Smith/Buchanan family research

My sister-in-law Mary R. Simms is doing extensive research into what she calls "The Smith Family Curse" which is a genetic hearing loss suffered by many members of our extended family. In the last six months Mary has contacted numerous cousins and second cousins, many she has not seen or heard from in decades. Part of the reason for her reaching out to these cousins is to get to know them better and to share family facts, photos, and stories. But she has another reason too. She has asked them to complete a questionaire about that the status of their hearing, whether or not they wear hearing aids, and if they have an audiogram to copy and send to her. Mary plans to compile all this information and submit it to an expert in the field of genetics, particularly the genetics of audiology. We suspect this affliction came into the family from the Buchanan aka Buckhanan aka Buckhannon line. We welcome input from any Buchanans out there interested in this topic.