Better ways to find what causes hearing loss
What Causes Hearing Loss: Advancing the Methods
This project will create improved tools that combine hearing test patterns and people’s reports of their hearing to better understand hearing loss in adults.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Harvard University D/b/a Harvard School of Public Health NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11370204 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From a patient perspective, researchers will look at the full shape of your audiogram across all frequencies instead of just an average hearing number. They will combine those audiogram patterns with self-reported hearing trouble and use new statistical and machine‑learning methods to find meaningful hearing phenotypes. The team will apply these methods to large existing US datasets (including NHS II, MUSC Hearing Study, and NHANES). They will also make user-friendly software so clinicians and researchers can use the new tools.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults with measured audiograms or who report hearing problems—especially those enrolled in large health or hearing cohorts—are the kinds of people whose data this work focuses on.
Not a fit: People without audiometric testing or without any hearing complaints are unlikely to see direct benefit from this specific project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could let clinicians identify different types and causes of hearing loss more precisely, which could improve prevention and treatment choices.
How similar studies have performed: This builds on prior statistical work in hearing data, but integrating audiogram-shape analysis with self-report data and providing public software is a relatively new and novel approach.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Harvard University D/b/a Harvard School of Public Health — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wang, Molin — Harvard University D/b/a Harvard School of Public Health
- Study coordinator: Wang, Molin
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.