Summarized from the NIH NIDCD Website by Tara McCarty
Funding Agency: NIH’s National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Grant of Interest: Early Career Research Award (NIDCD ECR Award 21)
Research/Funding Priorities: The Early Career Research Award (NIDCD ECR Award R21) aims to support basic and clinical research from scientists who are just beginning an independent research career. The NIDCD’s biomedical and behavioral scientific mission necessitates that the research is focused on one or a combination of the following areas: hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech or language.
Types of Grants Funded: Projects typically funded include secondary analysis of data; small, self-contained research projects; development of methodology; translational research; outcomes research; and development of new research technology.
Eligibility: Only one NIDCD Early Career Research Award (ECR) R21 application may be submitted by a PD/PI per due date. Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support. The PD/PI must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or valid U.S. visa holder. The PD/PI must be no more than 7 years beyond the date that the first professional, advanced professional, or terminal academic degree was awarded, whichever is most recent.
Level of Funding provided: The combined budget for direct costs for the entire project period may not exceed $300,000. No more than $100,000 in direct costs may be requested in any single year. The scope of the proposed project should determine the project period. The maximum period of support is 3 years.
Key Issues:
- Restricted to scientists transitioning to or in the early stages of independent research career
- Purpose of grant is to acquire necessary preliminary data for a subsequent R01 application; not expected to “move the field forward” at this stage
- Purpose of project may be hypothesis driven, milestone driven or descriptive
- Also may be used as prerequisite for NIDCD K08 or K23 mentored research career development award
Deadline: Cycle I- February 26, 2020 ; Cycle II- June 26, 2020; Cycle III- October 27, 2020
Link to funding agency information on grant: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/funding/types/research-grants-r-series#R21-ECR
Link to grant specific FOA: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-18-487.html
Link to guide: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide.html
Link to electronic application: https://public.era.nih.gov/assist/public/login.era?TARGET=https%3A%2F%2Fpublic.era.nih.gov%3A443%2Fassist%2F
Examples of newly funded grants:
A) Semantic Learning Deficits in School Age Children with Developmental Language Disorders (PI: Alyson Abel, San Diego State University)
Project Start Date: 8/1/2020
Award Granted: $150,500
https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_details.cfm?aid=10046212&icde=52261180
The goal of this project is to elucidate the semantic learning deficits in DLD. Toward this goal, this project uses a combined electroencephalogram (EEG) – behavioral methods approach to examine the cognitive and linguistic processes engaged during semantic learning in school-age children with and without DLD. The inclusion of EEG will allow for a real-time examination of semantic learning and associated cognitive and linguistic processes. 10-12 year-old children with and without DLD will complete a behavioral assessment battery and semantic learning task while their EEG is collected. Behavioral data will be analyzed for semantic learning group differences (Aim 1) and the types of errors that children make when they are unable to retrieve a correct meaning (Aim 2). Findings will inform understanding of the nature of the semantic learning deficits in school-aged children with DLD. This understanding is prerequisite for targeted intervention that would help these children learn how to learn.
B) Maximizing Hearing Aid Outcomes with Spectro-Temporal Modulation Sensitivity (PI: Christi Miller, University of Washington)
Project start date: 3/15/18
Award granted: $151,996
https://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_details.cfm?aid=9902400&icde=52261632
Articles on related research:
https://leader.pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/leader.FQ.22062017.np
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6440313/
The long-term goal is to optimize a novel evidence-based, Hearing Aid (HA)-fitting intervention, by building on a strong set of preliminary data showing that sensitivity to Spectro-Temporal Modulation (STM) is a predictor of speech understanding in noise and self-reported outcomes for HA users. The first aim is to comprehensively describe the nature of the interaction between HA distortion and STM sensitivity and subsequent effects on aided outcomes using an observational approach. Under this aim, validation of suspected underlying mechanisms responsible for STM sensitivity will also be examined. The second aim is to determine the extent to which altering spectro-temporal cues, through HA manipulation, affects speech in noise performance, using a randomized, cross-sectional design. Other patient-centered variables will be assessed, such as working memory, age, and audibility, which may be responsible for remaining variability in outcomes. This work translates basic hearing science principles into clinical applications, and will have implications for individualizing existing clinical treatments.