Hearing Health Foundation’s mission to fund innovative, groundbreaking hearing and balance science is only possible because of you. We are grateful for the support of our community.
The Hearing Restoration Project (HRP) is an international, collaborative research consortium focused on investigating inner ear hair cell regeneration using animal models to accelerate the timeline to a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus.
The Emerging Research Grants (ERG) program provides seed money to scientists researching underfunded areas of hearing and balance science, and for every dollar HHF invests, grantees receive on average $59 in major federal funding (2002–present).
Your generous support produced the following significant achievements this past year:
ERG scientists James Dias, Ph.D., and Carolyn McClaskey, Ph.D., found that the aging brain tries to amplify degraded input from the auditory nerve and that amplified responses are associated with poorer brain structure and trouble with speech understanding. Dias’s 2022–2023 grant was generously funded by the Meringoff Family Foundation, and McClaskey’s 2023–2024 grant was generously funded by Royal Arch Research Assistance. In a separate paper, Dias found that the ability to integrate what is seen with what is heard becomes increasingly important with age, especially among cochlear implant users.
The HRP’s Yehoash Raphael, Ph.D., who is also a former ERG scientist, discusses the challenges and future directions of the field of hair cell regeneration, pointing toward the use of genomics and epigenetics to decode gene expression and its epigenetic regulation.
The HRP’s Alain Dabdoub, Ph.D., detailed how the adult human balance organ responds to damage, uncovering a surprising diversity of supporting cells, the “non-sensory cellular guardians” that surround and protect the sensory hair cells and may facilitate their regeneration.
A 2022–2023 ERG scientist, Matthew Masapollo, Ph.D., showed how real-time auditory feedback sharpens speech, which has implications for treating individuals with long-term hearing loss or severely degraded auditory input.
Marina Silveira, Ph.D., a 2026–2027 ERG scientist generously funded by Royal Arch Research Assistance, found that serotonin seems to quiet down excitatory neurons while boosting inhibitory ones, which may help us to understand the role of serotonin in auditory disorders such as tinnitus and age-related hearing loss.
In examining the challenges of hearing speech in noise, Bruna Mussoi, Ph.D., a 2025–2026 ERG scientist generously funded by Mike Miles, found that older adults had weaker responses from the auditory nerve, a pattern associated with cochlear synaptopathy (hidden hearing loss) that suggests the very first stage of sound processing—the initial nerve firing—weakens with age.
After developing a new, ultraresponsive biosensor, Manoj Kumar, Ph.D., a 2025–2026 ERG scientist generously funded by Hyperacusis Research, discovered that zinc signaling is directly involved in how the brain processes sound in the auditory cortex during sound processing and in the amygdala during aversive responses. In a separate paper, Kumar’s research suggests that inhibiting zinc signaling could partially restore hearing thresholds while simultaneously suppressing the neural hyperactivity underlying tinnitus and hyperacusis, potentially offering a dual therapeutic benefit. Kumar’s most recent 2025–2026 grant from Hyperacusis Research and his 2022–2023 grant, generously funded by Royal Arch Research Assistance, were both acknowledged in this paper.
A 2020 and 2022 ERG scientist, Ross S. Williamson, Ph.D., identified a brain circuit-level mechanism through which stress and anxiety, both of which elevate arousal, could compound tinnitus-related hyperactivity in a descending pathway of the brain. Williamson is also a new 2027 ERG scientist generously funded by Royal Arch Research Assistance. (Read more about him in the Fall 2026 issue of Hearing Health magazine.)
By studying a rare bone disorder, ERG scientist Divya Chari, M.D., finds that variants of a single gene may alter inner ear development decades before symptoms begin, which may help explain why some people develop Ménière’s disease. Chari’s 2024 grant was generously funded by an anonymous donor, and it was renewed for a second year in 2025, generously funded by Karen I. Coley.
Analyzing data from a small set of young patients with cochlear implants to treat single-sided deafness, ERG scientist Amanda Griffin, Ph.D., Au.D., found that the most common co-occurring psychological diagnoses in school-aged children were ADHD and anxiety disorders, though she cautions the results are not to be misconstrued as applicable for children with SSD generally. Griffin’s 2024–2025 grant was generously funded by Royal Arch Research Assistance.
A 2022–2023 ERG scientist, Subong Kim, Ph.D., finds that differences in speech-in-noise ability may reflect a combination of early auditory processing, attention, and how strongly the brain represents target speech compared with background noise.
A 2024–2025 ERG scientist, Nicole T. Jiam, M.D., analyzed data to quantify how cochlear implant recipients who started with low wear time and increased it by six months after activation did just as well at one year as those who wore their processor consistently from the start, but patients whose use declined did measurably worse. Jiam is the recipient of an Elizabeth M. Keithley, Ph.D. Early Stage Investigator Award, generously supported in part by Susan and Steve Kaufman.
Mishaela DiNino, Ph.D., a 2020 and 2023 ERG scientist generously funded by the Meringoff Family Foundation, found that age-related changes in use of acoustic cues may begin in middle age.
The HRP’s Ronna Hertzano, M.D., Ph.D., a former ERG scientist, described a a breakthrough protocol for generating functional human auditory neurons. The spiral ganglion neuron-like neurons matched the appearance, molecular structure, electrical behavior, and functional characteristics of SGN cells in vivo.
ERG scientist Megan Beers Wood, Ph.D., is developing a mouse model for quantifying pain by training a deep neural network to recognize a mouse’s face and place points on it in every frame of video, resulting in the beginnings of a pain scale that uses scores from two distinct behaviors (facial grimace and movement). Her 2022–2023 grant was generously funded by Hyperacusis Research.
ERG scientist Ben-Zheng Li, Ph.D., develops and applies computational modeling and neural engineering techniques to better understand how the brain processes sound. He created a model for synthesizing auditory brainstem responses to assess neuronal alterations in aging and autistic animal models. Li’s 2025–2026 grant was generously funded by Royal Arch Research Assistance.
And to underscore the lasting implications that basic science research can hold, ERG scientists whose funding was a decade—or decades—ago cite HHF in new papers stemming from their grants.
A 2011 ERG scientist, James E. Saunders, M.D., found that variants of the gene TECTB are found to cause genetic hearing loss by damaging the tectorial membrane in the inner ear. Having even a single variant weakened the inner ear, making it more vulnerable to damage from loud noise. These findings identify TECTB as a novel human deafness gene. Saunders received the Centurion Clinical Research Award from Deafness Research Foundation (HHF’s former name). Coauthors include new 2027 ERG scientist Paul Gratias, Ph.D., the recipient of an Elizabeth M. Keithley, Ph.D. Early Stage Investigator Award, generously funded by Zellis Family Foundation.
Funded in the 1970s to the 1990s, Kenneth R. Henry, Ph.D., recently published his finding that Sierra Valley squirrels’ improved ability to hear low frequency sounds is likely a sensory adaptation to life at high elevations, where weather and thin air can reduce how well sound travels.
Thanks to you, these and other HHF-funded scientists are continuing to discover life-changing breakthroughs to better prevent and treat hearing loss, tinnitus, and related hearing and balance conditions. We are grateful for your interest and generosity.
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In addition to recent or current grantees, to underscore the lasting implications that basic science research can hold, scientists whose funding was a decade—or decades—ago cite HHF in new papers stemming from their grants.