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Mentor Areas

My research focuses on disorders of hearing and balance. The research is clinical in nature and involves reviewing patient records and/or interviewing patients. You would work with an interdisciplinary team and learn about a very focused area of medicine. I have a strong interest in mentorship and have mentored students at all levels of medical training, from undergraduate students exploring an interest in medicine to postgraduate fellows applying for their first job. 

Description:

The University of Pennsylvania Department of Otolaryngology performs thousands of hearing tests (audiograms) each year for patients presenting with hearing loss. In order to assess speech perception, a critical component of hearing ability, current standardized hearing tests are limited to English and Spanish. Thus, doctors and audiologists lack the "usual" tools needed to adequately measure and advise patients with hearing loss and limited english proficiency (LEP). This information is used in a variety of ways - including determining whether they would benefit from hearing aids or surgery for hearing loss (such as a cochlear implant), and for programming those devices and helping patients understand their condition.

In collaboration with the Department of Linguistics at UPenn, we are developing a language-agnostic speech test so that patients who speak other languages can have their speech perception tested in a valid way, even when they do not share a language with the clinician. Additional research efforts seek to better understand the cultural and socioeconomic factors impact the hearing health of patients with LEP, as well as barriers in their access to standard care. 

Your role would include helping to develop the tests, including potentially training in phonology and developing auditory stimuli. Additionally, you would be involved in patient recruitment, research protocol development, data analysis, and abstract/manuscript preparation. 

Overall, our research focuses on disorders of hearing and balance. The research is clinical in nature and involves reviewing patient records and/or interviewing patients. You would work with an interdisciplinary team and learn about a very focused area of medicine.

Preferred Qualifications

I am open-minded and interested in working with students of all backgrounds and ability levels. I feel it is my job to teach you and help you grow as a researcher and scholar. A curious mind and detail-oriented work ethic is required. A basic background in statistics and scientific literature search skills are very helpful but not required.  Additionally, I value organization, reliability, good record-keeping skills, and proactive/closed-loop communication. Statistical skills using R, Stata, excel, or other similar software are greatly valued. 

My research students are expected to meet with me on a weekly or every-other-week basis depending on the stage of the project. 

Details:

Project Academic Year

2023–2024

Volunteer

Yes

Paid

Yes

Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.

Work Study

Yes

Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.

Researcher


Assistant Professor