The National Hearing Conservation Association extends its sincere thanks to all who contributed to the success of the 2026 NHCA Annual Conference and the celebration of NHCA’s 50th Anniversary. We are grateful to our attendees, sponsors, vendors, speakers, award recipients, volunteers, and partners whose engagement and support helped mark this important milestone in NHCA’s history. 

This anniversary year provided an opportunity to reflect on five decades of leadership in hearing conservation while reaffirming our commitment to advancing evidence-based prevention strategies across occupational, military, and public health settings. 

Figure 1: Clockwise from top left: Theresa Schulz receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, James Jerome, the conference chair, delivering the welcome address,  Jennifer Tufts giving the Gasaway lecture, Sridhar Krishnamurti, the Immediate Past President, presenting at the Awards Luncheon, and Frank Lin delivering the Keynote Address. 

You are welcome to peruse photos from this conference and previous events, at your leisure, here. Read the full press release to learn more about Dr. Schulz’s remarkable legacy and contributions to our profession here.  

1. Prevention of noise-induced hearing loss in children - evidence-informed recommendations for safe listening at events.Gáborján A, Koscsó G, Garai R, Tamás L, Vicsi K, Hacki T.Int J Audiol. 2025 Oct;64(10):1017-1026. doi: 10.1080/14992027.2025.2467789. Epub 2025 Feb 28.PMID: 40019193 Free article. 

2. TLR4 downregulation protects against cisplatin-induced ototoxicity in adult and pediatric patients with cancer. Lee JJW, Latif A, Scott EN, Thakral A, Mahler MB, Brooks B, Hueniken K, Billfalk-Kelly A, Espin-Garcia O, Zhan LJ, Rassekh SR, Pecheux L, Spavor M, Li Y, Goldstein D, Hope A, Ross CJ, Liu G, Carleton BC, Bhavsar AP.J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2025 Feb;392(2):100057. doi: 10.1016/j.jpet.2024.100057. Epub 2024 Dec 9.PMID: 40023593 Free article. 

3. A scoping review of the prevalence of musicians' hearing loss. Firle C, Richter AH.Front Public Health. 2025 Feb 13;13:1472134. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1472134. eCollection 2025.PMID: 40017553 Free PMC article. 

4. Inflection points in hearing deterioration: clinical characteristics of NIHL from steady-state noise exposure. Fan B, Wang H, Wang G, Liu G, Zhang X, Wu W, Kang Y.Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2025 Mar 11;38(1):57-69. doi: 10.13075/ijomeh.1896.02502. Epub 2025 Feb 28.PMID: 40017432 Free PMC article. 

5. Prevalence of hearing loss among noise-exposed U.S. workers within the Construction sector, 2010-2019. Masterson EA, Themann CL.J Safety Res. 2025 Feb;92:158-165. doi: 10.1016/j.jsr.2024.11.005. Epub 2024 Nov 25.PMID: 39986839 Free PMC article. 

6. The Effects of the Physical and Professional Workplace Environments on the Well-Being of Nursing Staff. Jennings R, Outhwaite I, Granek I, Haq F.Am J Nurs. 2025 Mar 1;125(3):30-39. doi: 10.1097/AJN.0000000000000033. Epub 2025 Feb 20.PMID: 39972585 Free PMC article. 

7. Gender differences in occupational hazard exposures within the same occupation: A nationally representative analysis in South Korea. Lee G, Messing K, Lee W, Kim JH, Lee H, Kim SS.Scand J Work Environ Health. 2025 Mar 1;51(2):111-118. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.4204. Epub 2025 Feb 13.PMID: 39946576 Free PMC article. 

8. Hearing threshold quartiles from the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Murphy WJ, Flamme GA, Losonczy KG, Themann CL, Hoffman HJ.J Acoust Soc Am. 2025 Feb 1;157(2):940-946. doi: 10.1121/10.0035784.PMID: 39918580 Free PMC article. 

9. Effect of pre-school sound exposure on children's hearing function: results from preparatory studies assessing hearing function by distortion product otoacoustic emissions. Sandström L, Persson Waye K, Fredriksson S.Int J Audiol. 2025 Oct;64(10):1008-1016. doi: 10.1080/14992027.2025.2459228. Epub 2025 Feb 3.PMID: 39898826 Free article. 

10. Exploring primary characteristics of occupational hearing loss in female manufacturing workers: A cross-sectional study. Yu C, Huang Y, Li J, Zou H, Xin J, Zeng A, Li X, Qiu W, Zhang M. J Acoust Soc Am. 2026 Feb 1;159(2):1489-1500. doi: 10.1121/10.0042446. PMID: 41685925. 

Researchers presented individuals who have lucid dreams with puzzles, accompanied by unique soundtracks. Participants who failed to solve puzzles were instructed to continue working on the puzzle if they heard its soundtrack in a dream. They found that sound cues reliably increased dreaming about the associated puzzles. Also, for participants with an increase in cue-related dreaming, cues boosted later puzzle-solving. These results highlighted that rapid-eye-movement (REM) dreams, which are characterized by vivid dreaming, can contribute to next-day problem-solving. 

Read more about the news article here, and for more details, check out the journal article here. 

If you have come across interesting articles that might be a good fit for the Sound Postcard, send them along to Vidya Krull, NHCA E-News Editor, to feature! 

Speaking, publishing, researching, performing, hearing? NHCA would love to hear about exciting changes and achievements in your professional and personal endeavors. Please reach out to Vidya Krull and share your news! 

If you appreciate the information brought to you each month by NHCA E-News, please join us in our mission to prevent hearing loss. Become a member and enjoy significant discounts on educational events, including conferences, webinars, and access to scholarly articles. 

Who is NHCA?

Our Vision: To prevent hearing loss and other auditory disorders due to noise and secondary environmental factors in all sectors of society.

Our Mission: NHCA provides leadership, expertise, and education on hearing loss prevention strategies and services to the broader professional community and empowers and supports members through networking and advocacy.