Two-time DRF Grant Recipient Reflects on the Importance of DRF Funding
The Deafness Research Foundation (DRF) has been pivotal to the success of Dr. Luis Populin’s research re-garding the auditory system. “Deafness Research Founda-tion takes chances with younger researchers,” reflects two-time DRF grant recipient Dr. Louis Populin, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I strongly believe, for that, DRF should be commended.”
With his first awarded grant in 1998, which was renewed the following year, Dr. Populin studied how auditory information (i.e., noises, sounds, conversations) is integrated with visual information or sight, as well as how and where the eyes move when orienting to sounds of interest. The outcomes of this initial research enabled him to secure additional, larger grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation (NSF), federal agencies headquartered in metropolitan Washington, D.C.
In 2004, Dr. Populin received his second DRF grant, which was renewed in summer 2005. This project, which has also lead to a larger grant from NSF, studies the neural mechanisms, which serve as the foundation for the phenomenon known as the cocktail-party effect – the ability to isolate one sound from among a competing sea of many. Although aware of the cocktail-party effect for more than fifty years, scientists have not been able to explain how a person can distinguish a clarinet from the rest of the orchestra or one person’s voice from others in a crowded room.
Populin’s findings may assist engineers in improving cochlear implants and other hearing devices. This potential for more refined hearing devices is possible because of DRF funding – and the individual contributions of DRF supporters.
“DRF sees ahead of time what is important in research,” asserts Populin. “Furthermore, scientists are afforded enough time to improve their preparations and compete for federal funding because DRF funding allows scientists to continue with their research project until federal funding appears.”
Populin also notes that DRF funding, which can last up to three years, has helped establish and maintain his four-year-old research laboratory, employing laboratory staff of at least six: a computer programmer, laboratory technician, graduate student and up to three undergraduate students.
Luis C. Populin, Ph.D., is an assistant professor with the Department of Anatomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For more than a decade, Dr. Populin has researched hearing and vision in animals and humans. He holds a postdoctorate in anatomy and a doctorate in neuroscience, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; a Master of Science in motor behavior from Oregon State University; and a Bachelor of Science in physical education from Instituto del Profesorado de Educación Física in Córdoba, Argentina.
