Dr. Frank Lin is a junior faculty member in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where his clinical practice is dedicated to hearing loss and otology. He previously completed a Ph.D in Clinical Investigation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where he applied conceptual models of functioning developed by the World Health Organization to the assessment of pediatric cochlear implantation (CI). With the support of this Mentored Career Development Award, Dr. Lin seeks to better understand the impact of hearing loss on the health and functioning of older adults and the role of therapeutic modalities such as CI in mitigating these effects. Dr. Lin will enhance his research knowledge and skills with coursework in geriatrics and biostatistics, receive directed mentorship by an interdisciplinary team of experienced clinical researchers, and be immersed in the interdisciplinary research and clinical environments of the Longitudinal Studies Section of the National Institute on Aging, the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health, the Johns Hopkins Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, and the Johns Hopkins Listening Center. This CDA will provide Dr. Lin with the resources that he needs to become an independent investigator and future leader in hearing loss and clinical research. Building on his prior research experience in utilizing conceptual models of health outcomes, Dr. Lin has developed a novel framework to understand and study the impact of hearing loss on older adults that draws on the fields of cognitive psychology, social epidemiology, gerontology, and the hearing sciences.
In Aim 1, he will use four established prospective datasets to study the effects of hearing loss on domains of cognition, social isolation, dementia, functional decline, health care expenditures, and mortality. This work will establish the basis for the impact of hearing loss in aging.
In Aim 2, he will prospectively recruit adult patients undergoing CI at the Listening Center into a study examining the effects of CI on domains of health and functioning. This work will inform strategies for hearing aid and cochlear implant delivery and future clinical trials of hearing loss interventions.
The impact of hearing loss on older adults is poorly understood despite the growing prevalence of hearing loss and the rapidly aging population. Studying the effects of hearing loss on critical domains of aging such as cognition, dementia, and functioning will allow us to understand how aural rehabilitative modalities and preventative interventions could be utilized to improve the health and functioning of older adults.
| Choi, Janet S; Shim, Kyoo S; Kim, Kunhwa et al. (2018) Understanding Hearing Loss and Barriers to Hearing Health Care Among Korean American Older Adults: A Focus Group Study. J Appl Gerontol 37:1344-1367 |
| Deal, Jennifer A; Betz, Josh; Yaffe, Kristine et al. (2017) Hearing Impairment and Incident Dementia and Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: The Health ABC Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 72:703-709 |
| Nirmalasari, Olivia; Mamo, Sara K; Nieman, Carrie L et al. (2017) Age-related hearing loss in older adults with cognitive impairment. Int Psychogeriatr 29:115-121 |
| Edwards, Jerri D; Lister, Jennifer J; Lin, Frank R et al. (2017) Association of Hearing Impairment and Subsequent Driving Mobility in Older Adults. Gerontologist 57:767-775 |
| Contrera, Kevin J; Sung, Yoon K; Betz, Joshua et al. (2017) Change in loneliness after intervention with cochlear implants or hearing aids. Laryngoscope 127:1885-1889 |
| Mamo, Sara K; Oh, Esther; Lin, Frank R (2017) Enhancing Communication in Adults with Dementia and Age-Related Hearing Loss. Semin Hear 38:177-183 |
| Kim, Min-Beom; Zhang, Yiyi; Chang, Yoosoo et al. (2017) Diabetes mellitus and the incidence of hearing loss: a cohort study. Int J Epidemiol 46:717-726 |
| Mamo, Sara K; Nirmalasari, Olivia; Nieman, Carrie L et al. (2017) Hearing Care Intervention for Persons with Dementia: A Pilot Study. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 25:91-101 |
| Nieman, Carrie L; Marrone, Nicole; Mamo, Sara K et al. (2017) The Baltimore HEARS Pilot Study: An Affordable, Accessible, Community-Delivered Hearing Care Intervention. Gerontologist 57:1173-1186 |
| Contrera, Kevin J; Betz, Josh; Deal, Jennifer et al. (2017) Association of Hearing Impairment and Anxiety in Older Adults. J Aging Health 29:172-184 |
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