Page 68 - Winter 2020

HEARING AND SPEECH RESEARCH
Figure 1. This chart shows National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) fiscal year (FY) 2019 spending by category: 70% research project grants; 16% other/miscellaneous, including administrative costs, research and development (R&D) contracts, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contracts, Center grants, and other research grants; 9% intramural research; and 5% research training/ career development grants.
($41.7 billion). NIDCD FY2020 appropriations are a 3.4% increase over the FY2019 budget.
Figure 1 shows an overview of FY2019 spending (the latest available) by category/funding mechanisms for intramural and extramural research programs. Intramural research is research conducted by scientists at NIH. Extramural research is research conducted by scientists at US and inter- national research centers, universities, and medical centers.
Figure 2 notes the percentage of FY2019 intramural and extra- mural research spending for each of our seven mission areas.
A Broad Focus for NIDCD
Funding Opportunities
The NIDCD distributes its resources among many diverse programs and mechanisms. The institute is committed to funding the largest number of meritorious projects possible while allowing the flexibility needed to support selected program priorities and respond to emerging scientific opportunities. Our funding applicants and grantees represent diverse professional and academic programs, from biology and medicine to engineering,
physics, and mathematics—that address research ques- tions relevant to the NIDCD's multidisciplinary mission.
Examples of NIDCD support that may interest applicants from traditional and nontraditional biomedical fields include the NIDCD Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. These funding mechanisms aim to stimulate technology and research innovation with a potential for product commercialization. VocaliD is a personalized- voice product designed by NIDCD voice scientists and is now available to people with severely impaired speech. The device blends the speech of two individuals, a donor and a recipient, to recreate the recipient’s natural voice.
The NIDCD establishes general guidelines for funding based on scientific merit, responsiveness to the institute's priorities, and availability of funds. I encourage individu- als from nontraditional and traditional biomedical areas connected to our program areas to consider NIDCD as a source for research support. Please see our guidelines for more information about our funding opportunities (available at www.nidcd.nih.gov/funding).
Training the Next Generation for Success
We continue the NIDCD’s long commitment to a research environment that supports scientists in a variety of related disciplines and at all stages of their professional
Figure 2. This chart represents the percentage of FY2019 funding across the 7 mission areas of the NIDCD: 54% for hearing, 4% for balance, 5% for taste, 9% for smell, 8% for voice, 6% for speech, and 14% for language.
68 Acoustics Today • Spring 2021