Deafness Research Foundation (DRF) is excited to announce that it has awarded 17 grants of up to $25,000 and one Centurion Clinical Research Award of $50,000 to outstanding young scientists in the field of hearing and balance research.
Grants will support research in the following areas:
Fundamental auditory research development, genetics, molecular biology, physiology, anatomy and regeneration biology;
Hearing and balance restoration for infants, children and adults cochlear implants, surgical therapy for otosclerosis, hair cell regeneration, hearing aids, medical therapy;
Hearing loss aging, noise-induced, otosclerosis, viral infection (sudden deafness), ototoxicity, temporal bone pathology, otitis media, cholesteatoma and tumors;
Vestibular and balance disorders dizziness and vertigo, Meniere's disease;
Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and hyperacusis (decreased tolerance of sound).
For over 50 years, DRF has been the leading source of private funding for basic and clinical research in hearing and balance science and has awarded nearly $24 million through more than 2,200 research grants to scientific researchers. This seed money has led to dramatic innovations that promise to increase options for those living with hearing loss, as well as protect those at risk.
For this year's grant selections, DRF's Council of Scientific Trustees reviewed applications from scientists at renowned research institutions around the U.S. The selected research projects underwent detailed peer review for scientific merit and program relevance. The DRF grant recipients are highlighted below, with information on their academic background followed by the title of their research project and a description of their research aims.
FIRST-YEAR DRF GRANT RECIPIENTS
EDWARD L. BARTLETT, PH.D., PURDUE UNIVERSITY
Bartlett is currently an assistant professor in biological sciences and biomedical engineering at Purdue University. He graduated from Haverford College in 1992 with a degree in physics and attended the University of Wisconsin- Madison for graduate school, where he received a Ph.D. in neuroscience in 1999 in the laboratory of Philip Smith. Bartlett did his post-doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at Johns Hopkins University in the laboratory of Xiaoqin Wang before coming to Purdue in 2006.
CELLULAR MECHANISMS CONTRIBUTING TO IN VIVO NEURONAL RESPONSES IN AUDITORY THALAMIC NEURON
Hearing depends not only on proper function of the cochlea, but also on the entire brain pathway to the cerebral cortex. An essential region in this pathway is the auditory thalamus. Auditory thalamic neurons provide nearly all sound information to the auditory responsive portion of the cerebral cortex. Abnormalities in the auditory thalamus correlate with hearing defi cits in aging, dyslexia, schizophrenia, autism and Alzheimer's disease. This research will show how the neurons communicate at a cellular level, resulting in more precise hypotheses regarding what can cause hearing deficits.
MARTIN BASCH, PH.D., BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
Basch received a degree in biological sciences from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1996 and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2004. He began his postdoctoral training at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles and is currently a postdoctoral associate in the neuroscience department at Baylor College of Medicine.
LIVE IMAGING OF THE DEVELOPING COCHLEA
The goal of this research is to understand how sensory cells behave during normal development of the cochlea using live imaging techniques. The long-term goal is to understand the behavior of these cells in pathological situations or in response to drugs that cause hearing loss, with the aim of designing preventative or palliative treatments.
ADRIN RODRGUEZ-CONTRERAS, PH.D., THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
Rodrguez-Contreras studied biology at the National Autonomous University in Mexico City. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and did post-doctoral work at the University of California, Davis, and the Erasmus MC in the Netherlands. In 2008 he joined the faculty at the City College of New York.
DEFINING THE ROLE OF OLIVO-COCHLEAR FEEDBACK IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUDITORY BRAINSTEM
During early brain development, auditory neurons spontaneously generate highly patterned electrical activity in the absence of sound. This research will explore how the brain fine-tunes electrical activity during the development of hearing. His work could provide clues to the development of treatments that ameliorate hearing impairments such as tinnitus and deafness.
ALAIN DABDOUB, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
Dabdoub received a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland and did his post-doctoral training at the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders before starting hislab in 2008 at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.
