Continue the Legacy: Announcing the DRF Centurion Clinical Research Award
The names Howard P. House, M.D., George E. Shambaugh, Jr., M.D., and Jack V. Hough, M.D., are well known to all of us in the field of otolaryngology. Not only were these esteemed doctors and scientists our mentors and teachers, as “Centurions,” they were also proud supporters of Deafness Research Foundation (DRF).
When Dr. Gordon Hoople formed The Centurions in 1963, the primary goal of member physicians was to support both clinical and bench top research in our field. Dues were intended to cover the administrative costs of DRF, so that all funds raised could support research. Now we want to do more – we want to ensure that Centurion donations are going directly to fund research instead of overhead.
For 50 years, DRF has remained true to the original mission of our founder, Collette Ramsey Baker: to provide funding for young researchers in the field of hearing and balance science. This past year, 23 grants were awarded, totaling over $400,000 (for a list of grant recipients and the work they are doing please see our Web site, www.drf.org).
At DRF and in general, we have seen an evolution in research. Whereas M.D.s used to dominate research, today most researchers are Ph.D.s; yet as we know, clinical research is crucial to the future of our field.
Therefore, we are very pleased to announce, for the first time, The DRF Centurion Clinical Research Award. Partnering with the CORE Program of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS), the DRF will offer one-year grants of $50,000 for clinical research in the hearing and balance sciences.
A commitment to DRF of a donation of $250 or more per year will not only establish or renew the affiliation of otolaryngologists as a Centurion, it will directly contribute to important clinical research in the field of otolaryngology.
Applications for The DRF Centurion Clinical Research Award will be reviewed by the AAO-HNS’s CORE Program, as well as by DRF. Final funding decisions will be made by DRF’s Council of Scientific Trustees. At the September 2008 meeting of the AAO-HNS, we will announce the availability of two grants for $50,000 each.
The DRF Centurion Clinical Research Award cannot happen without your support. To attain our goal of $100,000 annually, we need only 400 contributions of $250 – this is less than 12 percent of the AAO-HNS membership! It is so important that our field continues to receive funding for research – and who better to support this than our colleagues within the AAO-HNS?
We are so proud to celebrate DRF’s 50th anniversary this year, and equally proud of the role of generations of highly respected otolaryngologists who have supported DRF as Centurions.
DRF grants have already had huge impacts in the field of hearing and balance science; some notable grantees include Juergen Tonndorf, M.D.; A. Gloring, M.D.; Bruce Gantz, M.D.; Robert Dobie, M.D.; and Yehoash Raphael, Ph.D. Additionally, DRF has made significant contributions in both funding research and advocacy that resulted in universal newborn hearing screening. And let’s not forget one of the very first achievements of DRF in conjunction with AAO-HNS back in 1960s: founding the Temporal Bone Bank Program for Ear Research, which became the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders National Temporal Bone, Hearing and Balance Pathology Resource Registry.
We hope you will consider participating in The DRF Centurion Clinical Research Award by becoming a new Centurion or reaffirming your commitment to DRF as an existing Centurion.
Contributions to this award can be made through our Web site, www.drf.org (if donating online, be sure to reference The DRF Centurion Clinical Research Award) or by sending a donation to:
Deafness Research Foundation 641 Lexington Ave., 15th Floor New York, NY 10022.
