Co-Investigators
Samira Anderson, Au.D., Ph.D.
Samira is an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the University of Maryland. Her research focus is on neural processing of speech sounds, which she investigates with electrophysiologic and psychophysical measures. She is collaborating with the lab on projects concerned with neural processing of temporal cues in speech segments by younger and older listeners. She is a co-investigator on the NIH-funded Program Project Grant entitled, "Neuroplasticity and Auditory Aging".
Doug Brungart, Ph.D.
Dr. Brungart is currently the Chief Scientist at the Audiology and Speech Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Current major research areas include: development of auditory fitness-for-duty standards, evaluation of hearing loss prevalence in the armed services, development of functional measures of speech understanding/perception, validation of DoD hearing profile standards and laboratory and field trials of hearing protection. He works with lab members on a variety of projects that investigate the interplay between auditory abilities and cognitive function among military personnel, as well as development of functional measures of speech understanding/perception.
Pete Fitzgibbons
Pete works on all projects investigating auditory temporal processes in older persons.
Matt Goupell, Ph.D.
Matt is an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the University of Maryland. Matt's research focus is binaural processing and cochlear implants. He is collaborating with the Hearing Research Lab on studies of age-related changes in auditory processing among individuals who wear cochlear implants. He is a co-investigator on the NIH-funded Program Project Grant entitled, "Neuroplasticity and Auditory Aging".
Grace H. Yeni-Komshian
Grace contributes her expertise in speech perception and bilingualism to all projects investigating perception of accented English.
Current Graduate Students
Anna Tinnemore, Au.D.
Anna is a Ph.D. student in the University of Maryland’s Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences Program (NACS) with Hearing and Speech Sciences as her home department. She received her Au.D. from the University of Arizona in 2017. Anna works on projects investigating aging effects in adverse listening conditions with a specific focus on cochlear implant listeners.
Bridget McNamara
Bridget is in her third year in the University of Maryland’s Doctoral Program in Clinical Audiology. She is involved in a project surrounding central auditory processing training. She is also involved in a project investigating effects of native language on central auditory processing testing.
Alumni
Rebecca Bieber, Au.D., Ph.D.
● Years in lab: 2013-2021
● Research audiologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland
Calli Yancey
● Years in lab: 2018-2021
● Fourth-year graduate student in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Audiology at University of Maryland. She is currently in her externship at Yale School of Medicine
Mary Barrett, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2015-2021
● Audiologist at ENTAA Care in Maryland
Becca Higgins
● Years in lab: 2020-2021
● Third year graduate student in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Audiology at University of Maryland and research assistant in Dr. Matt Goupell’s Auditory Perception and Modeling Lab
Marjan Davoodian
● Years in lab: 2020-2021
● Second year graduate student in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Audiology at University of Maryland and research assistant in Dr. Eric Hoover’s Hearing Technology Lab
Jordan Abramowitz
● Years in lab: 2019-2020
● Fourth year graduate student in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Audiology at University of Maryland and former research assistant in Dr. Matt Goupell’s Auditory Perception and Modeling Lab
Ariella Shapiro
● Years in lab: 2019-2020
● Graduate student in the Au.D. program at the University of Texas at Dallas
Julie Cohen, Au.D., Ph.D.
● Years in lab: 2007-2011; 2016-2020
● Scientific Reviewer for the FDA
Maureen Shader, Au.D, Ph.D.
