Active Research

Principal Investigators: Frederick Gallun, Ph.D.

Objective: The goal of this award is to provide interim support for Dr. Gallun as he applies for Career Development Award-2 funding under the new VA Office of Research and Development career development program.

Plan: Drs. Leek and Fausti will serve as mentors in the grant writing process and in moving forward Dr. Gallun’s research experience and familiarity with the goals and methods of rehabilitation research.

Methods: Individual meetings with the two mentors will supplement the grant writing process and drafts of the career development grant will be read and critiqued by the mentors.  Simultaneously, Dr. Gallun will interact with the other PIs at the NCRAR in order to learn from them about their areas of expertise. In this way, Dr. Gallun will progress towards the ability to generate and carry out an independent research program that is appropriate to the translational goals of the NCRAR.

Progress to date: Dr. Gallun submitted a Career Development Award – 2 application on December 15, 2006, after intensive consultation between Dr. Gallun and the two mentors. Since that time, he has begun one-on-one tutorials with Dr. Leek concerning spectro-temporal modulation, Dr. Konrad-Martin regarding the use of otoacoustic emissions as a clinical tool, and visiting scholar Dr. Pamela Souza on the impact of hearing-aid compression on temporal envelopes. All three of these interactions have proceeded to the level of planning collaborative research projects. One has reached the point of stimulus design and the collaboration with Dr. Souza has proceeded to the analysis of previously collected data.