Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, by courtesy
University of Maryland
Dr. Melissa Caras is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research program seeks to reveal the neural circuit basis for auditory perception, with a specific focus on experience-dependent plasticity. Prior to joining the University of Maryland, Dr. Caras completed postdoctoral training at New York University’s Center for Neural Science, where she examined the central consequences of developmental hearing loss, and a Ph.D. at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she explored the impact of sex-steroid hormones on auditory processing in wild-caught songbirds.
This award recognizes accomplishment and promise in research related to otolaryngology in an area(s) represented at the Annual ARO MidWinter Meeting. Candidates should have a graduate degree (PhD, MD, or equivalent) and be no more than 7 years beyond residency or postdoctoral training at the time of nomination. Only 1 letter of support is required; it may have multiple signatories. The selection will be made in November 2024, before the 2025 Midwinter meeting.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: Geraldine Dietz Fox Young Investigator Award
The Association for Research in Otolaryngology will start accepting nominations for the 2026 Geraldine Dietz Fox Young Investigator Award in July 2025.
ABOUT THE ARO YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD
This award recognizes accomplishment and promise in research related to otolaryngology in an area(s) represented at the annual ARO meeting. Candidates should have a graduate degree (PhD, MD, or equivalent), show accomplishment and promise in research related to otolaryngology, and be no more than 7 years beyond residency or postdoctoral training at the time of nomination. The awardee will be asked to give a scientific talk at the 2025 meeting.
REMINDER: ARO membership is not required for nominators or nominees.
Please read carefully before submitting.
NOMINATION Requirements:
Nominations should include the following:
Nominations are meticulously selected by the ARO Award Committee and then submitted to the ARO Council for approval. A nominee’s package will be considered for up to 3 years in sequence; the package can be updated for the second and third years. Nominations submitted in previous years without meeting the new standards should be resubmitted, ensuring a fair and comprehensive evaluation.