CANONICAL WNT SIGNALING IN THE DEVELOPING ORGAN OF CORTI
Irreversible loss of hair cells is the major cause of deafness. This research will provide a better understanding of genetic pathways responsible for the development and function of the auditory system that will facilitate the advancement of strategies for the regeneration of sensory hair cells.
MICHELLE HASTINGS, PH.D., ROSALIND FRANKLIN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND SCIENCE Hastings received a Ph.D. from Marquette University in 1998 and did postdoctoral training at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She recently established her own laboratory at the Chicago Medical School/Rosalind Franklin University.
THERAPEUTIC CORRECTION OF USH1C SPLICING IN A MOUSE MODEL OF USHER SYNDROME
Usher syndrome is the leading genetic cause of combined hearing and vision loss. The long-term objective of this project is to develop therapeutics for the disease. Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) will be used in a mouse model of Usher syndrome to correct a specific genetic defect that causes the disease. This work will demonstrate the efficacy of ASOs as a therapeutic for Usher syndrome and will also provide insights about curing the disease.
RONNA HERTZANO, M.D., PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Hertzano received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Sackler School of Medicine, Department of Human Molecular Genetics, at Tel-Aviv University in Israel. She is now a fourth year resident in the Department of OtorhinolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Her research is performed in the laboratory of Scott Strome, M.D., whose research is focused on the study of tumor immunology and autoimmunity.
A NEW PROTOCOL FOR SELECTIVE AND EFFICIENT SORTING OF THE AUDITORY SENSORY EPITHELIUM
Identification of deafness-causing genes is instrumental in supplying molecular diagnostics and designing new molecular treatments for hearing loss. The goal of this research is to develop methods for separating and characterizing the unique cell types of the auditory sensory epithelium using methods commonly used by immunologists. This would reveal the genetic profile of the different cells in the auditory sensory epithelium, identify new cell-type-specific genes and possibly discover new deafness-causing genes.
CHRISTINA KAISER, PH.D., BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Kaiser earned a B.A. in biology and chemistry in 2000 from Drury University in Springfield, Mo., and a Ph.D. in anatomy and cell biology in 2005 from the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Otolaryngology at the Boston University Medical Center.
AN ACTIVE ROLE FOR THE SUPPORTING CELL CYTOSKELETON IN CONTROLLING HAIR CELL DEATH AND REGENERATION
Cochlear hair cells are the primary targets of most damaging agents. When these cells are lost in humans and other mammals, the resultant hearing loss is permanent. However, chickens and other avian species can create new hair cells from a population of supporting cells in the cochlea when the original hair cells die. This research project is designed to examine the active role that supporting cells play in regulating hair cell death and how this subsequently impacts hair cell regeneration.
KHALEEL A. RAZAK, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE
Razak received a B.E. in electronics and communications engineering from the College of Engineering at Anna University in Madras, India, a Ph.D. in zoology/physiology/neuroscience and an M.S. in bioengineering, both from the University of Wyoming. He did postdoctoral work at Georgia State University. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside.
IMPACT OF AGE-RELATED HEARING LOSS ON CORTICAL PROCESSING OF FREQUENCY MODULATED SWEEPS
Aging-related plasticity of the brain causes impairments in auditory processing. This is exacerbated by peripheral hearing loss. The mechanisms underlying such processing deficits are unclear. This project will focus on how aging and hearing loss affects neural processing of frequency modulated (FM) sweeps, a type of sound common in most vocalizations, including human speech.
OLGA STAKHOVSKAYA, M.D., PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
Stakhovskaya received her M.D. at the Russian State Medical University in Moscow, where she also completed her Ph.D. She did three years of post-doctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco, in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, where she was recently appointed to the position of assistant research specialist.
