This application requests funding to support two new and unique additions to the annual meeting of the American Auditory Society (AAS). The AAS was founded in 1974 as a multi-disciplinary association whose mission is to foster dissemination of knowledge and exchange of information about hearing and balance among professionals in Otolaryngology, Audiology and the Hearing Industry. Until 1999, this mission was accomplished through journal publication (Ear and Hearing), special sessions at other professional meetings and through our own meetings held in conjunction with other related professional conferences (ASHA, AAA, AAOO, IHAC). Since 1999 we have held our own stand-alone conferences. These meetings have been well attended (approximately 200 attendees each year) and represent a unique opportunity to share the latest applied, clinical research in otolaryngology, audiology and prosthetic development in a small meeting venue. The requested additions to the AAS meeting are a lecture series in translational research and a sponsored poster session for mentored student research. The purpose of the translational research lectures is to facilitate the transfer of basic research findings into clinical application. While there are excellent meetings for basic research in these fields, fewer opportunities exist for the presentation of rigorous clinical research and there is no one venue for the integration of both basic and applied research. The purpose of the poster session for mentored student research is to promote the future of our disciplines through recognition and mentorship of doctoral students in Audiology. The profession of Audiology has reached a crisis level in the training of professionals interested in careers in research. There has been a constant decline in the number of Ph.D. audiology graduates (69% fewer since 1990) and fewer and fewer of those graduates enter academic or research careers. We propose a poster session venue designed to showcase doctoral student research and encourage individual interaction of students with noted scientists and mentors in Audiology, Otolaryngology and Bioengineering. The addition of these speakers and student poster session will provide a unique opportunity for the integration of basic scientific study to be presented in a format which will encourage its application to clinical practice and which will promote future research in Audiology through the development of doctoral student research.
