4 minute read
StartWithERG
Seed funding for projects across the entire spectrum of hearing and balance
Why I Appreciate My
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#StartWithERG By Gail M. Seigel, Ph.D.
I was immersed in science at a very early age. My parents are a retired pharmacist and a nurse so I grew up reading the Merck Index and MedicalSurgical Nursing books. When I was very young I wanted to be a veterinarian, but later realized I wanted to work with smaller creatures—cells.
My doctorate is in microbiology/immunology, but when the time came for my postdoctoral fellowship, I found a very interesting lab studying retinal cell biology and pursued that.
Once I arrived at the University at Buffalo, I encountered some wonderful scientists in the Center for Hearing and Deafness, led by Richard Salvi, Ph.D. We found many common points of interest that led to fruitful areas of research that continue to this day. My lab is known as the Ocular and Auditory Neuroscience Lab, as we combine the best of both worlds as part of the center.
This Emerging Research Grant represents the first awarded to me for auditory neuroscience, planned in conjunction with colleagues at the center. As such it is a career milestone—important not only for our tinnitus project, but also because of the gravitas it provides my research program for future funding opportunities in the field of auditory neuroscience.
In the short term, I hope that people living with hearing and balance conditions can find relief and comfort. In the long term, I hope that new treatments will emerge that will provide permanent solutions. Funding through the Emerging Research Grants program is an integral part of the pipeline from research idea to therapeutics.
Personal Connection
It was about 10 years ago that I woke up one morning and noticed a sound that I hadn’t heard before. I was recovering from an upper respiratory infection, so I thought that maybe it was just congestion.
But the sound persisted. It was especially troublesome in those quiet minutes (or hours) when I was trying to fall asleep at night. I made an appointment with an ENT (ear, nose, and throat specialist), but I couldn’t get in to see him for three months.
As I waited I continued to be very disturbed by the sound. Fortunately an audiology graduate student at the center volunteered to do a hearing test. I was
reassured that my hearing was actually typical for my age, which was about 50 at the time.
I also figured out that I could use an app on my phone that would generate white noise. At bedtime I kept the app running next to my bed and it masked the unwanted sound and allowed me to sleep. I also often like to use the sleep timer on my TV at night and it provides relief. The ENT eventually confirmed what I already knew—I had tinnitus and that although it was an annoyance, it was not something life threatening.
Even before the tinnitus, I have always been very careful with the sound level when I play music. During the pandemic, I’ve been playing in a virtual Quarantine Band, where the sound is at a manageable level since I play alone in a room. But normally, in loud band rehearsals, I have musicians’ earplugs and a decibel app on my phone to monitor the sound intensity around me. I also try not to sit directly in front of the trumpets! Now that we are vaccinated, I am looking forward to playing shoulder to shoulder with my musical friends again.
I am also on the board of the Rochester NY March for Science, promoting scientific outreach, especially to underserved populations. While we haven’t reopened yet, I am looking forward to again hosting a monthly “Ask a Scientist” booth at our farmers market where we highlight local scientists and present kid-friendly science demonstrations.
And as of late May 2021, my lab is at full capacity again. I finally saw my grad student in person for the first time in over a year. We even ran separate experiments in the lab at the same time! After she left, I was alone and took off my mask for a photo op to mark the occasion.
Above left: Gail Seigel, Ph.D., and her fellow musicians formed a Quarantine Band to keep practicing together. She is in the top row, third box from the left, and also in the second row from the bottom, with her clarinet and a large flag visible.
Above right: Seigel’s music room at home doubled as her microscope room during the pandemic.
Opposite page: With mask and other COVID-19 rules increasingly relaxed, Seigel has been back in her lab at the University at Buffalo.
Gail M. Seigel, Ph.D., is a research associate professor in the Center for Hearing and Deafness at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, where she runs the Ocular and Auditory Neuroscience Lab. Her 2019 Emerging Research Grant was generously supported by donors to Hearing Health Foundation. Seigel published a memoir in 2015 during her time in Buffalo, “Academania: My Life in the Trenches of Biomedical Research.” For more, see hhf.org/erg and #StartWithERG on social media.
