Congratulations to the 2024 Research Grants in Hearing and Balance Recipient

In 2024, the American Academy of Audiology awarded one $20,000 grant in the Research Grants in Hearing and Balance program. This program is funded by the American Academy of Audiology Foundation and is managed by the Academy’s Research Initiatives Task Force. The Academy and the Foundation jointly advance the grant program to promote basic and applied research in hearing and balance. The recipient of the 2024 Investigator Research Grant award is Daniel J. Romero, AuD, PhD, Vanderbilt University, for his study entitled “The Effect of Peripheral Vestibular Impairment on Spatial Memory in Adults with Chronic TBI.”

The core of Dr. Romero’s project is the idea that vestibular impairments represent an important, yet currently overlooked, aspect of traumatic brain injury (TBI). In contrast to conventional thinking that TBI does not often result in vestibular dysfunction, he proposes that peripheral vestibular impairment is common in chronic TBI. However, research is limited describing the type and severity of vestibular impairment once patients are in the chronic phase of TBI.

Patients with TBI experience a variety of spatial memory deficits. Evidence supports direct and indirect connections from the vestibular system to assist in the formation of spatial memory, which can be disrupted following a vestibular impairment. It is unknown whether chronic dizziness and imbalance related to a vestibular impairment are contributing, at least in part, to the spatial memory deficits commonly observed in this patient population. The study is organized around two aims: (i), to characterize vestibular function in chronic TBI, and (ii), to determine whether peripheral vestibular impairment contributes to spatial memory deficits in TBI. It will also help to further understand the neuroanatomical connections between the vestibular system and brain regions involved in spatial cognition in chronic TBI. The study has clinical relevance given that identifying vestibular impairments can mitigate and prevent falling and spatial cognition deficits in TBI and can be treated through simple, specialized, and effective vestibular physical therapy programs.