Each February the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) hosts its MidWinter Meeting in a warm setting to offset the cold that we Northern Hemisphere dwellers typically are experiencing—and this year’s location in San Juan, Puerto Rico, didn’t disappoint.
Anil K. Lalwani, M.D., was awarded ARO’s 2026 Innovator Award in Clinical Science.
ARO president Ronna Hertzano, M.D., Ph.D., congratulates Lalwani.
The meeting is one of the largest of its kind in the world, bringing together researchers in hearing, balance, and related fields to share the latest scientific discoveries in the areas of otolaryngology, otology, and neurotology.
And we’re sure the planners had no way of knowing this in advance, but the opening weekend also coincided with Puerto Rico’s Bad Bunny performing the halftime show during the Super Bowl!
We are proud that Hearing Health Foundation-funded scientists are always well represented at the meeting.
Anil K. Lalwani, M.D., the head of Hearing Health Foundation’s Council of Scientific Trustees, which oversees our Emerging Research Grants (ERG) program, was awarded ARO’s 2026 Innovator Award in Clinical Science for “his clinical and translational research in otology and neurotology, identifying genes essential for hearing and advancing AAV-mediated gene therapy for the inner ear.” Lalwani is also a longtime member of our Board of Directors and moderates our research webinars.
Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) member Ksenia Gnedeva, Ph.D., received the 2026 Geraldine Dietz Fox Young Investigator Award, which recognizes accomplishment and promise in research related to otolaryngology.
ARO’s poster hall at the Puerto Rico Convention Center.
HRP scientific director Lisa Goodrich, Ph.D., presented as part of a panel titled “Presidential Symposium: The Power of Collaboration,” chaired by ARO president Ronna Hertzano, M.D., Ph.D., who is a member of the HRP and a former ERG scientist.
The two-part panel featured two other former ERG scientists: Matthew Kelley, Ph.D., and Isabelle Roux, D.Sc., who are both at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders along with Hertzano. (Both Hertzano and Kelley are members of our Council of Scientific Trustees.)
Here’s who we saw below, with their grant year(s) and specific funder, if applicable, or their connection to HHF otherwise. We are glad to meet and catch up so many of our funded researchers, past and present!
Abbreviations: Board of Directors, BOD; Children Hearing, Education and Research, C.H.E.A.R.; Council of Scientific Trustees, CST; Gene Expression Analysis Resource, gEAR; Hearing Restoration Project, HRP; National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, NIDCD; National Institutes of Health, NIH; Royal Arch Research Assistance, RARA; Scientific Advisory Board, SAB
—Yishane Lee
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