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.

Grants Awarded: 2010/2011

Awards totalling £348,540 were agreed during the year ending 31 July 2011

MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY: Grants totalling £58,375

• £2,250 – Dr Walter Marcotti, University of Sheffield. Grant ref: 541. Equipment grant: Perfusion system and holder
• £15,000 – 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
• £6,825 – Dr Sally Dawson, University College London Ear Institute. Grant ref: 444 Bridging funding: The Haigh Fellowship in age-related deafness
• £4,300 – Dr Nicolas Daudet, University College London Ear Institute. Grant ref: 547 Small Project grant: Analysis of auditory function and hair cell stereocilia in the plastin1 (Pls1) knock-out mouse.
• £15,000 – Professor Carole Hackney, University of Sheffield. Grant ref: 545 Small Project grant: Innervation of the hair cells of diminuendo mice mutants
• £15,000 – Professor Matthew Holley, University of Sheffield. Grant ref: 553 Small Project grant: Regulation of inner hair cell differentiation - controlling the production of auditory sensory hair cells

GENETICS OF DEAFNESS: Grants totalling £25,255

• £25,225 – Dr Maria Bitner-Glindzicz, Institute of Child Health, University College London. Grant ref: 557. Project grant: Mapping and identification of genes causing deafness among Bangladeshi children in East London.

TINNITUS: Grants totalling: £84,633

• £69,885 – Professor Deb Hall, Nottingham Trent University. Grant ref: 537. Studentship: Innovative approaches for characterising tinnitus: EEG and fMRI measures of spontaneous cognitive activity and inter-regional connectivity in the human brain
• £14,748 – Dr Shuzo Sakata, Strathclyde University. Grant ref: 552. Small Project Grant: Cell-type-specific neural activity in the auditory cortex of a tinnitus model

IMPROVING BENEFIT FROM HEARING AIDS: Grants totalling £7,888

• £7,888 - Professor Quentin Summerfield, University of York. Grant Ref: 539 Equipment: Apparatus for measuring skills in spatial listening: the AB-York Crescent of Sound

CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSING: Grants totalling £42,964

• £14,880 – Dr Jennifer Linden, University College London Ear Institute. Grant ref: 549 Small Project grant: The function of different classes of inhibitory cells in the auditory cortex - an optogenetic approach
• £14,964 – Professor Quentin Summerfield, University of York. Grant ref: 540 Small project grant: Measuring human brain processes during sound localisation
• £13,120 – Dr Chris Sumner, MRC Institute of Hearing Research. Grant ref: 554 Small project grant: Mode-locked encoding of stimulus envelope throughout the cochlear nucleus.

OTITIS MEDIA WITH EFFUSION: Grants totalling: £0

DETECTION, SCREENING AND REHABILITATION: Grants totalling £0

IMPROVING BENEFIT FROM COCHLEAR IMPLANTS: Grants totalling £87,325

• £4,500 – Dr Ruth Taylor, University College London Ear Institute. Grant ref: 542. Equipment grant: Skeeter Otologic Drill System and components
• £67,894 – Professor Andrew Faulkner, University College London. Grant ref: 538. Studentship grant: Pitch perception and production in children with cochlear implants
• £14,931 – Dr Ian Winter, Cambridge University. Grant ref: 551. Small Project grant: The effects of refractoriness on the neural response to pulse trains presented with a cochlear implant

OTHER: £0

INFRASTRUCTURE: Grants totalling: £29,330

• £29,330 – Professor David McAlpine, University College London Ear Institute. Grant ref. 482. Research Fund grant: Research into the cellular, molecular and physiological basis of deafness

TRAVEL: Grants totalling: £10,250

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 2011 and the Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses 2011, Asilomar Conference Center California. The Pauline Ashley Prize was awarded to enable one scientist to gain research experience in a laboratory overseas. Six other grants were awarded to researchers to attend the Annual American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) Conference, Society for Neuroscience Annual Meetingm, TRI Tinnitus Conference, 6th Clusterin/ApoJ workshop and The 10th International Symposium: Recent advances in Otitis Media.

MEETING SPONSORSHIP: Grants totalling: £1,000

• £1,000 – Jan Deevey, British Society of Audiology. Grant ref: 555 Sponsorship of the Ted Evans Lecture at the BSA Conference7th-9th September 2011

VACATION SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME 2010: Grants totalling: £1,520

• Undergraduate student summer placements were awarded to the following laboratory: Dr Jonathan Gale, University College London Ear Institute, grant ref: 544

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 2011, copies of which are available on request, free of charge.