Research Areas
Programming Cochlear implants to improve spatial hearing and spectral resolution
Individuals with cochlear implants struggle to understand speech in noise, such as multiple talkers. Cues of the talker location individual voice characteristics can be used to attend to and better understand speech. This study examines methods to program cochlear implants to better use these location and voice cues for speech understanding.
Real-world hearing aid and cochlear implant speech understanding benefits
Clinical tests of speech understanding are in quiet or simple noise from one location. In contrast, patients experience complex noisy backgrounds with 360 degrees of sound. This study focuses on testing the benefits of hearing aids and cochlear implants in complex acoustic environments that patients experience in their daily lives.
Hearing aid and direct-to-consumer hearing device comparisons for speech understanding and sound quality
Evermore direct-to-consumer devices are available for patients to purchase online or in stores. But will they really improve speech understanding and how do they sound? This study compares speech understanding and sound quality across traditional clinician-fit hearing aids and direct-to-consumer hearing devices.
Research News
Sterling Sheffield Au.D, Ph.D. gives podium presentation at American Auditory Society (AAS) 2022 Conference
Dr. Sterling Sheffield gave a podium presentation titled “Electroacoustic, Fitting, and Sound Quality of Over-the-Counter Amplification” where he talked about the findings of a recent OTC hearing aid project conducted by Hannah Walsh and Cameron Lathan.
Grayson Bishop receives 3rd place abstract award at UF’s Graduate Research Symposium 2022
Grayson Bishop received third place for her abstract in the Health Professions category at PHHP Research day 2022 on her project title “Vocoder Training in Normal Hearing Listeners for Cochlear Implant Simulations.” Congratulations to Grayson!
Dr. Sheffield presenting at Academy Research Conference for AAA (AudiologyNow) 2021 in Denver
Dr. Sheffield will be presenting as part of a panel of researchers on Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) at the Academy Research Conference in 2021. This conference is part of AudiologyNow, the American Academy of Audiology’s convention that will be held in Denver on April 14-17, 2021.
Bailey Oliver receives ePoster Highlight award for CI2021
Bailey Oliver received an ePoster Highlight award to present her research on speech perception and spatial hearing for normal hearing individuals using cochlear implant simulations at the Cochlear Implant 2021 Virtual Conference of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance. Congratulations to Bailey!
ACIA CI2020 Conference is Online
ACI Alliance is thrilled to be partnering with AudiologyOnline and SpeechPathology.com to provide this important learning opportunity.
Caitlin Smith receives a Poster Highlight award and Travel scholarship for CI2020
Caitlin Smith received a Poster Highlight award to present her research on speech perception and spatial hearing in individuals with cochlear implants, hearing aids, and normal hearing at the Cochlear Implants 2020 Conference of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance. She also received a travel scholarship to attend the conference. Congratulations to Caitlin!
Elena Hoogland receives a Meritorious Poster award and the Audiology Research Travel Award
Elena Hoogland received a Meritorious Poster award and the Audiology Research Travel Award (ARTA) from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) for 2019. She will be presenting research on acoustic discrimination of sound booths and how it affects speech perception in November, 2019. Congratulations to Elena!