Congratulations to the 14 scientists awarded Emerging Research Grants for 2026.

Whether you’re donating through your IRA, gifting appreciated stock, or using a donor-advised fund, your contribution to Hearing Health Foundation can make a meaningful difference.

Cochlear implants work differently from hearing aids. Instead of making sounds louder, they bypass the damaged parts of the inner ear and send signals directly to the brain, allowing individuals to perceive sound more clearly.

As we observe World Alzheimer’s Month each September, it’s a timely reminder that protecting our brain health starts long before memory problems arise.

This new computer model can serve as the bedrock not only to better understand how the middle ear vibrates during bone conduction but also to develop new diagnostics for middle ear conditions and inform the design of novel hearing devices.

Looking back over each grade when I felt embarrassed, I wish I could have told myself that even when people ask questions about the FM, by the next day they have usually forgotten about it. Most of the time I cared more than other people did.

Cochlear implants were never on our radar, and the topic arose what felt like out of the blue while talking to his audiologist who said hearing aids could no longer improve his ability to better understand speech.

There’s a lot of overlap between managing tinnitus and dealing with the challenges of aging. Socializing, paying active attention, learning new things, and physical activity are all things that can help with both.

Even within the d/Deaf and hard of hearing umbrella, our access needs and identities vary widely. That in-between space can feel like nowhere—not “hearing enough” for the hearing world, not “Deaf enough” for Deaf spaces.

Because the very small blood vessels in the inner ear can be narrowed by the presence of an increase in blood glucose, the function of the inner ear hair cells can be affected. The first symptom might be tinnitus or an inability to hear words clearly.

My focus is studying pathologies following noise overexposure. This includes noise-induced hearing loss and pain hyperacusis. I specifically look at how the immune system interacts with the neurons of the ear after noise.

Living without the sense of hearing may bring barriers, but it does not mean living without independence or success. Our role, as people with typical hearing, is to listen, support, and work to improve the systems that are built around us.