Federal Grant Award Summary

Father Flanagan's Boys' Home received a $213,915 Project Grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173), effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029. The award funds research investigating appropriate hearing device candidacy in children with moderate-to-severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The research program will conduct cross-sectional and longitudinal studies to characterize developmental outcomes in children using hearing aids (HAs) compared to those who have transitioned to cochlear implants (CIs), with the goal of establishing evidence-based device candidacy guidelines for this understudied population. Specific aims include evaluating candidacy factors in HA users (Aim 1) and analyzing outcomes in children who transitioned from HAs to CIs (Aim 2) to identify indicators of CI candidacy based on auditory access and diminishing benefit from appropriately fitted and consistently worn hearing aids.

The research addresses a documented gap in clinical consensus regarding device selection for children with moderate-to-severe hearing loss, a population currently lacking clear evidence-based recommendations that has resulted in inconsistent decision-making by professionals and parents. By establishing objective criteria for device candidacy, this research will enable more timely and appropriate intervention decisions, potentially reducing developmental delays and improving outcomes relative to children's maximum potential.