Gala Organizer Has Personal Commitment to DRF Mission
Mrs. Rebecca Ginzburg of New York City is a vivacious wife and mother of three and an analyst for Viking Global Investors, a money management firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and is one of the newest members of the Deafness Research Foundation (DRF) board of directors. To this post, she brings a passionate vision of the day when there will be a cure for hearing loss.
In 2002, while seven months pregnant with her second child, Ginzburg experienced a head cold. One week later, she awoke at 5 a.m., her hearing muffled and feeling so dizzy that she was unable to stand. Her first thought was, “It’s a stroke.” Because it was a weekend, she immediately called her father who is a physician and he advised her to go to the emergency room. Many hours later, an ENT diagnosed Ginzburg with sudden hearing loss brought on by a virus and accompanied with severe vertigo.
Treatment included oral doses of steroids and three injections of steroids through the ear drum. Over a course of eight months, Ginzburg wore a hearing aid until her hearing improved to 40 percent in the affected ear.
While the birth of her second daughter went well, the effects of hearing loss were devastating. Remembering this difficult time, Ginzburg recalls, “The kids made it easier on me.” She explains, “Things were put into perspective,” and that her family made all the difference.
On her birthday in October 2005, Ginzburg had a virus which affected her left ear as well, resulting in profound hearing loss in that ear. Her doctor repeated the medical treatment she underwent for sudden deafness, yet this time there was no immediate improvement.
Ginzburg continues to find ways to adjust to the challenges of a full life with hearing loss. She sleeps on her bad ear in case one of her three children should awake during the night. When participating in committees at her children’s preschool, she always advises persons situated to her left that she has a hearing loss in that ear. Walking and playing tennis remain her preferred fitness activities and now going to bed early is not only relaxing, it is a necessity.
After losing her hearing, Ginzburg and her husband, Alex, created their own foundation with a purpose similar to that of DRF. Through this effort, Mr. Ginzburg met a DRF board member and discovered that DRF’s mission of pursuing lifelong hearing health through funding research and education paralleled the Ginzburgs’ own endeavor. In September 2005, Rebecca joined the Board of DRF. In addition to becoming a member of the board of directors, Mrs. Ginzburg also sits on the Executive and Audit committees and is the chair for the 2006 annual gala fundraising event.
Ginzburg believes that answers to questions surrounding hearing health mysteries, such as sudden deafness, are within our reach. And she supports DRF in expectation that “big strides” will be made for all people suffering from hearing loss.
