Brian Fligor, ScD
| Department | Audiology/Otolaryngology and Communication Enhancement |
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| Hospital Title | Director of Diagnostic Audiology | |
| Academic Title | Instructor of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School | |
| Phone | 617-355-6461 | |
| Fax | 617-730-0320 | |
| Brian Fligor | ||
| Location |
300 Longwood Avenue LO-367 Boston MA 02115 |
Research Overview
1. Influence of ambient noise and attitudes and beliefs about noise-induced hearing loss on teenager’s chosen listening levels using portable listening devices (Mentor and Co-PI).
- I am primary advisor to a recent Ph.D. audiology graduate from University of Colorado, mentoring his research in hearing loss risk from personal listening devices.
2. Noise Exposure Estimates of Urban MP3 Player Users (Co-PI)
- I am senior author and Co-PI on studies estimating noise exposure and associated risk for noise-induced hearing loss from using personal listening devices with earphones (MP3 players) in adults in New York City and Boston.
3. Incidence of ototoxicity in children treated with cisplatin chemotherapy for germ cell tumors. (Mentor and Co-Investigator)
- I am co-investigator on a mentored student research study of the incidence and severity of sensorineural hearing loss in children with a diagnosis of germ cell tumors treated with cisplatin chemotherapy. Data are from hospitals across North America reporting to the AGCT-0132 Technical Committee of the children’s Oncology Group. Work from this group has resulted in a grading scale I co-authored and published in 2009 being adopted as the basis for a proposed international grading scale for cisplatin ototoxicity.
4. Audiologic Findings in Children with Progeria (Co-Investigator)
- I am collecting and analyzing the audiologic phenotype of children with Progeria; of the 150 known cases of Progeria in the world, I have data on 63 patients. Results of the first 2-year interventional study are in review in Nature Medicine.
5. An Observational Study to Assess the Natural History Including Growth and Hearing in Patients in Patients With Cockayne Syndrome
- The purpose of this study is to collect the current medical condition (hearing and physical inventory) and assess changes in growth that occur in the predominance of patients with Cockayne syndrome. Hearing test results have tabulated with the severity of hearing loss and correlated with age, growth, and gene mutation involved.
About Brian Fligor
Brian Fligor, ScD, is Director of Diagnostic Audiology at Children’s Hospital Boston and Instructor in Otology and Laryngology at Harvard Medical School. His primary research interests are investigating causes of acquired hearing loss from ototoxicity and noise. Publications describing factors associated with hearing loss from medical interventions have helped shape recommendations by the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (2007) and proposed new ototoxicity grading scales for patients treated with chemotherapy. Dr. Fligor is a member of the Children’s Oncology Group and chair of the Music-induced Hearing Disorders taskforce for the National Hearing Conservation Association. Dr. Fligor’s work on potential for noise-induced hearing loss from using portable media players with headphones has received considerable popular media attention, including being spoofed on David Letterman’s show in 2005.
Key Publications
1. Fligor BJ, Cox LC. Output levels of commercially available compact disc players and the potential risk to hearing. Ear and Hearing 2004;25:513-27.
2. Fligor BJ, Neault MW, Mullen CH, Feldman HA, Jones DT. Factors associated with sensorineural hearing loss in survivors of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy. Pediatrics 2005;115(6):1519-28.
3. Lewis MJ, DuBois SG, Fligor BJ, Li X, Goorin A, Grier HE. Ototoxicity in children treated for osteosarcoma. Pediatric Blood and Cancer, 2009;52:387-391.
4. Fligor BJ. Risk for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss from Use of Portable Media Players: A Summary of Evidence Through 2008. Perspectives on Audiology, 2009;5(1):10-20.
5. Fligor BJ. Personal listening devices and hearing loss: seeking evidence of a long term problem through a successful short-term investigation. Noise & Health. 2009;11(44):129-31.
6. Levey S, Levey T, Fligor BJ. Noise exposure estimates of urban MP3 player users. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research. 2011; 54(1):263-77
7. Fligor BJ, Mullen CH. Audiological monitoring for ototoxicity in medically complex children. Seminars in Hearing. 2011;32(3):273-280.
8. Portnuff CDF, Fligor BJ, Arehart KH. Teenage use of portable listening devices: A hazard to hearing? Journal of the American Academy of Audiology. 2011;22:663-677.
