otohns.net Conference Coverage COSM 2000

otohns.net Conference Coverage
COSM 2000 - Orlando, FL - May 2000

"Research Grants"
Barbara Nesbitt, Executive Editor MediSpecialty.com, speaks with Bob Doubek from the Deafness Research Foundation
Audio/Video Link
*requires RealPlayer - free download

Barbara Nesbitt: “Hello, I’m Barbara Nesbitt and I am in Orlando, Florida at COSM 2000. I have the pleasure of being with Bob Doubek who is from the Deafness Research Foundation. We had been by your booth yesterday and found you have a really wonderful program that’s going on. First, would you explain what the Deafness Research Foundation is all about, Bob?”

Bob Doubek: “Thank you very much, Barbara, for this opportunity. The Deafness Research Foundation is America’s largest voluntary private funder of research into the ultimate cure of deafness. DRF was founded in 1958, and over the last forty-two years has given up to $20 million in research grants primarily to MD’s and Ph.D.’s interested in the field of otologic research. DRF has been in the chain of causation of many of the miraculous achievements that we are now realizing in hearing health. Our scientists have worked on treatments for otitis media, and our research grants have led to the development of the Cochlear implant which is the miraculous device that can actually create hearing in children who would otherwise be deaf. We gave some of the research grants in the area of inner ear hair cell regeneration which is actually the ultimate promise to cure deafness.”

Barbara Nesbitt: “So tell me about the grants because we’re interested in that. How does one go about applying for it? Who would you be giving it to, and what would you expect from them?”

Bob Doubek: “We have a very rigorous and established grants program and the grant cycle is an annual one, and grants in effect are due on June 1st. Now because we’ve expanded the grants program, those applications are due on June 12th this year but our basic research grant is a $20,000 annual grant, and this is awarded to basically an investigator who is primarily connected with a university or a research laboratory. Grants are limited to US institutions. These are usually MD’s and Ph.D.’s who apply, and primarily it is the younger investigators who are encouraged to apply, people who perhaps have never applied for a grant before. Of course, we sometimes give grants to establish researchers who come up with a unique and innovative field of research, and in effect, DRF is somewhat of a venture capital firm - we provide seed capital to new people and to new ideas. We provide in the range of thirty grants annually, and we are seeking to expand the program and get more people interested in the area. This year, we’ve enlarged our grants program in two ways; we have decided to offer up to five $50,000 annual grants and the second enlargement of the program that in the past we have given research grants generally on a one-year period but this year we’ve expanded the period to three years. So you can actually apply going in for three years of funding and you can come with the expectancy of being funded subject to achieving good progress on an annual basis.”

Barbara Nesbitt: “That’s good.”

Bob Doubek: “The grants are due on June 12th, and they are distributed to a scientific review committee composed of some of the leading researchers in the field who are actually kept anonymous so not to in any way lead anyone to lobby, and these are brought together in early September. They meet as a committee and provide scores to the grants, and then at the DRF’s Annual Board of Director’s Meeting in December, our Grants Approval Board actually comes together and makes a decision on which grants to fund.”

Barbara Nesbitt: “Very good, how does one go about applying for this grant? Are they put up by a department?”

Bob Doubek: “You apply for the grant by submitting the application, and the application forms are available in many ways. First, you can go to the Deafness Research Foundation website at www.drf.org, a second way is to telephone our office in Washington, D.C. - that’s at area code 202-289-5850. You can fax us at 202-682-0356 and you can request one by e-mail by sending an e-mail to mychelle@drf.org, and the application form is downloadable from our website.”

Barbara Nesbitt: “That’s good. I appreciate you talking with us about this. What we’d like to do is put this up on the website and also put up a link to your website so that anyone who would watch this video or read the transcript can then go to your website. I think it’s a marvelous thing that you have it available, and I certainly hope we can help spread the word for you.”

Bob Doubek: “Thank you very much.”

Barbara Nesbitt: “Thank you very much.”