Dr. Hu collected cells from the inner ear of mouse embryos, and using novel techniques, was able…

• “Actin metabolism in hearing loss”
  Benjamin Perrin, PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
• “Role of En1 in the specification and differentiation of superior olivary complex neurons”
  Stephen Maricich, MD, PhD, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland
• “Contributions of auditory cortex and inferior colliculus to plasticity in frequency tuning”
  Shaowen Bao, PhD, University of California — Berkeley
• “The striated organelle in inner ear hair cells: ultrastructural and proteomic studies”
  Anna Lysakowski,…

The researchers studied intact cochlear cultures consisting of hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) taken from mice. Hair cells are structures within the cochlea that pick…

Dr. Rachakonda at the CORE Research Awards ceremony with Larry Lustig, MD

October 2011 – Tara Rachakonda, MD of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, is working on developing a unique hearing-related quality of life assessment for adolescents with hearing loss, the Hearing Environments and Reflection on Quality of Life Questionnaire, or the HEAR-QL. Dr. Rachakonda is the 2011-2012 recipient of the American Hearing Research Foundation Wiley H. Harrison Memorial Research Grant.

 The rate of hearing loss in adolescents has increased over the past decade.  Currently there are no hearing-related quality of life (QOL) assessments tailored for adolescents. Having an adolescent-specific QOL…

Meniere’s disease is a balance disorder characterized by mild to intense episodes of dizziness, where in the worst cases, standing and walking become impossible and the associated nausea can be completely debilitating. The attacks are believed to be cause by tears or other insults to the membranes of the vestibular tissues.

Jay Rubinstein, MD, PhD and…

JavaScript needs to be enabled for polling to work.
Online Surveys by Constant Contact.

The Esteem works differently…

MAY 2011 – The American Hearing Research Foundation has added Sam Marzo, MD, to its board of directors. Dr. Marzo is a professor in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Loyola University Health System of Chicago. He is the Director of the Loyola Hearing & Balance Center, and the Residency Program Director. Dr. Marzo is also the Director of the Parmly Hearing Institute, a research center at Loyola dedicate to hearing research. The Institute is currently investigating cranial nerve injuries and auditory nerve tumors as well as the effect of Vicodin on hearing loss. In 2010,…

The Deadline for applications is Monday, August 1, 2011.

One of the challenges in hair cell research is the difficulty in harvesting enough hair cells to perform molecular experiments. An inner ear may have only 10-30,000 hair cells, so thousands of animals – typically mice, which are also very expensive to maintain – may be needed to collect enough hair cells for experiments. Additionally, inner ears are tiny and very hard to dissect in order to get at the various tissues. “This…

Tickets are $25 and get you a drink ticket and one raffle ticket for an Apple iPad.

There will be live music, food, and friends.

Come out and help support hearing research!

RSVP tp Sharon Parmet at (312) 726-9670 or sparmet@american-hearing.org

• Kelvin Kwan, PhD, Harvard Medical School, Boston
  “Proliferation and differentiation of hair-cell progenitors”
• Zhengqing Hu, MD, PhD, Wayne State University, Detroit
  “Regeneration of the central process of spiral ganglion neurons using a cell-based replacement”
• Amanda Lauer, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
  “Consequences of progressive hearing loss in the auditory brainstem”
• Michael Lovett, PhD, Wasington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
  “Identifying genes that specify the cochlear tonotopic gradient”
• Jonathan Fisher, PhD, Rockefeller University, New York
  “Novel optical techniques…

When this test is done clinically, patients listen to clicks. But now, researchers are exploring the use of more lifelike sounds, including speech sounds such as “da” as the stimulus. This new technique is…

Nicole Schmitt, M.D.
University of Washington, Seattle
“Significance of tumor necrosis factor alpha in cisplatin ototoxicity in Vivo”

Douglas Cotanche, Ph.D.
Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts
“Cell fate regulation in cochlear development and regeneration”

Anand Mhatre, Ph.D.
New York University, New York
“Biological role of nonmuscle myosin IIA in sensory hair cells”

Saima Riazuddin, Ph.D.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Ohio
“Generation and characterization of…

Assistant Professor
Division of Research
Department of Otolaryngology & Communication Sciences

Dr. Shim is interested in how the three-dimensional structure of the inner ear is formed during embryonic development and how the sensory regions of the inner ear epithelium are patterned.

Dr. Shim takes a molecular and genetic approach to understanding inner ear development in the mouse, and current work is focused on understanding the role of the Sprouty family of receptor tyrosine kinase antagonists in inner ear development and function. In particular, Dr. Shim found that Sprouty2 mutant mice are born with severe hearing impairment associated with a postnatal cell fate…

The biggest accomplishments seen during his 38 years are the combined efforts with the board to raise funds for the foundation.  He also references the importance of the research programs growth from city to state to regional and nationally based. The research…

Hugh Barber, M.D., a giant in the field of neurotology, passed away on December 14, 2006.

Born in 1923, Dr. Barber graduated from the University of Toronto in 1945. He then went on to complete his fellowship training in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery in Toronto. In 1968 he became a member of the Active Staff at Sunnybrook. The next year he was appointed Chief of the Department of Otolaryngology, a position he held for some 17 years. Dr. Barber was a member of the American Neurotology since 1976.

