Aug 15, 2026 · 16 min · 7 segments
Today we cover the SENSE network with Dr. Jennifer Deal. The network is an international group supporting research on the role of sensory functioning on health and aging, covering vision, hearing…
Jennifer DealGuestRyan Van PattenHostJohn BelloneHostI'm a researcher myself, and, um, the power of these centers or organizations that bring different researchers together, you know, interdisciplinary across varying institutions, being interdisciplinary, like I enjoy that this is the SENSE network.
It's so easy for us to get siloed and caught up in our very specific niche, and depth is great, but there's so many barriers when we're trying to understand such a complex organism as human beings and the human brain and, uh, senses and the rest of us if, if we are really only focused on a narrow slice of the pie.
So I find that a lot of the coolest, most cutting edge and powerful research ends up being through these broad collaborations.
People in the aging space may be familiar with Alzheimer's Disease research centers or ADNI or the Framingham Heart Study.
Uh, you know, big clinical trials are typically multi-site, so there's a lot of-- It might sound kind of boring at first, where it's just like coordination and it's an organization, but it's actually where the coolest and most interesting stuff happens, and it opens so many doors for us versus if I'm trying, as, you know, a PI in one institution, I'm trying to answer these really important questions all by myself.
I'm not gonna be able to without working together, and it requires a lot of forethought and advanced planning, right?
I think that's so true, and it's just when you start thinking again about, like, we, we wanna be doing the best science.
We wanna make sure we're answering important questions that need to be answered to advance the field, to advance policy, to advance what we're doing in the clinic.
So the more really smart people you get in a room to have these conversations, like, the better the output you get, right? And so it just-- it brings me a lot of joy to be part of this group.
You know, I, I will say one thing I, I think that's incredibly important for us too is thinking about our junior investigators, so people who are new to this space.
How can we provide support for you? There are so few places who have programs that specialize in aging and epidemiology, let alone in sensory aging, so now how can we bring that community to you, um, as you, you start your career? You know, things like that I think are so important and, you know, just the chance to get together and have dedicated time to think creatively about some of these questions.
I'm a researcher myself, and, um, the power of these centers or organizations that bring different researchers together, you know, interdisciplinary across varying institutions, being interdisciplinary, like I enjoy that this is the SENSE network.
It's so easy for us to get siloed and caught up in our very specific niche, and depth is great, but there's so many barriers when we're trying to understand such a complex organism as human beings and the human brain and, uh, senses and the rest of us if, if we are really only focused on a narrow slice of the pie.
So I find that a lot of the coolest, most cutting edge and powerful research ends up being through these broad collaborations.
People in the aging space may be familiar with Alzheimer's Disease research centers or ADNI or the Framingham Heart Study.
Uh, you know, big clinical trials are typically multi-site, so there's a lot of-- It might sound kind of boring at first, where it's just like coordination and it's an organization, but it's actually where the coolest and most interesting stuff happens, and it opens so many doors for us versus if I'm trying, as, you know, a PI in one institution, I'm trying to answer these really important questions all by myself.
I'm not gonna be able to without working together, and it requires a lot of forethought and advanced planning, right?
I think that's so true, and it's just when you start thinking again about, like, we, we wanna be doing the best science.
We wanna make sure we're answering important questions that need to be answered to advance the field, to advance policy, to advance what we're doing in the clinic.
So the more really smart people you get in a room to have these conversations, like, the better the output you get, right? And so it just-- it brings me a lot of joy to be part of this group.
You know, I, I will say one thing I, I think that's incredibly important for us too is thinking about our junior investigators, so people who are new to this space.
How can we provide support for you? There are so few places who have programs that specialize in aging and epidemiology, let alone in sensory aging, so now how can we bring that community to you, um, as you, you start your career? You know, things like that I think are so important and, you know, just the chance to get together and have dedicated time to think creatively about some of these questions.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.