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Research Statement

My primary scientific interests are the underlying risk factors of acquired hearing disorders such as age-related hearing loss (ARHL), tinnitus, speech-in-noise (SIN) deficits, and hyperacusis, and the sources of variation in auditory function, especially among individuals with clinically normal hearing. I use a combination of physiology, epidemiology, and genomics to approach these questions, employing both traditional statistical and modern machine learning and AI-based approaches. My goals as a researcher are to (1) identify the underlying factors impacting hearing health across the lifespan, (2) develop methods for early identification and preventative intervention for high-risk individuals, and (3) differentiate risk factors and intervention strategies at the individual level. The sum of these three goals is the advancement of the field of audiology toward the precision medicine approach, where treatment is tailored to individuals based on their genetics, environment, and lifestyle to create the best possible health outcomes.

Past: Genetic Predisposition to Age-Related Hearing Loss Affects Healthy Young Adults

Many genetic factors are known to influence the likelihood of individuals developing hearing problems throughout their lives¹. Young, healthy individuals with normal hearing show large amounts of intersubject variability in their puretone hearing thresholds (HTs), especially in the extended high frequency range (>8 kHz)². I hypothesized that the observed variance in HTs among those with normal hearing is driven in part by the same genetic factors that influence susceptibility to age-related hearing loss (ARHL) later in life. Using a novel approach, I discovered genetic factors significantly associated with HTs in healthy young adults and demonstrated that,
as a whole, genes influencing the likelihood of developing ARHL later in life could explain a similar amount of the variance in young adult HTs. These findings show that individuals who are susceptible to ARHL later in life may experience subclinical decline well before their peers and highlight the importance of early identification and intervention with these high-risk individuals. Results from this study were presented at the 2025 American Auditory Society Annual Scientific & Technology Conference in Scottsdale, AZ in a poster which won the Mentored Research Travel Award and was additionally selected for the Student Travel Award Poster Forum. A first-author manuscript for this study is currently under review.

Present: Sex-Differentiated Comorbidities of ARHL

Previous research has shown that many clinical pathologies and diseases are frequently comorbid with hearing phenotypes such as ARHL. Unraveling comorbidities is useful both for estimating an individual’s risk of pathology and for understanding their likely health outcomes. The comorbidities of ARHL have yet to be investigated in a sex-specific manner. Many fields, such as cancer, mental health, and immunology research, have used sex-stratified analysis to great effect, identifying differential associations for males and females at both the expressed trait and genetic levels and even identifying novel factors that do not appear to be significant in combined cohort studies. Therefore, for my dissertation, I am performing a sex-stratified phenome-wide co￾occurrence association study to examine sex differences in the comorbidities associated with ARHL. To complement the phenomic association study, I will also perform sex-stratified genetic association and latent causal variable analyses. When employed together, these genetic methods can identify true causal relationships between two phenotypes, even in observational studies, allowing me to further reveal the comorbidity landscape of ARHL.

Future Research Directions

Throughout my doctoral studies, I have found that different types of data can complement each other very effectively. Genetics has many uses, such as providing a non-invasive method for studying biological function and establishing causality in observational studies. Physiological data is needed for fine-grain study of auditory function and is more readily translated to clinic. Therefore, as an independent researcher, I plan to continue working with different data types at different scales to accomplish my research goals. I aim to continue my record of publishing research in high quality journals, including Nature Scientific Reports and JARO. I also intend to obtain early career funding such as an NIH R21 or an ASH Foundation grant and use those funds to develop a research program that will allow me to eventually obtain an NIH R01 grant.

Line 1: Sources of variation in MEMR and other auditory measures

My first line of research will examine the sources of intersubject variability in measures of auditory function, especially the middle ear muscle reflex (MEMR). While monogenic conditions that greatly impact or completely eliminate the presence of the MEMR are known, little is known about the complex genetic sources of the variations that can be seen in individuals with healthy hearing. Uncovering these genetic sources of variability will lead to better understanding of the underlying biology behind the MEMR, whose exact circuitry and function remains somewhat unclear. I will also examine other potential factors influencing the MEMR and other measures of auditory function, including lifestyle factors and hormones.

Line 2: Epidemiology and biobank-scale genomics

My second line of research will be to utilize the large-scale biobanks, such as the UK Biobank, the Million Veterans Program, and NIH’s All of Us database, as well as public health surveys like NHANES, to study the genomic and phenomic factors influencing hearing at a population level. Using results from phenome-wide comorbidity analyses like my dissertation project, as well as genome-wide association studies, I will create comprehensive risk models for acquired hearing disorders that combine genetic and phenotypic factors using machine learning approaches. These risk models will improve the ability of clinicians to identify those individuals most at risk of developing a hearing disorder, and therefore most in need of early intervention. They will also enhance our understanding of what factors are most strongly associated with hearing health, potentially informing novel vectors for treatment.