Meet the Researcher: Samira Anderson, Au.D., Ph.D.

By Tine Aakerlund Pollard

Samira Anderson, Au.D., Ph.D.  received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University, and also holds an Au.D. from the University of Florida. Anderson is an assistant professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the University of Maryland and is a 2014 Emerging Research Grant recipient.

My experience as a clinical audiologist inspired my research. I worked for 26 years as an audiologist before deciding to pursue a Ph.D. Part of my motivation came from working with patients who struggled with their hearing aids. I was frustrated that I was unable to predict who would benefit from hearing aids based on the results of audiological evaluations.

Two people who have identical audiograms and who are fit with the same advanced hearing aids may experience vastly different results when hearing in the presence of noise. I wanted to study the way the brain processes sound, and how deficits in this process may impact the accuracy of the auditory signal reaching the brain.

To examine the neural processing of auditory input across the life span, I study the development of speech sound differentiation in infants, and the relationship between speech encoding and later language development. This information may lead to earlier identification and treatment of language-based learning impairments. 

In older adults, I am looking at the effects of aging and hearing loss on the ability to understand speech in complex environments. As we age, we begin to notice a gradual decrease in our ability to process incoming stimuli, in part due to slower speed of processing. These changes are exacerbated by hearing loss and deficits in cognitive abilities, such as memory and attention. 

Specifically in the future, I hope to determine the effects of manipulating hearing aid settings on the ability of the brain to accurately encode speech. Understanding the effects of amplification on the brain’s processing of speech means that better hearing aid processing algorithms can be developed. I would also like to compare changes in the brain’s processing of sound after wearing hearing aids alone vs. wearing hearing aids and using auditory training.

Studying language development made me interested in hearing science. My mother immigrated to the U.S. from Lebanon just before I was born, and I grew up hearing both English and Arabic. This exposure led to an interest in languages and how we first acquire spoken language as children. I was born in Southern California but grew up all over the U.S. as my father was a career Marine.

Both of my parents have hearing loss, so I have witnessed firsthand their struggles with hearing. My mother’s father was an agronomist and had a large farm in Damascus, Syria. When visiting him in Syria I would hear street vendors calling out that they had “Miqdadi cucumbers”—Miqdadi was his last name. I believe that my interest in the scientific field came from him as well as from my mother.

Read Anderson’s first-person account of her switch from the clinic to the lab and details about her research in “A Closer Look,” in the Winter 2014 issue of Hearing Health.

Samira Anderson, Au.D., Ph.D., is a General Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons International award recipient. Hearing Health Foundation would like to thank the Royal Arch Masons for their generous contributions to Emerging Research Grantees working in the area of central auditory processing disorders (CAPD). We appreciate their ongoing commitment to funding CAPD research.

We need your help supporting innovative hearing and balance science through our Emerging Research Grants program. Please make a contribution today.

2015 Emerging Research Grants Approved!

By Laura Friedman

Hearing Health Foundation is excited to announce that the 2015 Emerging Research Grants (ERG) have been approved by our Board of Directors, after a rigorous scientific review process. The areas that we are funding for the 2015 cycle are:

• Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD): Four grants were awarded for innovative research that will increase our understanding of the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of central auditory processing disorder, an umbrella term for a variety of disorders that affect the way the brain processes auditory information. All four of our CAPD grantees are General Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons International award recipients.
  

• Hyperacusis: Two grants were awarded that is focused on innovative research (e.g., animal models, brain imaging, biomarkers, electrophysiology) that will increase our understanding of the mechanisms, causes, diagnosis, and treatments of hyperacusis and severe forms of loudness intolerance. Research that explores distinctions between hyperacusis and tinnitus is of special interest. Both of our Hyperacusis grants were funded by Hyperacuis Research.
  

• Ménière’s Disease: Two grants were awarded for innovative research that will increase our understanding of the inner ear and balance disorder Ménière’s disease. One of the grants is funded by The Estate of Howard F. Schum and the other is funded by William Randolph Hearst Foundation through their William Randolph Hearst Endowed Otologic Fellowship.
  

• Tinnitus: Two grants were awarded for innovative research that will increase our understanding of the mechanisms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment of tinnitus. One of the grants is funded by the Les Paul Foundation and the other grantee is the recipient of The Todd M. Bader Research Grant of The Barbara Epstein Foundation, Inc.

To learn more about our 2015 ERG grantees and their research proposals and goals, please visit: http://hearinghealthfoundation.org/2015_researchers

Hearing Health Foundation is also currently planning for our 2016 ERG grant cycle. If you're interested in naming a research grant in any discipline within the hearing and balance space, please contact development@hhf.org.

Royal Arch Masons Renew Investment in HHF and CAPD Research

By Tara Guastella

I am thrilled to report that for the third year HHF has received a generous gift of $100,000 from the Royal Arch Masons in support of of our 2013 Emerging Researchers studying central auditory processing disorder (CAPD).

