Hearing Loss in Children
Interdisciplinary Graduate Group
Description
The main focus of the Hearing Loss in Children: Diagnosis, Etiology and Outcomes group is in advancing research and care related to hearing loss in children. We are interested in learning more about outcomes of newborn hearing screening, hearing loss signs and symptoms, and hearing loss etiology. Today, families pursuing auditory-based treatment approaches for children with hearing loss have several types of auditory prostheses from which to choose (i.e., hearing aids, cochlear implants, and bone-anchored hearing aids). Monitoring listening, spoken language and psychophysical outcomes for children with hearing loss will improve our understanding of the effects of different treatment options and help us optimize clinical care.
Currently, many members of this group are involved in developing a database of children seen at the Lions Children’s Hearing Center (LCHC), a team-based clinic that meets two days each month. Children who are evaluated at LCHC receive a comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment that involves otolaryngology, audiology, speech-language pathology, infectious disease, genetics, neuropsychology and other specialty medical services as needed. By forming this interdisciplinary group, we would like to facilitate structured interactions among clinicians, academic researchers, and graduate students interested in emergent research related to pediatric hearing loss.
Leadership
The primary contact for this group is Kristin Gravel, University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. Additional members of the leadership team are Tina Huang, (Otolaryngology), Peggy Nelson (Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences) and Bert Schlauch (Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences).
