Short-Term Research
Opportunity at Vanderbilt
University Especially
for Au.D. Students
As you prepare for a Clinical Audiology
career, you can also learn about research
in a short-term, full-time, hands-on setting.
Who is this for? Students in Au.D. programs
What is it?
An opportunity to learn about
research through hands-on
experience by participating
full time in a research program.
When?
For two months during your
Au.D. program
Where?
In a preferred research laboratory
or laboratories – see the list of
mentors and research areas
Why?
To learn about research in
Audiology and work alongside
established researchers.
Added benefit:
Stipend support during the
traineeship period (two months)
and possible travel funding to
participate in the Annual Meeting of
the American Auditory Society
Traineeships are awarded each year on a competitive basis.
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center
Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences
Nashville, Tennessee
Funded by NIH-NIDCD traineeships for Au.D. students
to learn about and participate in research
at Vanderbilt University.
For more information and application materials, please
contact:
Linda Hood, Ph.D.
Email: linda.j.hood@vanderbilt.edu
Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center
1215 21st Avenue South, MCE-South, Rm 8310
Nashville, TN 37232
Phone: 615-936-4612
Vanderbilt University
Research Opportunities and Preceptors
Dan Ashmead, Ph.D. – Motion and Space
Perception
Auditory and visual motion perception studies are conducted in laboratory
settings and in studies of pedestrian performance during street-crossing.
Another area of research is on auditory space perception and speech
understanding in adults with cochlear implants. Areas for student research
include studies of auditory distance perception in hearing aid users and the
effects of hearing impairment on auditory motion perception
Rene Gifford, Ph.D. – Cochlear Implants
The Cochlear Implant Research Lab studies speech perception and
psychoacoustic properties of acoustic and electric hearing for both pediatric
and adult cochlear implant recipients. The lab's current focus of study is the
combination of electric and acoustic hearing as compared to bilateral
cochlear implants for speech recognition in complex listening environments.
Students could be involved in research projects including speech perception,
localization, and psychophysical evaluation of spectral and/or temporal
processing with cochlear implant recipients.
Troy Hackett Ph.D. – Neuroanatomy
Research focuses on determining areas that comprise the auditory cortex
and connections with the cortical and subcortical auditory pathways.
Students who participate in these studies would learn histological and
immunohistochemical procedures required to stain brain tissue, plot the
locations of cells labeled by the tracer injections using a microscope, and
document cell labeling using computerized software and digital
photomicroscopy.
Linda Hood, Ph.D. – Auditory Physiology, Auditory
Neuropathy/Dys-synchrony
Research focuses on physiology of the auditory system at cochlear,
subcortical and cortical levels. Studies encompass several perspectives
including normal and disordered auditory systems and hearing loss related to
genetic mutations, efferent system control, brainstem processing, and
auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony. Studies primarily involve infants and
adults. Students could be involved in evaluating aspects of auditory
neuropathy/dys-synchrony, efferent system changes in older listeners, and
objective methods of evaluating infants and children.
Ben Hornsby, Ph.D. – Hearing Loss and Speech
Understanding
Our research examines factors responsible for the speech understanding
difficulties of persons with hearing loss, the psychosocial impact of those
difficulties and methods to reduce those difficulties. Our current research
focuses on the stress, effort and fatigue associated with speech
understanding difficulties in adults and children. Students could be involved
in qualitative (focus groups and survey research) and lab-based studies
examining the effects of hearing difficulties and interventions on stress, effort
and fatigue.
Gary Jacobson, Ph.D. and Devin McCaslin, Ph.D. –
Vestibular System Function
Research focuses on understanding factors that affect balance and
vestibular system function. Studies may include areas of assessment and
management in various populations. Students could be involved in research
studies of characteristics in normal subjects or in various patient populations
using a full range of assessment and management approaches.
Alexandra Key, Ph.D. – Cognitive Processing and
Brain Activity
Dr. Key’s research focuses on cognitive processes and brain activity
associated with genetic and developmental disorders, learning and
development, auditory processing, and cochlear implants. Dr. Key utilizes
human electrophysiological techniques to record and analyze event-related
potentials (ERPs). Dr. Key’s lab currently collaborates with several of the
preceptors and students can participate in these studies with Dr. Key and
one of the above preceptors.
Ram Ramachandran, Ph.D. – Neuronal
Mechanisms of Auditory Perception
Research focuses on how the responses of neurons relate to auditory
perception in noisy environments. Current studies focus on how the
responses of neurons in subcortical auditory structures mediate detection of
auditory signals (tones, amplitude modulated tones, human speech sounds)
in various kinds of noisy environments. Students could get involved in
behavioral or neurophysiological measurements aimed at understanding the
spectral, temporal, spatial or attentional/cognitive mechanisms underlying
perception.
Todd Ricketts, Ph.D. – Hearing Aid Research
Research projects focus on directional hearing aid technology for school
aged children, defining the appropriate audibility of extended high frequency
sound energy for listeners with hearing loss, and speech recognition of
unilateral and bilateral cochlear implant recipients. Student projects could
include directional hearing aid use in children and high frequency bandwidth
effects in hearing aids.
G. Christopher Stecker, Ph.D. – Binaural and
Spatial Hearing
Research focuses on spatial hearing, especially on how listeners combine
information from multiple conflicting cues to determine the location of a
sound source. For example, echoes present in common listening
environments (conference rooms, classrooms,...) distort some, but not all, of
the available spatial information. How does the brain process that
information, determine which bits are reliable, and combine them into a
coherent perceptual image of the world of sound around us?
In my lab, we use a combination of psychoacoustics, computational
modeling, and neuroimaging (with functional MRI) to address these
questions. Opportunities for student involvement include psychoacoustical
assessment of binaural hearing, or learning about applications of modeling
and neuroimaging to auditory function.
Anne Marie Tharpe, Ph.D. – Auditory Development
Studies include visual attention with deaf individuals and examination of
home-based and center-based intervention for infants and toddlers with
hearing loss. Students could be involved in assessment of visual attention
tasks in deaf individuals and comparing home- versus center-based early
intervention for children with hearing loss.
Mark Wallace, Ph.D. – Brain Bases of Multisensory
Processing
Research focuses on integration of auditory, visual and somatosensory
information. Two areas of study are the development and plasticity of
multisensory brain circuits, and how deficits contribute to learning and
reading disabilities. Student projects could involve learning about functional
neuroimaging approaches, how visual cues impact speech understanding,
and visual and somatosensory influences on auditory cortical processing.