ESTIMATING OPTIMUM INSERTION DEPTH FOR THE HIFOCUS ELECTRODE ARRAY IN INDIVIDUAL HUMAN COCHLEAE BASED ON HIGH-RESOLUTION CT IMAGES
The human cochlea, as with any structure in the human body, can vary substantially in size among different individuals. This study will determine whether specific analyses of the anatomical dimensions of the cochlea obtained on CT images prior to implant surgery can provide more detailed information for the surgeon by defining the insertion depth required to cover the optimum frequency range in a given individual and help to minimize the risk of insertion trauma.
ARMINDA SULI, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Suli received a Ph.D. from the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Utah, where she studied nervous system and vascular system development during embryogenesis. Suli currently works as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Washington in the laboratories of David Raible and Edwin Rubel using zebrafi sh as a model system for understanding sensory hair cell regeneration.
ASSESSING FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY AFTER MECHANOSENSORY HAIR CELL REGENERATION IN THE ZEBRAFISH LATERAL LINE
One way of restoring hearing loss due to hair cell damage is to promote the regeneration of the damaged sensory hair cells through restoring the molecules that instruct these cells to form. This research will establish a user-friendly method that will allow researchers to determine the functionality of the regenerated mechanosensory hair cells in the larval zebrafish.
PATRICIA A. WHITE, PH.D., HOUSE EAR INSTITUTE
White received a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, where she studied development and neural stem cells. She transitioned to hearing research and regeneration at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles, where she is a senior postdoctoral fellow.
FORKHEAD BOX-O TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS AND MAMMALIAN COCHLEAR REGENERATION
Deafness can be mitigated with hearing aids or other devices but to restore hearing by regenerating the damaged inner ear currently remains out of reach. The proposed research investigates the regulation of a gene that controls cell number in the adult cochlea, as a preliminary step to a therapy that could replace lost sensory cells in the human ear.
RUILI XIE, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
Xie received a B.S. in biochemistry from Peking University in China and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Texas at Austin. Currently he is a post-doctoral research associate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION IN THE PRINCIPAL CELLS OF THE ANTEROVENTRAL COCHLEAR NUCLEUS DURING AGE-RELATED HEARING LOSS
Age-related hearing loss (AHL), or presbycusis, is a common disorder that affects most individuals as they age and causes conditions ranging from deteriorated hearing sensitivity to complete deafness. This research will help to identify such changes by studying neural synaptic transmissions during AHL in the cochlear nucleus, which is the first neural station of the central auditory system that gates all the sound information going into the brain. This research will help to provide guidance in restoring normal synaptic transmission during AHL, therefore preventing or postponing its development.
EUNYOUNG YI, PH.D., THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Yi received a B.S. and M.S. in pharmacy from Chonnam National University in Kwangju, Korea, and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Yi is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of OtolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery in Baltimore, Md.
DOPAMINERGIC MODULATION OF INNER HAIR CELL AFFERENT SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION
This research will identify the cellular and molecular mechanisms of dopaminergic feedback signaling from the brain to the ear. This is most likely one of the body's own ways to protect the ear from noise trauma. Therefore, identifying and understanding the underlying mechanisms may lead to the devising of pharmacological preventive measures against noise trauma.
SECOND-YEAR DRF GRANT RECIPIENTS
CHRISTIAN N. PAXTON, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
Paxton received his M.S. from Brigham Young University in 2000 where he searched for genetic markers associated with a heart condition, known as Round Heart Syndrome, in turkeys. He earned a Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 2006 where his research focused on gene regulation during heart development. Paxton moved to hearing research two years ago when he began his post-doctoratal work.
THE ROLE OF FGF4 IN OTIC PLACODE INDUCTION
This research will focus on signals responsible for the early stages of inner ear development. By identifying the signals responsible for normal development, an understanding can be gained of how development goes awry, resulting in congenital hearing loss. Understanding the mechanisms of hearing loss will ultimately give healthcare providers tools for diagnosis, treatment and perhaps prevention of congenital hearing loss.
KATHLEEN T. YEE, PH.D., TUFTS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Yee received a B.A. in neurobiology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in neurobiology, anatomy and cell science from the University of Pittsburgh. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge in England, and a post-doctoral fellow in molecular neurobiology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, Calif. She is currently a research assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.
