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| Berrylin J. Ferguson, MD Research Chairman |
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Research funding has not only become an AAOA Foundation priority,
but due to investment management and generous donations, the
organization has developed significant funds that can be committed
to research. My priority has been to develop a standardized
approach to research funding that allows for a wide range of
applicants, supports the AAOA/F goals, and is accountable to
the Board and the membership. To this end, a standard AAOA Foundation
Research Funding Application has been developed. Grant recipients
have been made accountable for disbursed funds, and presentations
are not being considered for grants unless a completed manuscript
is received.
The next step was to develop a repeating research cycle that will
allow us to advertise for high quality applicants and will permit
a seamless flow from the point where the Foundation determines research
priorities to the finished report by the investigator. The following
timeline has been developed for our annual cycles. We have expanded
this cycle to include a second review cycle to encourage more grant
applications and to accommodate the resident training cycle. We
are now accepting applications for the new June 30th review deadline.
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| COSM Foundation reviews research committee
reports of progress made in funded studies, announces the studies
funded for the present year (recipients were alerted Feb. 15th),
and determines priority of research needs for the immediate
and future cycles. When a study has concluded, plans for follow-on
work and publication are presented. |
| Interest on AAOA Foundation research accounts
is posted, allowing a decision on the amount of funding available
for the next grant cycle. |
| Money available is placed according to the
May Foundation/ Board priorities into grants available for competitive
research applications. Interim 6 –month report from funded
projects due to the research coordinator. |
| Request for applications (RFAs) are circulated
at the meeting, in both AAOA Foundation and AAO-HNS literature.
Progress of funded studies is reviewed. Presen-tations and publications
of completed studies are announced. |
| Deadline for applications for
the funding cycle. |
| Grants awarded and recipients
notified; annual reports from funded projects are
due to the research chairman. |
| The AAOA Research Committee reviews
grant applications
twice a year. The grant deadlines are December 31st and
June 30th. |
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- Studies which are of clinical interest to the member-ship
and utilize AAOA techniques.
- Basic science and clinical pilot studies ($5000
or less) which can generate preliminary data to support
applications to larger funding sources such as the
AAO-HNS CORE research program or the NIH.
- Larger funding requests will be considered at the
discretion of the committee, however indirect costs
and investigator salary support will not be provided.
- All funded studies are expected to submit the results
for consideration for presentation at the AAOA annual
meeting and for publication in the journal of the
AAOA–Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.
- Membership in the AAOA is not required for consideration
of research proposal, but is encouraged.
- Residents are encouraged to apply for these grants.
Potential project themes are listed. Since these are
pilot programs, each protocol should include 20 subjects
(10 subjects and 10 controls), be completed in 12
months, and will be eligible for up to $5,000 of funding.
Studies which have controls, preferably double-blinded,
will be given priority.
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IDT (intradermal dilutional titration)
IPDFT (intradermal progressive dilutional food test)
In vitro (RAST or ELISA)
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- Results from use of these techniques
- Comparison with other techniques –ie, prick
or multi-test prick
- Technical details of sensitivity or specificity
of techniques
- Especially helpful would be comparison of our techniques
with allergen challenges–intranasal, oral, intrapulmonary,
conjunctival, etc.)
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(using AAOA Techniques)
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- Incidence of inhalant test positives in a geographic
area or specific population.
- Incidence of food test positives in an ethnic population.
- Incidence of either positive inhalants or foods
in specific ENT diseases. Asero R., Bottazzi G. (Annals
Allergy Asthma Immunology 2001; 86:283-5) recently
reported that over 23% of patients withpolyps had
Candida allergy compared to < 1% of patients with
seasonal allergic rhinitis. Studies such as this using
intradermal dilutional techniques would be very straightforward
in application (eg,non-polyp chronic rhinosinusitis,
vs. polypoid rhinosinusitis, etc).
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(especially double-blinded trials)
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1. Does Allergy Management by Environmental Controls and Immunotherapy make a difference in:
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- Complications
- Need for Surgery
- Subsequent surgeries
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2. Does Allergy Management by Environmental Controls
and Immunotherapy make a difference in:
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- Sinus Cripples
- Nasal Polyps
- Chronic Otorrhea
- External Otitis (esp. Rx with TOE fungal antigens)
- Chronic Tonsillitis
- Chronic Laryngitis
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(especially double-blinded trials)
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- Histamine for headache, vertigo, polyps, or other
uses.
- Immunotherapy for specific diseases (rhinosinusitis,
serous otitis, chronic laryngitis, Meniere’s
disease, etc.
- Food Diets for specific diseases (GERD, postnasal
drip, migraine, urticaria, eczema, asthma, etc).
- Food Immunotherapy, with or without food diets.
- Heparin or low mol. wt. Heparin animal study comparing
efficacy of both forms. Topical for chronic external
otitis IV for acute allergy emergency Anaphylaxis
Asthma Urticaria
- Flu vaccine as a generic treatment for viral URIs
or herpes simplex.
- Combined use of Immunotherapy with a leukotriene
modifier versus single therapy with either, for nasal
obstruction or polyps, or for urticaria.
- Combined use of Immunotherapy with an intranasal
steroid spray versus single therapy with either, for
nasal obstruction or polyps.
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