Grants awarded
Deafness Research UK has concentrated on its unique aims by awarding grants to research teams at hospitals and universities nationwide.
Applications are assessed by scientific and medical advisers, often in consultation with independent reviewers. This rigorous scrutiny enables us to make the most efficient use of scarce funds. It underpins the charity's commitment to excellence and its determination to transform good ideas which promise a better life for deaf and hearing-impaired people, into reality.
New research awards 2008-2009
Awards totalling £680,921 were agreed during the year ending 31 July 2009.
Molecular and developmental biology
Grants totalling £242,554
£59,933 – Dr Abigail Tucker, King’s College London. Grant ref: 491
Three year studentship: Investigation and rescue of the middle ear defect in a mouse model of congenital conductive hearing loss
£48,157 – Dr Sally Dawson, University College London Ear Institute. Grant ref: 483
One year project: The cochlear hair cell stress response: characterising the role of caprin-1 using effective viral gene and siRNA delivery
£45,810 – Dr David Furness, Keele University. Grant ref: 439
Year three funding and equipment of a 3-year Project Grant of £119,570: Role of fibrocyte degeneration in age-related hearing loss and exploration of a replacement/stem cell strategy for its prevention.
£39,349 – Professor Clemens Hanemann, Peninsula Medical School. Grant ref: 487
Two year studentship: Preclinical target identification and drug testing in a human acoustic neuroma in vitro model
£20,000 – Professor Andrew Forge, University College London Ear Institute. Grant ref: 294
Consumables grant: Research relating to the prevention, repair or regeneration of the sensory cells of the inner ear
£14,135 – Dr Michiel Basson, King’s College London. Grant ref. 503
Funding for a six month project: The control of inner ear morphogenesis by Sprouty and Tbx1 genes in mouse models of velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS)
£9,251 – Dr Walter Marcotti, University of Sheffield. Grant ref. 488
Equipment: Unravelling the kinetic properties of single calcium channels in mammalian inner hair cells
£5,919 – Dr Pauline Phelan, University of Kent. Grant ref. 492
Funding for a one year project: Drosophila as a model to investigate the role of gap junctions in hearing
Tinnitus
Grants totalling: £109,373
£80,000 – Dr G Christianson, University College London Ear Institute. Grant ref: 505
Funding for a one year project: Physiology and function of the non-primary auditory pathway: contributions to noise induced tinnitus
£14,916 – Dr Martine Hamann, University of Leicester. Grant ref: 484
Small project grant: K+ channels : a target for tinnitus ?
£14,457 – Dr Lindsay St Claire, University of Bristol. Grant ref: 464
Final funding of a two-year project grant of £55,963: The impact of blind caffeine withdrawal and abstention on tinnitus
Improving benefit from hearing aids
Grants totalling £28,300
£28,300 - Professor Brian Moore, Cambridge University. Grant Ref: 462
Year two funding of a three-year project grant of £109,415: Development and evaluation of clinically applicable tests of auditory function
Central auditory processing
Grants totalling £27,005
£22,005 – Ms Katherine O’Brien, University os Southanpton. Grant ref: 497
Equipment: Synergy N5 AEP System
£5,000 – Dr Brad Backus, University College London Ear Institute. Grant ref. 486
Funding for a small project: Implementation of MOC suppression of TEOAEs
Otitis media with effusion
Grants totalling: £24,921
£24,921 – Dr Ian Williamson, University of Southampton. Grant ref: 489
Funding for a one year project: Trend in demand and illness presentation in otitis media in children, from 2001-8. A follow up study to evaluate any unmet need from reduced antibiotic use
Paediatric screening and rehabilitation
Grants totalling £19,450
£19,450 – Professor John Bamford, University of Manchester. Grant ref: 397
Final part-funding of a four-year study funded by the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund: Positive support in the lives of deaf children and their families
Improving benefit from cochlear implants
Grants totalling: £17,477
£17,477 – Dr Margaret Tait, The Ear Foundation. Grant ref: 463
Funding for year two of a two-year project grant of £36,264: Bilateral versus unilateral cochlear implantation in young profoundly deaf children
Other
Grants totalling: £4,380
£2,880 – Dr Nigel Cooper, Keele University. Grant ref: 407
Final funding for a small project grant: Mechanical studies of inner ear function
£1,500 – Miss Lauren Moorcroft, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Grant Ref: 502
Funding of a small project: A pilot study to test the effectiveness of a video demonstration to raise awareness of noise-induced hearing loss and change listening behaviours of young music lovers
Infrastructure
Grants totalling: £29,330
£29,330 – Professor David McAlpine, University College London Ear Institute. Grant ref. 482
Travel
Grants totalling: £13,791
Funds were provided to enable a number of researchers to attend various meetings and for collaborative research projects. The meetings included the ARO mid-winter meeting in 2009 and the 2009 Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses, Lake Tahoe California. The Pauline Ashley Prize was awarded to enable one scientist to gain research experience in a laboratory overseas. Three other grants were awarded to researchers to attend The International meeting for autism research (IMFAR), The Society for Neuroscience (SFN) annual conference and The Politzer Symposium.
Meeting sponsorship
Grants totalling: £5,050
£4,050 – Dr Anna Middleton, University of Cardiff. Grant ref: 481
Deafness and genetics: What do deaf people want?
£1,000 – Dr David Furness, Keele University. Grant ref: 501
Sponsorship of the Ted Evans Lecture at the BSA Short Papers Meeting 17th-18th September 2009
Vacation scholarship scheme 2009
Grants totalling: £4,290
Undergraduate student summer placements were awarded to the following laboratories:
- Professor Guy Richardson, grant ref: 493
- Dr Ifat Yasin, University College London Ear Institute, grant ref: 494
- Dr Jonathan Gale, University College London Ear Institute, grant ref: 495
Ear Institute programme
Awards totalling £155,000
£20,000 – Part funding of the Deafness Research UK / UCL Ear Institute Studentship programme
£135,000 - Part funding of the Deafness Research UK / UCL Ear Institute Fellowship programme
Note
These figures have been prepared on a cash basis and may vary from those shown in grant correspondence relating to the award and the Annual Report and Accounts, to be published October 2009, copies of which are available on request, free of charge.