A ROLE FOR PAX6 IN COCHLEAR NUCLEUS DEVELOPMENT
This research will clearly benefit individuals with PAX6 mutations by determining specific effects of PAX6 on subdomains of the cochlear nucleus and how specific cell types are affected. One benefit of these studies is that insight into the precise nature of hearing deficits at a cellular level will permit the possibility of the design of more refined hearing prostheses. This work will also provide benefit in more general terms since a PAX6 mutant model system will be employed to expand on the roles of other molecules in cochlear nucleus development and function.
DRF C.H.E.A.R. ENDOWMENT GRANT RECIPIENT
CHIN-TUAN TAN, PH.D., NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
(SECOND-YEAR DRF GRANT RECIPIENT)
Tan received B.E., M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore in 1992, 1996 and 2000, respectively. He is currently an associate research scientist in the Department of Otolaryngology at the New York University School of Medicine, and adjunct associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University).
NONLINEARLY DISTORTED MUSIC AND SPEECH AS PERCEIVED BY HEARING-IMPAIRED PEOPLE
Hearing aids and other communication devices, such as telephones, introduce significant nonlinear distortion which reduces sound quality and may interfere with speech perception. The purpose of the research is to characterize and model the perception of distorted speech and music by hearing-impaired listeners. The final model and its associated software will be useful in the design of hearing aids, assistive listening devices and cellular telephones for use by people with hearing loss.
The C.H.E.A.R. endowment was created to support an annual sensorineural deafness research grant. C.H.E.A.R. (Children Hearing Education and Research) was absorbed into DRF in 1991 and we are very proud to continue their legacy of funding research in sensorineural deafness. cochlear nucleus and how specific cell types are affected. One benefit of these studies is that insight into the precise nature of hearing deficits at a cellular level will permit the possibility of the design of more refined hearing prostheses. This work will also provide benefit in more general terms since a PAX6 mutant model system will be employed to expand on the roles of other molecules in cochlear nucleus development and function.
THE BURCH-SAFFORD FOUNDATION RECIPIENT
ADAM MARKARYAN, PH.D., UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Markaryan received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Moscow State University and post-doctoral training at Ohio State University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is currently a research associate (assistant professor) in the Department of Surgery, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Chicago.
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA DELETIONS AND COCHLEAR ELEMENT DEGENERATION IN PRESBYCUSIS
The long-term goal of the Bloom Temporal Bone Laboratory at the University of Chicago is to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in age-related hearing loss and develop a rationale for therapy based on this information. This research will quantify the mitochondrial DNA common deletion level and total deletion load in the cochlear elements obtained from individuals with presbycusis and normal hearing controls.
This research award is funded by The Burch-Safford Foundation, Inc.
DRF CENTURION CLINICAL RESEARCH AWARD RECIPIENT
MARK ECKERT, M.D., MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Eckert is an associate professor of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is a cognitive neuroscientist with a Ph.D. from the University of Florida. A common thread through his developmental and aging research is the study of individual differences in neurobiology that limit or enhance sensory perception, cognition and intervention outcome. He uses neuroimaging techniques to examine brain structure and function in people with normal and atypicalcognition, with an emphasis on studies designed to explain why older adults experience speech perception difficulties.
NEURAL CHANGES UNDERLYING SPEECH-PERCEPTION TRAINING IN THE AGING BRAIN
Many older adults with hearing loss have difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments and some feel socially isolated. Although hearing aids can improve speech understanding, hearing aid benefit may be limited if the perception of certain speech sounds has changed. Speech training programs have been shown to improve the recognition of amplified speech by older adults by focusing on re-learning cues important for perception of specific sounds. This research will examine how the brain changes during speech-training programs designed to improve speech understanding in noise.
This research award 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 and Neck Surgery to offer a one-year Centurion Clinical Research Award for clinical research in hearing and balance sciences.
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