The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs’ (CDMRP), Hearing Restoration Research Program (HRRP) consumer advocate John Dillard participated in January the evaluation of research applications submitted to the HRRP in January. Dillard, who is a U.S. Army Veteran living with hearing loss and tinnitus, serves as Board Chair of Hearing Health Foundation (HHF). As a consumer reviewer, he was a full voting member, (along with prominent scientists) at meetings to help determine how the $10 million appropriated by Congress for Fiscal Year 2019 will be spent on hearing restoration research. 

Consumer reviewers are asked to represent the collective view of patients by preparing comments on the impact of the research on issues such as diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life. When commenting on serving as a consumer reviewer, Dillard said, “As a leader of the largest nonprofit funder of hearing loss and tinnitus research in the nation, I am always eager to learn about other approaches to treatments and cures. The breadth of the HRRP’s research activity was impressive and I was pleased to meet with many new scientists in the hearing and balance space.”

Consumer advocates and scientists have worked together in this unique partnership to evaluate the scientific merit of research applications since FY17. Colonel Stephen J. Dalal, Director of the CDMRP, expressed his appreciation for the consumer advocate’s perspective during the scientific review sessions. “Consumer advocates are an integral part of the CDMRP’s scientific review process. They provide a key ingredient to the review process, the patient’s perspective, which is real and urgent. The collaboration of Consumer advocates alongside the scientists’ subject matter expertise is a truly unique collaboration that is difficult to find in most medical research programs.”

Scientists applying propose to advance the science of hearing restoration by delivering groundbreaking research and solutions that remove barriers to the successful treatment of auditory system injury. The HRRP fills important gaps not addressed by other funding agencies by supporting groundbreaking, high-risk, high-gain research while encouraging out-of-the-box thinking.

More information about the CDMRP’s HRRP is available here.

About: The Hearing Restoration Research Program (HRRP) was initiated in 2017 to pursue promising, necessary research for treatment of burdensome and very prevalent auditory system injury. It is estimated that more than 30 million Americans over the age of 12 years have hearing loss in both ears and an estimated 48 million have hearing loss in at least one ear. In the military, the two most prevalent service-connected disabilities are related to hearing disorders. The most recent data from the Veterans Benefits Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs indicates that there are 1.1 million Veterans with service-connected disability due to hearing loss. The HRRP will fund innovative research that has the potential to maximize operational effectiveness, medical readiness and quality of life for Service members, Veterans and others living with significant auditory system injuries.

Media Contact: Jennie Mettert-Young
Public Affairs Specialist
Ripple Effect
Supporting the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, USAMRMC
301-619-9783
Jennie.L.Mettert-Young.ctr@mail.mil