Hearing Health Foundation

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Meet the 2024 Emerging Research Grants Scientists

Each October Hearing Health Foundation is thrilled to announce the new grant year’s researchers who earned funding through our Emerging Research Grants program.

We are thankful to our scientific reviewers and Council of Scientific Trustees, who had the very difficult task of deciding whom to fund among an exceptional pool of applicants. As of this year, our general hearing health grants have been renamed Elizabeth M. Keithley, Ph.D. Early Stage Investigator Awards in recognition of Keithley’s impact on the field and long service to HHF, and the awards’ focus on supporting the next generation.

Our ERG program remains the preeminent seed funding opportunity for hearing and balance researchers, particularly in early stages of their careers. By earning this competitive grant, they are better poised to earn future major federal funding to make impactful discoveries. We are deeply grateful for the continued dedication of our generous donors. The advances these scientists will make is only possible because of your support.

Thank you and congratulations to the 12 grantees for 2024!

First Year

Franziska Auer, Ph.D.

New York University

Project: Defining myelin’s role in developing vestibular circuits

Recipient of an Elizabeth M. Keithley, Ph.D. Early Stage Investigator Award

Divya Chari, M.D.

Mass Eye & Ear

Project: Auditory and vestibular phenotype characterization of a Ménière’s disease model in humans and mice with X-linked hypophosphatemia

Generously funded by an anonymous donor

Amanda Griffin, Ph.D., Au.D.

Boston Children’s Hospital

Project: Toward better assessment of pediatric unilateral hearing loss

Generously funded by Royal Arch Research Assistance

Nicole Tin-Lok Jiam, M.D.

Mass Eye & Ear

Project: Age-specific cochlear implant programming for optimal hearing performance

Recipient of an Elizabeth M. Keithley, Ph.D. Early Stage Investigator Award

HiJee Kang, Ph.D.

Johns Hopkins University

Project: Age-related changes on neural mechanisms in the auditory cortex for learning complex sounds

Generously funded by Royal Arch Research Assistance

Melissa McGovern, Ph.D.

University of Pittsburgh

Project: Hair cell regeneration in the mature cochlea: investigating new models to reprogram cochlear epithelial cells into hair cells

Recipient of the Neil Segil Memorial Award in Hair Cell Regeneration

Wei Sun, Ph.D.

University at Buffalo

Project: Foxg1 gene mutation-caused hyperacusis—a novel model to study hyperacusis

Generously funded by Hyperacusis Research

 

Second Year

Francisco Barros-Becker, Ph.D.

University of Washington

Project: Aminoglycoside compartmentalization and its role in hair cell death

Carolyn McClaskey, Ph.D.

Medical University of South Carolina

Project: Age and hearing loss effects on subcortical envelope encoding

Generously funded by Royal Arch Research Assistance

Sharlen Moore, Ph.D.

Johns Hopkins University

Project: Modulation of neuro-glial cortical networks during tinnitus

Generously funded by the Les Paul Foundation

Melissa Polonenko, Ph.D.

University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

Project: Identifying hearing loss through neural responses to engaging stories

Generously funded by Royal Arch Research Assistance

Raphael Robert, Ph.D.

Rice University

Project: Understanding the biophysics and protein biomarkers of Ménière’s disease via optical coherence tomography imaging

Thank You to Our Supporters

We are so grateful to our community of supporters for helping us fund these researchers and their innovative approaches to hearing and balance science, especially our partners Hyperacusis Research, the Les Paul Foundation, and Royal Arch Research Assistance. Thank you.

The next cycle for grant applications opens October 16, 2023. For more, see hhf.org/erg.


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