The NRSA fellowship is funded through the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health. It will fund his PhD research for the next three years. Jon's research is on the effects of hearing aid amplification on robust speech coding, and is being performed under the mentorship of Professor Mike Heinz.

Established in 1988, NIDCD is mandated to conduct and support biomedical and behavioral research and research training in the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language. The Institute also conducts and supports research and research training related to disease prevention and health promotion; addresses special biomedical and behavioral problems associated with people who have communication impairments or disorders; and supports efforts to create devices which substitute for lost and impaired sensory and communication function. More information on NIDCD is available at http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/