Dr. Jack Vernon is a world-class tinnitus researcher and innovator and a man dedicated to improving people’s lives. He also won our hearts by co-creating, along with Dr. Charles Unice (a California physician afflicted with tinnitus) the American Tinnitus Association. Since its inception in 1971, ATA’s goal has been supporting tinnitus research. Through all these years, Jack and his wife, Mary Meikle, Ph.D., have remained involved and supportive of ATA's mission to cure tinnitus. It is our privilege to hold the Jack Vernon Walk to Silence Tinnitus in his honor.

Below: Jack A. Vernon, Ph.D. and his wife Mary M. Meikle, Ph.D. share a love for each other and for tinnitus patients.

A Brief History of a Great Man:

(taken from the April 2009 issue of Tinnitus Today)

The evening after his Ph.D. oral exams, Jack received and accepted an invitation to join the Princeton faculty and pursue his already respected research. In spite of an offer from this prestigious university, Jack modestly says, “I was just fat, dumb and happy and standing at the right place at the right time.” (We think it was a bit more than luck!) Over his 14 years at Princeton, Jack moved from instructor to full, tenured professor. During those years of “publish or perish,” Jack’s reputation and horizons grew. One year, the university’s president asked Jack to fill in as speaker at a meeting for Princeton alumni. His assignment: inspire them to support the university. But, rather than talk about Princeton, Jack chose to talk about his area of research – bats, their sounds and sound reflection. The audience found Jack’s talk fascinating, and event planners invited him back again and again.

The talks precipitated a professional turning point for Jack. After many of his presentations, some audience members would come up to ask him a direct and fair question: “This bat stuff is really fascinating, but what is it good for?” Jack came to realize that though he was “having a ball” with his scientific investigations – funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – he wasn’t doing anything for people’s health. “I had to get out of basic science and into clinical work with people,” says Jack. This interest in and dedication to “bench-to-bed” research has allowed him to help countless people deal with their auditory problems.

Jack met David DeWeese in 1965 while both men were serving on an NIH research review committee. One day, Dr. DeWeese said to Jack, “I hear you want to build a hearing research lab. I’m looking for someone to build one.” Their collaboration led to the establishment of the Oregon Hearing Research Center (OHRC) at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland. Jack spent the remainder of his career there until retiring at 74. But Jack hasn’t really retired. He is still a go-to-guy for other researchers, maintains patient consultation hours at OHSU, writes for Tinnitus Today and is an honorary director of ATA.

Jack’s affiliations and reputation as a long-time champion of tinnitus patients are global; he is regarded as one of the most astute tinnitus scientists in the world. So in 1971, Dr. Charles Unice, Jack’s eventual ATA co-founder, came to Portland seeking Jack’s help. One day, while visiting a city park during the lunch hour, Jack noticed Dr. Unice standing off by himself next to a large fountain. Amazed, Dr. Unice said to Jack, “Standing by this tumbling water, I can’t hear my tinnitus!” An exciting light bulb lit up in Jack’s mind. He found a willing hearing aid manufacturer to duplicate the waterfall noise, and the first tinnitus masker soon followed.

Tinnitus investigations are becoming more numerous and gaining promise every day and ATA continues to support some of these critical efforts. Through research, we have learned that human hair cells destroyed by irritants, such as loud sound, do not regenerate as they do in avians (birds). Stem cell research could reverse this limitation and Jack is very optimistic: “I believe that stem cells are the cure of the future. If we can use stem cells to improve the chances of regenerating hair cells, we will be on our way to a [tinnitus] cure.”