The American Hearing Research Foundation (AHRF), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization celebrating its 60th anniversary, is now accepting research grant proposals for FY17. This year, AHRF awarded eight (8) grants totaling $201,000.
Research grant submissions are accepted throughout the Spring and Summer and are due August 1, 2016. After submission, each grant receives a thorough review by the Foundation’s Research Committee in early Fall. Subsequently, the Board of Directors meets and approves funding for grants for the following year. Priority is given to investigators early in their careers who need seed funds to generate results and data that can be used to support applications for larger grants (i.e., NIH grants) in the future. The Foundation also occasionally awards grants specifically related to the study of Meniere’s disease. Meniere’s disease grants are supported through the fundraising efforts of AHRF partner, run because, and subsidized by the Foundation.
The Foundation serves two vital roles: to fund significant research in hearing and balance disorders, and to help educate the public about hearing loss and balance disorders related to the inner ear. AHRF funds five to 10 research projects per year, with an average grant being $20,000 or $40,000, and these projects cover a wide range of research areas and are conducted in the hope that the medical community may better understand how individuals lose hearing and balance functions, how they regain them, and, most importantly, how to preserve the hearing function individuals still have. Additionally, the Foundation also awards smaller grants to Chicagoland otolaryngology residents to support research projects during their residency. Since 2010, the Foundation has funded over $1.1 million in research grants.
“The Foundation is delighted to begin accepting another round of research grant proposals for 2017 which will continue our investment into research related to hearing loss and balance disorders,” said Alan G. Micco, MD, FACS, AHRF President and Research Committee Chairperson. Richard G. Muench, longtime Chairman of the Board of Directors, added that “While scientists know that prevention is clearly the best treatment for hearing loss that isn’t always possible, so the Foundation will continue to fund research projects and support scientists across the country who are capitalizing on technological advances in search of cures and different treatment methods. Our work is far from finished.”
For more information on the Foundation, interested parties should visit www.American-Hearing.org.
The American Hearing Research Foundation (AHRF) was founded in 1956 as the Mid West Hearing Foundation by George E. Shambaugh, Jr., MD, in Chicago, IL, a renowned otolaryngologist. Dr. Shambaugh – who was joined by his colleague, friend and mentee Eugene L. Derlacki, MD, a fellow otolaryngologist, in cofounding the organization – was an expert in diseases of and defects in the inner ear, and a pioneer in surgical and chemical treatments for deafness. He took part in developing and performing some of the first successful surgical techniques to restore hearing loss. The Foundation adopted its current name in 1975.