ANS Research Grant Award

Established: 2014/2015
First awarded: 2015
Funding provided by: the ANS Endowment Fund

WE ARE PLEASED TO AWARD THREE $25,000 GRANTS IN 2022!

Congratulations to the 2022 ANS Research Grant Award recipients.

The ANS Research Committee reviewed 13 applications and recommended to the Council to fund three grant recipients for the upcoming funding cycle, July 1-June 30, 2023.

Aida Nourbakhsh, MD, PhD was selected as a 2022 research grant recipient for her grant titled, “Molecular Mechanisms of Hypofractionation and Radiation Resistance in Vestibular Schwannoma.” Aida Nourbakhsh graduated from Virginia Tech majoring in Biochemistry, then she earned her PhD before completing a 2-year post-doctoral fellowship studying signal transduction in the mTOR pathway. At this time, she developed a passion for translational research and aspired to become a physician-scientist; she completed her medical degree at Virginia Commonwealth University. Currently, Aida is a PGY-2 clinical resident and has completed one year of research as a T32 resident at University of Miami. Her research interests include stem cell/gene therapy in hearing loss and studying the radiobiology of vestibular schwannoma to identify novel therapies to overcome radiation resistance.  When she is not working in the laboratory or the hospital, she enjoys Pilates and playing piano. She is an avid ballet lover.

Vivian F. Kaul, MD was selected as a 2022 research grant recipient for her grant titled, “Improving Patient Satisfaction and Quality of Life Outcomes for Cochlear Implant Patients Through an Interactive Web and Mobile-Based Patient Education Platform”. Dr. Vivian F. Kaul is a Neurotology Fellow currently at The Ohio State University. Dr. Kaul earned her BS degree in Neuroscience from the College of William and Mary. She completed her MD at UT Southwestern Medical School and went on to complete her residency training at Mount Sinai in New York, NY. Her interests include cochlear implant research, hearing preservation research as well as skull base clinical outcome optimization. Her passions include patient education and advocacy as well as education for residents and mentorship for medical students.

Amit Walia, MD was selected as a 2022 research grant recipient for his grant titled, “Predicting Performance in Background Noise for Cochlear Implant Recipients using Electrocochleography”. Amit Walia is a current fourth year T32 otolaryngology resident physician at Washington University in St. Louis. He completed his medical degree at University of Illinois in Chicago and his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and economics at Northwestern University. He is currently completing the second of a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship funded by the NIDCD. Under the mentorship of Craig Buchman, MD, his research is focused on four broad themes related to electrocochleography in cochlear implant recipients: (1) to improve hearing preservation, (2) to predict speech-perception performance, (3) to use the cochlear microphonic as a microphone for a potentially fully implantable cochlear implant, and (4) to understand the underpinnings of how the cochlea works. The focus of this project is on using electrocochleography to understand and predict post-implantation speech recognition both in quiet and in noise prior to cochlear implantation.

GRANT SUBMISSION INFORMATION

The purpose of the American Neurotology Society (ANS) Research Grant is to encourage and support academic research in sciences related to the investigation of otology and neurotology.  Appropriate areas of research include diagnosis, management, and pathogenesis of diseases of the ear and/or skull base. Grants that focus on addressing clinical gaps are especially encouraged.  Grants may involve cell/molecular studies, animal research, or human subjects research.

The maximum award request is $25,000 per year (US dollars) and is annually renewable on a competitive basis. ANS may distribute up to three $25,000 grants each finding cycle.  Indirect costs (overhead) are not allowed. Grants are available to physician investigators in the United States and Canada only. We particularly encourage those individuals without a history of K08, R03, R21, or R01 funding to apply. 

If you would like to submit a grant for consideration in 2022-23, the deadline for applications is March 1, 2022. Email a cover letter and application to Dr. Ronna Hertzano, [email protected], Chair of the ANS Research Committee and ANS Admin, Kristen Bordignon. 

ANS Grant Application Deadline is March 1st - MIDNIGHT PT 

(NO LOI REQUIRED)

Click here for Fast Facts about the ANS Research Grant!

Please click here for ANS Grant submission instructions (revised in 2021)

The American Neurotology Society Research Fund only accepts grant applications and reference letters electronically. Please prepare your application electronically and have everything including reference letters contained within one PDF. Please submit your final PDF application by email.  Reference letters may be electronically prepared and signed as PDF documents, or may be scanned as PDF documents, in order that they may be included as part of the grant application. 

The grants and reference letters are to be submitted via email to Dr. Ronna Hertzano, Chair of the American Neurotology Society Research Committee, [email protected] and Kristen Bordignon, Administrator for the American Neurotology Society, [email protected] 

Up to THREE $25,000 RESEARCH GRANTS MAY BE AWARDED

Grant Submission Deadline: March 1

Previous Recipients

ANS RESEARCH COMMITTEE - Ronna Hertzano, MD, PhD - Chair

Ronna Hertzano MD, PhD
Michael B. Gluth MD
Christine T. Dinh MD
Benjamin T. Crane MD, PhD
Susan D. Emmett MD, MPH
Aaron K Remenschneider MD
Matthew G Crowson MD, MPA, MASc