after noise-induced hearing loss
Generously funded by the General Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons International
Matthew Masapollo, Ph.D.
University of Florida
Project: Contributions of auditory and somatosensory feedback to speech motor control in congenitally deaf 9- to-10-year-olds and adults
Robert Raphael, Ph.D.
Rice University
Project: Understanding the biophysics and protein biomarkers of Ménière’s disease via optical coherence tomography imaging
Megan Beers Wood, Ph.D.
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Project: Type II auditory nerve fibers as instigators of the cochlear immune response after acoustic trauma
Generously funded by Hyperacusis Research Ltd.
Year 2
Pei-Ciao Tang, Ph.D.
University of Miami
Project: Elucidating the development of the otic lineage using stem cell–derived organoid systems
Ross Williamson, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh
Project: Characterizing tinnitus-induced changes in auditory corticofugal networks
Christopher Geissler, Ph.D., is HHF’s director of program and research support. The Winter 2022 issue of Hearing Health, coming out in January, will have additional details about these projects. For more, see hhf.org/erg.
New In Hearing and Balance Research
I’d like to share four important breakthroughs in hearing research over the past year, and how each also connects back to Hearing Health Foundation, to varying degrees. These major advances offer hope for how we might improve or restore hearing and, by extension, bring a bit more of that wonderful world into everyone’s lives.