CAPD is an umbrella term for a variety of disorders that affect the way the brain processes auditory information. The outer, middle, and inner ear of individuals who have CAPD are usually normal in structure and function (peripheral hearing). But they aren’t able to fully process the information they hear, which leads to difficulties in recognizing and interpreting sounds, especially those that compose speech. It is thought that these difficulties arise from a dysfunction in the central nervous system—the brain.

Individuals who have CAPD have difficulty concentrating when in an environment that is not perfectly quiet or has some "controlled" noise in the background. Understanding a verbal message will also be a problem when trying to listen to a speaker if someone else is talking or if ambient noise is present in the background.

People with CAPD often have to work harder than others just trying to receive auditory information in a meaningful way. It is a very frustrating situation for individuals when they can hear "perfectly" but cannot process auditory speech information in a meaningful way.

One of our Royal Arch Masons–funded researchers, Ross Maddox, Ph.D., is beginning a line of research investigating the specific behavioral effects of audio-visual binding and its processing in the brain. Behavioral tests with brain imaging will be used to investigate the importance of combining information across the visual and auditory senses, and establish relationships in brain activity and behavior, an effort that could inspire new audio-logical therapies.

For over 30 years, the Royal Arch Masons have supported CAPD research efforts, making it a priority to increase funds to this much needed area of research. We are honored that the Royal Arch Masons have chosen HHF as a recipient of this support, and we are inspired by the progress of our Royal Arch Masons–funded Emerging Researchers.

We are incredibly grateful for the continued support of the Royal Arch Masons and thank them for their annual contribution.

HHF Exhibits at 92 St Y StreetFest

By Tara Guastella

HHF staff members Veronica Moreno and Ayana Anderson

On September 15, HHF sponsored and exhibited at the 92 St Y StreetFest on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. HHF staff members and volunteers from the Royal Arch Masons, a HHF major donor, had the opportunity to speak with thousands of New Yorkers and discuss how a chicken can lead us to a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus.

Chickens (and most non-mammals) can regenerate their own hair cells and as a result restore their own hearing. We explained how our Hearing Restoration Project is working to translate this process to humans in order to develop a biologic cure for hearing loss and tinnitus.

Attendees were also provided the opportunity to enter a contest to win a $50 Target gift card by guessing the number of fuzzy chicken toys in a glass jar. The winner of the contest hit the nail on the head by guessing 750 chickens! Our booth also featured an abundance of Peeps (chick-shaped, marshmallow candy), chick temporary tattoos, and a plethora of information about HHF’s work toward a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus.

Volunteers from the Royal Arch Masons with HHF staff member Tara Guastella

HHF was honored to be a part of this event to spread the word about our work. We are also extremely grateful for the support of the Royal Arch Masons for their generous help at this event and their continued support of HHF’s Emerging Research Grant Awardees studying central auditory processing disorder (CAPD).

Announcing the 2013 Emerging Research Grantees

By Tara Guastella

ERG Award Recipient

Alan Kan, Ph.D. of University of Wisconsin, Madison

We are excited to announce that 24 scientists from around the country have been awarded an Emerging Research Grant (ERG) for the 2013 funding cycle. Our grants are designed for researchers new to the field of hearing and balance science continuing a tradition which began over half a century ago.

The goal of the Emerging Research Grants program is to provide junior investigators seed funding so they can gather enough data and then move on to compete for funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH funding allows these researchers to further their careers, and the hearing research field, with longer, more sustained levels of funding.

We track the impact of our Emerging Researchers as they continue their work. Research that we have funded has led to dramatic innovations that increase options for those living with hearing loss as well as protecting those at risk. Many of our grants have led to today’s standard treatments such as cochlear implants, treatments for otitis media (ear infections), and surgical therapy for otosclerosis.

This year’s group of grantees are researching topics such as central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), hair cell regeneration, Ménière’s disease, ototoxicity (or hearing loss that occurs from certain medications), tinnitus, and Usher syndrome. 

This year’s funding cycle marked one of the largest increases in qualified applications we received for this program. While interest in hearing and balance research continues to grow, this also made the grant review process and funding decisions even more challenging. “This year’s pool of applicants was the most competitive in our organization’s 55-year history,” says Peter S. Steyger, Ph.D., HHF’s scientific director. “I have never seen so many qualified applicants with truly exceptional research endeavors in my time at the HHF. Funding decisions were extremely difficult.”

One Emerging Researcher, Alan Kan, Ph.D. (pictured above), aims to close the gap in speech understanding performance between cochlear implant users and normal hearing listeners. The primary outcome of his study will help determine whether the “better ear” strategy, attending to a target talker in the “better ear” withprocessing that separates the target talker’s speech from a noisy background, will provide a significant benefit for cochlear implant users. This work also has implications for those with CAPD and the ability to process sounds between ears. Dr. Kan is being funded by the Royal Arch Masons who support researchers studying CAPD. We thank them for their generous support.

Learn about the rest of the 2013 Emerging Research Grantees

Your donations help fund our Emerging Research Grants program, kickstarting the careers of the next generation of hearing research scientists. Thank you for helping us to prevent and cure hearing loss and tinnitus. Please make a donation today.