● Years in lab: 2013-2019
● Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Purdue University
Ileana Thompson
● Years in lab: 2018-2019
●Fellow for the Department of Network Advancement and the Department of Policy and Program at the American Constitution Society; planning on applying to law school in the near future
Alyson Schapira
● Years in lab: 2017-2020
● Audiologist at Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA)
Kelsey Oppler
● Years in lab: 2016-2019
● Audiologist at University of Virginia Health
Alyssa Giametta
● Years in lab: 2017-2018
Maya Freund Schwartz, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2015-2018
● Audiologist, University Hospital, Newark, NJ
Calli Fodor, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2015-2018
● Clinical Audiologist at Florida ENT & Allergy in Tampa Bay area, Florida
David Jara, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2014-2018
● Audiologist in Fairfax, Virginia
Arielle Iola Spector, Au.D
● Years in lab: 2015-2017
● Audiologist at Dallas Eye and Ear
Amber Frazier, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2014-2017
● Audiologist, VA Medical Center
Chelsea (Vogel) Carter, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2012-2015
● Audiologist, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD
Danielle Zion, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2012-2013
● Audiologist in Bethesda, Maryland
Jaclyn Schurman, Au.D., Ph.D.
● Years in lab: 2011-2014
● Research Audiologist, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD
Hannah Willison, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2011-2014
● Pediatric Audiologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland
Erin Pickett, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2010-2013
● Audiologist, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester, New York
Christopher (Waldroup) Lawson, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2009-2012
● Audiologist and owner, Evergreen Audiology, Vancouver, WA
Helen Lee, Au.D.
● Years in lab: 2006-2009
● Audiologist for Kaiser Permante in Kensington, Maryland
Keena (James) Seward, Au.D., SLP
● Years in lab: 2006-2009
● Founder and Director of 3L Therapy Solutions in Beltsville, Maryland
Collaborators
Carol Espy-Wilson, Ph.D.
Carol is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland. She is a collaborator on studies of processing natural rapid-rate speech and signal processing techniques to improve speech intelligibility for hearing-impaired listeners. Her collaborative research with the Hearing Research Lab has been funded by a grant by the ADVANCE program at UMD.
Ken Grant, Ph.D.
Dr. Grant is the Chief of Scientific and Clinical Studies at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Dr. Grant's research has been concerned primarily with the integration of eye and ear for speech perception in both normal and hearing-impaired populations using behavioral and neurophysiological measures. Current work in this area is focused on changes in cognitive load as a result of combining auditory and visual cues and the impact of age, hearing loss, and traumatic brain injury on one's ability to selectively attend to one or more targets in the presence of multiple competing auditory and visual sources.
Stefanie Kuchinsky, Ph.D.
Dr. Kuchinsky is a staff reseracher at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. In addition to being an MNC faculty member, she is also an Assistant Research Scientist at UMD’s Center for Advanced Study of Language.The goal of Stefanie Kuchinsky’s research program is to evaluate and improve speech and text comprehension in adverse conditions. Using functional neuroimaging and pupillometry techniques, Dr. Kuchinsky investigates the sensory and attention systems that support speech-in-noise understanding with the goal of developing effective interventions that optimize both comprehension and cognitive effort.
Jonathan Simon, Ph.D.
Dr. Simon is a professor at the University of Maryland, with a joint appointment between the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Department of Biology, and the Institute for Systems Research. His expertise is in applied and theoretical auditory neuroscience. The goal of his research is to understand how the auditory cortex processes complex sounds such as speech and other natural sounds using magnetoencephalography (MEG), because of its high temporal resolution (milliseconds), reasonable spatial resolution (millimeters), and silent operation.
Shihab Shamma, Ph.D.
Dr. Shamma is a member of the University of Maryland faculty since 1984 when he started as an Assistant Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department. He is associated with the Institute for Systems Research. The goal of his research is the representation of the acoustic signal at various levels in mammalian auditory systems. This ranges from theoretical models of auditory processing in early and central auditory stages, to neurophysiological investigations of the auditory cortex, to psychoacoustical experiments of human perception of acoustic spectral profiles.
Patrick Kanold, Ph.D.
Dr. Kanold studies the development and plasticity of the brain, in particular how periods of learning and plasticity are initiated and controlled. His work focuses on the development of the central auditory and visual system in particular on the role of early cortical circuits in brain wiring. He uses advanced neurophysiological, in vivo imaging, optogenetic, molecular and computational techniques. His work furthers our understanding of how prenatal and postnatal brain injury contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy and schizophrenia.
