And the Winners Are...
The Deafness Research Foundation, established in 1958, is the leading source of
private funding for basic and clinical research in hearing science. Since its inception, DRF has awarded more than $22.5 million through more than 1,850 research grants. Each grantee can receive up to $20,000 per year and may reapply and receive funding for up to three years.
In 2004, grants were awarded for exploration in the areas of auditory testing, development and physiology, hair cell regeneration, genetics, ototoxicity (ear poisoning), pathology (bacterial causes of otitis media), cochlear implants, noise-induced hearing loss, and the central auditory system.
Congratulations to DRFs 2004 Hearing Research Grant Recipients
First-Year Recipients
• David Molea, Ph.D., Univ. of Mich.
• Katherine Rennie, Ph.D., Univ. of Colo., Health Sciences Center
• Deborah Thompson, Ph.D., Univ. of Mich.
• John A. Ferraro, Ph.D., Univ. of Kan. Medical Center
• Duck O. Kim, DSc, Univ. of Conn. Health Sciences
• Luis C. Populin, Ph.D., Univ. of Wis.-Madison
• Kelly J. Shea-Miller, Ph.D., Seton Hall University
• Charles S. Ebert, Jr., M.D., MPH, Univ. of N.C. – Chapel Hill
• Darren M. White, doctoral candidate
• Donald K. Eddington, Ph.D., Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary
• Ricardo Cristobal, M.D., Ph.D., Medical College of Wis.
• Tzy-Wen L. Gong, Ph.D., Univ. of Mich.
• Philip M. Kelley, Ph.D., Boys Town National Research Hospital
• Michael D. Weston, Ph.D., Boys Town National Research Hospital
• Barbara J. Morley, Ph.D., Boys Town National Research Hospital
• Alexander Scheeline, Ph.D., Univ. of Ill. – Urbana – Champaign
• Mei Zhang, M.D., Ph.D.,Univ. of Fla.
Second- and Third-Year Recipients
• Anne B.S. Giersch, Ph.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• Edward L. Bartlett, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
• David S. Velenovsky, Ph.D., CCC-A, Univ. of Ariz.
• Paul Webster, Ph.D., House Ear Institute
• Sumit Dhar, Ph.D., Univ. of Ind.
• Mary O’Leary Kane, M.A., CCC-SLP, The River School
• Sarah Dawson Wainscott, M.Ed.,
The River School
• Kevin H. Franck, Ph.D., CCC-A, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
DRF is initiating the application review process for 2005 awards for the grant year beginning July 1. Projects are reviewed based on scientific merit. For more information about applying for a grant or making a donation to fund research, please contact DRF.
On Board with DRF
Dr. Elizabeth Keithley received her Ph.D. in Anatomy/Neuroscience from Boston University in 1980. The topic of her dissertation was age-related changes in the cochlea. She explored what happens to the cells within the inner ear as people age and lose their hearing.
In 1983, Dr. Keithley completed her post-doctoral training in Auditory Physiology at the Mass. Institute of Technology where she learned how to record the activity of individual neurons in the auditory nerve in response to specific stimuli. She was the first to record from the tiny “type II neurons” that connect to the outer hair cells in the inner ear. These neurons most likely provide feedback to the central nervous system about the “active” components of the basilar membrane.
Following her post-doctoral fellowship, Dr. Keithley moved to San Diego to join the Otolaryngology Research team at the Univ. of Calif., San Diego in 1985. Over the last 20 years, she has continued her research on the affects of age on the inner ear. In collaboration with her colleagues, she has investigated inflammatory responses and immune responses in the inner ear that lead to hearing loss and is currently testing various therapeutic measures to prevent hearing loss.
Dr. Keithley is a member of the DRF board of directors and previously was a representative to the Council of Scientific Trustees. Recently, she shared insights acquired through the years with Hearing Health.
Q: What was your motivation for involvement with DRF?
A. I was asked to serve on the Scientific Review Committee in 1995. In truth, I was just being a good citizen, answering the call to service. It is very interesting to read the grant proposals and discuss them with colleagues. Part of being a good scientist is cooperating with the scientific community. A great deal of information is transmitted from one to another in this way.
Q. What do you think have been the major breakthroughs in research since your involvement with DRF?
A. I have to say that the cochlear implant is the greatest breakthrough for treating hearing loss since electronic hearing aids were invented. Infant screening to detect congenital hearing loss and the ability to implant children so they don’t miss out on learning language is truly the greatest accomplishment in providing hearing health. The improvements in hearing aids are also noteworthy and as nanotechnology moves forward, we should expect greater improvements.
The greatest breakthroughs since I started my career in science have been in basic research using animal models. We are beginning to understand the biochemical processes that occur in response to ototoxic drugs that damage the sensory cells, loud noise that damages the sensory and other cochlear cells, and even aging that is associated with the slow degeneration of inner ear cells. This understanding is making it possible to deliver drugs that can prevent these cellular changes, thereby preventing the death of the cells and preserving hearing. In addition to drugs that prevent cell death, injection of a cellular signaling molecule that drives the generation of hair cells can create new hair cells in an inner ear in which the original cells had died. These experiments demonstrate that by understanding molecular signals, it is possible to recreate what has degenerated.
Another recent development in animal models is the ability to deliver therapeutic agents directly to the inner ear without a loss of hearing. The combination of the right therapeutic agents and options for delivering those agents offers great expectations for the possibility of delivering drugs directly to damaged cells thus improving hearing preservation in the future.
In addition to this line of research is the ability to identify specific genes that are responsible for congenital and early onset hearing loss. Genetic testing now allows interested potential parents to discover the probability that their child might have a certain gene. It is not uncommon for deaf parents to have a child with normal hearing. Sometime in the future, for individuals who are interested, it may be possible to implant something into the inner ear that can provide the protein that is not functioning properly in defective genes and correct hearing loss. There are many exciting possibilities on the horizon.
Q. Was DRF involved in funding these breakthroughs?
A. What I have covered here is, of course, a summary of the work of many individuals and I am pleased to say that the preliminary work of most of these investigators was funded by DRF research grants.
Q. In your opinion, what are some major opportunities for DRF at present?
A. DRF has an opportunity to keep the field of hearing research growing. DRF has always been a source of funding for young investigators trying to make a career in academic medicine or science and obtaining a DRF grant is a good first step in a successful career. Many of the current leaders in the field started with a DRF grant.
We can also expand our research to include target-specific research problems that address protection and restoration of hearing.
And lastly, I see a great opportunity to collaborate with other advocacy groups. DRF needs to continue to support advocacy and education programs for people with hearing and ear disorders.
Q. What are some of the obstacles in generating funds for deafness research?
A. Hearing loss is an invisible problem and although, fortunately, people do not die from hearing loss, they quite unfortunately often suffer in silence. And silence does not raise money or awareness. Hearing loss isolates people. The readers of Hearing Health are a small portion of people with hearing loss and likely the ones who are trying to deal with it. My mother had a hearing loss from otitis media as a child, before the advent of antibiotics. Although she loved people, she was very shy, self-conscious and avoided social gatherings. People like her are hard to persuade to contribute to the effort to provide hearing health through research, advocacy or education.
Q. What do you want the readers of Hearing Health to know about DRF?
A. I want them to know that research is the way that improvements for people with hearing loss will come about and donations to DRF will make that research possible.
