September 2010 Hearing Health E-News

DRF will be in Orlando on September 30 to October 2 at the AARP Convention. For more details, keep reading!

Craig A. Buchman, M.D., 2010 Grant Recipient

The kids are back to school and we've been doing our best to prepare them. They have new clothes, new school supplies, and soon will receive new knowledge. One of the most important things we can teach them, something that will impact them for the rest of their lives, is how to protect their hearing. You may have heard a few weeks ago about research published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, which revealed that the proportion of teens in the United States with slight hearing loss has increased 30% in the last 15 years, and the number with mild or worse hearing loss has increased 77%. One in every five teens now has at least a slight hearing loss, which can affect learning, speech perception, development of social skills and self-image; one in every 20 has more severe loss. How do we prevent more kids from irreparably damaging their hearing? One easy way is to teach them about safe listening levels or, to be on their level, how to "practice safe sound." I have told our girls that hair cells in the ear allow them to listen to The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, High School Musical and Hannah Montana. These hair cells are very delicate. If they're injured, they do not grow back. They are aware of this and ask to wear earplugs at loud events, which we think is great! With my unilateral hearing loss, we're not taking any chances. Why would you? Deafness Research Foundation partners with the "It's a Noisy Planet. Protect their Hearing" program, which has some great resources that you can share with your tweens and teens. Early education on safe listening is a must more information can be found here.

Here's to a hearing-healthy new school year!

Elizabeth Thorp

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Meet One of Our 2010 DRF Grant Recipients, Craig A. Buchman, M.D.
DRF Centurion Clinical Research Award Recipient

Dr. Buchman is currently a professor in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. His project, "Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder in Children" is funded by the Centurions of the Deafness Research Foundation. DRF has partnered with the CORE Grants program of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery to offer a one-year Centurion Clinical Research Award for clinical research in hearing and balance science.

Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) is an important clinical syndrome affecting about 10 percent of children with newly identified hearing loss. Currently available testing modalities are unable to predict auditory thresholds or speech perception abilities in children with ANSD, necessitating dependence on behavioral testing, thereby delaying intervention significantly. The goal of Buchman's research is to facilitate appropriate intervention among ANSD children by identifying functional biomarkers that can predict successful use of a particular intervention strategy, such as hearing aids or cochlear implants.

To read about past and current DRF recipients' research, click here

Please look for a full profile of each researcher in our upcoming Fall 2010 issue of Hearing Health magazine. This article will also be available on www.hearinghealthmag.com in early October.

For a free subscription to Hearing Health magazine, click here

Call For Applications:
2011 DRF Hearing and Balance Science Research Grants

Deafness Research Foundation (DRF) requests applications from both new applicants and DRF awardees applying for second year funding, who are dedicated to exploring new avenues of hearing and balance science.

DRF, the leading national source of private funding for basic and clinical research in hearing and balance science, awards research grant awards of up to $25,000 to researchers once a year to conduct novel investigations of auditory and vestibular function and dysfunction. All research proposals for basic, translational and applied clinical research in hearing and balance will be considered for funding. DRF wishes to stimulate research that leads to a continuing and independently fundable line of research.

Applications with a focus in Meniere's Disease research are especially invited.

Please visit our website for our complete Grant Policy and to apply. Login is required to apply.

First year DRF applicants' deadline to apply is December 8, 2010 by 5p.m. EST.

Second year applicants must email a "Letter of Intent" to apply for second year funding to grants@drf.org no later than December 1, 2010 by 5p.m. EST. The Second Year Application/Progress Report must be uploaded and submitted through DRF's website by January 14, 2011 by 5PM EST.

For additional information about the application process, please send an email to grants@drf.org.

Upcoming Events

September 30-October 2, 2010 AARP Orlando@50+



Deafness Research Foundation is exhibiting at the AARP 2010 National Event & Expo from September 30-October 2 in Orlando, Florida. Please visit us at booth 1276 to pick up your free gift bag and enter our sweepstakes to win a ClearSounds amplified phone!

Also, join DRF on Thursday, September 30 at 2:15 p.m. for a presentation on "Recent Advances in Hearing Health Care and Research--What's next?" The talk will take place in the Government/Non Profit Pavilion presentation stage in the exhibit hall, and will provide information on treatment options for, and research regarding, age-related hearing loss.

For additional information, including registration, click here

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Stay up-to-date with Deafness Research Foundation (DRF) by becoming a part of our Facebook community. This is a great way to receive the latest news, events, programs, resources, DRF contest and promotion information, and more about hearing and balance disorders and issues related to hearing loss, as well as learn how to protect your hearing!

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To be a part of DRF's Facebook community, visit us at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Deafness-Research-Foundation/409708740227?ref=ts

We're also on Twitter! Follow us at http://twitter.com/drfnyc

Don't forget to tell your friends and family that DRF is now on Facebook!