The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) recently announced the release of its five-year strategic plan, with scientific priorities that include basic research, model systems, innovative technologies, individualized treatment approaches, scientific data sharing, and translation of research into clinical tools [1].

Over the last three decades, NIDCD-supported researchers made critical discoveries that led to increasingly effective, evidence-based treatments for the millions of Americans impacted by conditions affecting hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, or language. To communicate our priorities over the next five years, the 2023–2027 NIDCD Strategic Plan: Advancing the Science of Communication to Improve Lives was developed with input from scientific experts, the National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Advisory Council, NIDCD staff, and the public. The result is a plan that presents a unified vision organized into six main priority themes: (1) basic research to better understand normal function and disordered processes; (2) model systems to inform research and transform findings into more effective treatments; (3) precision medicine approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment; (4) translation of scientific advances into standard clinical care; (5) biomedical data sharing; and (6) advanced technologies to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment [1] (see Fig. 1).

Scientific priority themes outlined in NIDCD’s five-year strategic plan. Investigator-initiated research proposals that address these themes are welcomed

NIDCD encourages cooperation and information sharing among interdisciplinary teams conducting research in these six priority areas. Through these collaborations, basic researchers can better understand how their findings help address challenges and opportunities in clinical practice. In turn, clinicians can use biomedical databases, basic science, and model systems to inform personalized therapies and clinical decision-making. This article outlines just a few examples of how basic research, and the broad dissemination of its findings, can lead to discoveries that improve public health within NIDCD’s mission areas.