# Role and Mechanism of Hearing Impairment in Cognitive Decline and Dementia

> **NIH NIH K01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $126,319

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Jennifer A. Deal is an epidemiologist and gerontologist, with a position as Assistant Scientist in the Department
of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Medicine and a secondary appointment in the
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She seeks a
mentored career development award to fill knowledge gaps in her current training so that her research can
successfully bridge the diverse fields of cognitive aging, audiology, otolaryngology, epidemiology and cognitive
neuroscience in order to improve the health of older adults.
The training proposal describes a comprehensive five-year plan of formal and informal instruction in the clinical
aspects and pathophysiology of hearing impairment, as well as the acquisition, analysis and processing of
neuroimaging data in large population-based studies. The training program consists of didactic coursework
and seminars, clinic observations, and mentored research by an established and diverse team of experts.
Short-term career goals include completion and dissemination of high-quality mentored research through
publications and presentations and application for independent R01 funding beginning in the fourth year of the
award period. Long-term career goals are to be an independent investigator in the area of aging and cognitive
decline and dementia, with expertise in hearing impairment.
The specific aims of the proposed research are to quantify the independent association of HI incident dementia
and with domain-specific cognitive decline in three well-characterized prospective observational studies, to
investigate the relationship of HI with changes in brain volume over time (both in regions related to Alzheimer’s
disease and to auditory processing), and to quantify the role of vascular factors in the development of HI.
Completion of the proposed aims will elucidate the role and mechanism of hearing impairment in dementia and
domain-specific cognitive decline, providing possible targets for future clinical research with the potential to
inform efforts to prevent these adverse outcomes in older adults.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10600208
- **Project number:** 3K01AG054693-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer Anne Deal
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $126,319
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-08-15 → 2023-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10600208

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10600208, Role and Mechanism of Hearing Impairment in Cognitive Decline and Dementia (3K01AG054693-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10600208. Licensed CC0.

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