research
Science Doesn’t Stop
>> >> >> For Hearing Health Foundation researchers, the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown presented challenges as well as opportunities for creativity.
“In order to keep our work going at home during the pandemic lockdown, I set up my music room into a microscope room. The music stand makes a handy slide display for my Emerging Research Grants (ERG) project investigating hyperacusis. Also taking place in my musical microscope room are recordings for our #QuarantineBand performances that we record and upload to YouTube.” —2019 ERG scientist Gail Seigel, Ph.D. (above), University at Buffalo, State University of New York
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“Although the pandemic effectively put a halt to all experimental work in my lab, it struck at a time where we had just finished the final round of our two-photon imaging experiments, generously funded by my Emerging Research Grant. Given the large datasets we collect in these experiments—hundreds of gigabytes— data analyses often take longer than data collection! So my team and I have been performing our data analyses remotely, from the comfort of our own homes, with more than enough data to keep us busy for a while.” —2019 ERG scientist Pierre Apostolides, Ph.D., Kresge Hearing Institute, University of Michigan
“I am tremendously grateful that I am able to tell my postdocs who receive funding through our HRP/HHFfunded project that they do not have to worry. Most of our lab members do not have local family ties—their families are far away, out of state, and in other countries. The personal level of stress that some individuals have to deal with at this time is truly unprecedented. All of our funding agencies have been exemplary in supporting us, which provides important financial stability, security of a place to live, and an environment where working from home is actually possible. Thank you and HHF’s supporters for this!” —Hearing Restoration Project member Stefan Heller, Ph.D., Stanford University
