Tiffany Johnson - Ashfoundation research grant recipient
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>> The funding that I received
from the ASHA Foundation was quite helpful for me.
I received the funding about midway
through my probationary tenure period
as an assistant professor, so it was good to be able to show
to those evaluating my record that I was able
to achieve extra [inaudible] funding to support my research;
so that was a good thing and I think helpful
in a tenure decision.
I also was able to support several students working in my lab.
A PhD student received some partial funding to work
on projects associated with the grant,
and then I had several Aud students who were also working
in the lab and received some funding.
And one of those students went on to get a PhD ultimately,
and I think the exposure to research was helpful to her
and good for the field ultimately.
So the project that I was funded
by the ASHA Foundation grant was aimed at trying
to take what we do with otoacoustic emissions
in a slightly different direction.
Otoacoustic emissions are currently used widely to screen
for hearing loss, particularly in very young children.
And we know from looking at the data that we miss about half
of children who have milder amounts of hearing loss
when we screen with otoacoustic emissions, so the projects
that the grant supported were aimed at
providing some foundational efforts that would ultimately,
we hoped, lead to more sensitive identification,
more effective identification of mild hearing losses.
So the projects associated with the grant led
to several publications, and then provided pilot data
that I could include in an application to the NIH
that was funded by the NIH.
And we are just finishing up the projects associated
with that grant, and it looks like from our initial look
at the data that we are able
to make emissions a little more sensitive to mild losses,
which means we'll be able to catch them earlier
and get people the treatment they need earlier.
So the foundation project was critical
in setting all of that up.
I am very appreciative of the award that I received
from the ASHA Foundation and just the work
that the Foundation does, in general.
The funding climate right now is very challenging
and it is difficult to get grant funds. There are fewer of them
out there, and more people applying for them.
So having the Foundation money available as a mechanism
to apply to I think is just critical for any research going
in our field, so I'm very appreciative of that.
And the Foundation beyond the grant funding provides a number
of opportunities to help people in communication sciences and disorders
expand their research expertise.
And I know that I personally have benefited from several
of those, including the Lessons for Success workshop
and the Grant Reviewer Training workshops
and I'm very appreciative of the opportunities
that the Foundation has given me.
