Interdisciplinary Research on Hearing and Vision Loss in the Aging Population
Fact: for individuals over 75 in the United States, 50% have disabling hearing loss and 15% have severe vision loss.
Hearing and vision loss have major societal impacts beyond the loss of the sensation including depression, isolation, and loneliness, particularly among women. Currently available treatment and therapies have limitations that do not fully meet the needs of the affected individuals as they navigate through their communities. Historically, research flowed from bench to bedside with treatments being developed by basic researchers without understanding the needs and impacts on their patient populations.
The new research paradigm involves a circular system of information flowing from bench to bedside and back again to tailor research in order to meet the complete needs of patient communities. This teams includes representatives from multiple levels of research and understanding of experiences from the target population. Proposed interdisciplinary interactions will better inform researchers how their work can impact the work of other fields. In this way, researchers can ask more pertinent questions that won’t only be of interest to their own niche, but the hearing and vision loss interdisciplinary field as a whole. The grant is intended to foster new communications and provide initial funding to gather preliminary data and external funding that will yield results in future studies and influence the basic research on these disorders.
Meet the team working to solve what Dr. Montgomery calls a wicked problem:
RFP: Interdisciplinary Research Award
Applications are due by 5:00 pm on Friday, October 29.
Teams of at least two investigators from different departments can apply for up to $10,000 in funding for the purpose of bringing together researchers on this broad topic, funding preliminary data collection, and preparing extramural grant proposals. The award may be used for research supplies, student stipend, travel, or participant compensation. It may not be used for faculty salary or tuition. The application requires a single-spaced project description (up to 3 pages), a budget, and team member CVs.
Read more about the Interdisciplinary Team Excellence Enhancement Grant, which is funded by the Office of Research and Innovation, the Office of the President Meader Endowment, and the Office of the Provost.
