FIRST YEAR
Amanda Griffin, Ph.D., Au.D., Boston Children’s Hospital
Research Topic: Toward better assessment of pediatric unilateral hearing loss
Long-Term Goal: To enhance basic understanding of auditory and non-auditory function in children with untreated and treated single-sided deafness in order to build evidence-based clinical guidelines for the management of children with single-sided deafness.
HiJee Kang, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
Research Topic: Age-related changes on neural mechanisms in the auditory cortex for learning complex sounds
Long-Term Goal: To apply insights from neural dynamics observed in animal models to enhance our understanding of human auditory processing, particularly in the context of aging in order to further development of clinical prostheses that will improve the quality of life for those experiencing age-related hearing challenges.
Published Research
Daily singing of adult songbirds functions to maintain song performance independently of auditory feedback and age, Communications Biology, 2024.
Neural sensitivity to frequency changes in song structure in a high-order auditory area reflects tutor song memory in adult songbirds, Brain Structure & Function, 2024.
Sparse representation of neurons for encoding complex sounds in the auditory cortex, Progress in Neurobiology, 2024.
SECOND YEAR
Carolyn McClaskey, Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina (see 2023 Grantees)
Melissa Polonenko, Ph.D., University of Minnesota–Twin Cities (see 2023 Grantees)