Dr. Barber had an international reputation as an authority…

On Sunday, November 18, 2007, the American Hearing Research Foundation (AHRF) held a benefit concert at the Empty Bottle to help raise awareness of noise-induced hearing loss. Proceeds from the show will help the AHRF fund research into hearing loss at universities and hospitals throughout the United States and Canada, which the Chicago-based foundation has been doing for more than 30 years with over 165 research projects under its belt.

Noise-induced hearing loss is the number one preventable form of hearing loss, and can cause permanent hearing…

On October 16, 2007, the American Hearing Research Foundation Research Committee selected five research projects to fund in 2008, for a total grant amount of $105,000.

“This year we received more research proposals than ever before,” says Sharon Parmet, Associate Director of the AHRF. Thirty-three proposals were received.

The five proposals selected for funding in 2008 are:

• “The Role of KCNQ4 Channels in Progressive Hearing Loss.” Liping Nie, Ph.D., University of California, Davis
• “Prevent and Treat Noise-Induced Hearing Loss by Drugs Blocking T-type Calcium Channels.” Jianxin Bao, Ph.D., Washington University, St. Louis,…

The American Hearing Research Foundation is pleased to announce that new product development company, what if widgets, will be donating 5 percent of its sales profits to the Foundation.

At the AHRF’s 2007 Annual Board Meeting, held on May 16, the Board of Directors elected David A. Klodd, Ph.D. to serve on the Board and also on the Research Committee.

May 16, 2007   The American Hearing Research Foundation will give a Wiley H. Harrison, M.D. Grant to Adam Markaryan, Ph.D., of the University of Chicago to study the effect of mitochondrial deletions in the cochlea on hearing loss.

Dr. Markaryan is an assistant professor in the otolaryngology/head & neck surgery department.

He will use the grant, which gives a total of $25,000 over the course of one year, to study the degeneration of the cochlea with age, paying extra attention to the role that genetic mutations…

New Diagnostic Tool Can Rapidly Identify Children with Learning Disabilities Caused by Problems in Sound Processing

January, 2007 — A new, easy-to-use diagnostic tool that can quickly identify a sizeable subset of learning disabled children is now commercially available.

That’s good news for youngsters aged 8 to 12 who, once identified, can receive auditory training that can improve their academic learning.

"Learning disabilities are believed to affect nearly one in 10 children, but their causes are difficult to pinpoint," says Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern University’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory. She and Northwestern researchers Trent Nicol and Steven Zecker have found that…

The American Hearing Research Foundation announces a call for proposals in the field of hearing research to be considered for the 2008 Eugene L. Derlacki, M.D. Grant.

This grant provides a maximum of $25,000 per year for two years. It is dedicated to hearing research and is intended for more significant research projects requiring funding that extend beyond the usual AHRF grant of $20,000.

This grant is named in honor of Eugene L. Derlacki, M.D., who dedicated more than 50 years to the field of otolaryngology and to helping the hearing impaired community.…

The Eugene L. Derlacki, M.D. Grant is awarded for excellence in the field of hearing research. This grant provides $25,000 per year for two years, for a total award of $50,000. It is dedicated to hearing research and is intended for more significant research projects requiring funding that extends beyond the normal AHRF grant of $20,000.

The grant is named in honor of Eugene L. Derlacki, M.D., who has dedicated more than 50 years to the field of otolaryngology and to helping the hearing-impaired community. Dr. Derlacki co-founded the American Hearing Research Foundation and served as President of its Board of…

 Grant application (pdf)

The American Hearing Research Foundation (AHRF), together with the Northwestern Memorial Foundation (NMF) give the Georgia Birtman Grant, named in honor of long-time supporter of the AHRF Georgia Birtman. Birtman, a school teacher with a hearing impairment, left the AHRF $2.1 million in 1991. The one-year $75,000 grant supports the advancement of research and education in otology and neurotology.

The grant is awarded to an exceptional researcher in audiology, otology or neurotology who will work in a lab at Northwestern University. The research topic involves some aspect of the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of hearing…

A.W. “Bill” Altorfer, 85 of Peoria, died on Thursday, November 16 at the Apostolic Christian Skyline.

Mr. Altorfer served on the American Hearing Research Board of Directors since 1971, and was on the National Advisory Board of Directors for several years.

He was in research and development at ABC Washing Machine Co. until 1953, when he and his brother founded United Facilities in East Peoria. He most recently served as Chairman.

He graduated from Peoria High and the University of Illinois at Champaign, where he was a member of the Delta Epsilon fraternity. He was a longtime…

George A. Sisson, Jr., MD, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Hearing Research Foundation from 1975 to 1982, passed away on Sunday, August 6, 2006. Dr. Sisson was Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology and part of the medical staff at Northwestern University’s School of Medicine for more than 25 years until he retired in 1993.

His research has focused on cancer of the head and neck and surgery. He helped found the Yul Brynner Head and Neck Cancer Foundation as a result of an unplanned meeting of the actor Yul Brynner, who developed hoarseness before a…