In Memoriam: Robert Dobie, M.D.
Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) is deeply saddened to report that Council of Scientific Trustees (CST) member and Senior Scientific Trustee Robert (Bob) Dobie, M.D., passed away on Sept. 4, 2019. Dobie spent his career committed to excellence and innovation in otolaryngology research and clinical practice. Dobie was a highly respected member of our CST, the body that governs the grantmaking process for the Emerging Research Grants
(ERG) program. His duty as a CST member was to ensure that only the most promising hearing and balance research was funded, and as senior scientific trustee, he facilitated correspondence with the press and others outside of HHF. Dobie was also an ERG alumnus who received awards in 1986, 1987, and 1988 for his research on tinnitus at University of California, Davis. Beyond his service to HHF, Dobie was a clinical professor and chairman in the department of otolaryngology– head and neck surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. He previously served as the Director of Extramural Research at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part of the National Institutes of Health, and was a founder and initial director of the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center at the University of Washington.
Dobie authored more than 200 publications and performed particularly impactful research on the effects of noise exposure on age-related hearing loss that helped inform regulatory agencies like the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the International Standards Organization, and the World Health Organization. Dobie will be fondly remembered for his compassion and influence on the understanding of hearing loss and tinnitus. “Bob has a remarkable legacy with limitless impact on science and health. Many of us have learned from reading his books and journal articles and hearing his presentations,” board member Judy Dubno, Ph.D., says. “In all these ways and many more, Bob touched so many lives and made each one better for knowing him.”
HHF Again Earns Top Charity Ratings In November 2019 Charity Navigator gave HHF four stars—indicating HHF is accountable, transparent, and financially healthy—for the fourth year in a row. Consumer Reports also included HHF as one of its “best charities for your donations” in the “blind and hearing impaired” charity category, also for the fourth year running. These two top-tier designations follow an earlier A+ rating renewal from CharityWatch in September 2019.
10
hearing health
hhf.org
For a comprehensive list summarizing the reach of our donors’ support in 2019, please visit hhf.org/impact-2019. HHF’s generous supporters are a tremendous part of why it has again achieved these top charity ratings. We sincerely thank our community of donors and supporters for being part of our mission.
Support our research: hhf.org/donate
photo credit (top left): jeffrey gould, action media productions
NEWS
HHF
