People
Eric Hoover, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and HTL Lab Director
ehoover@umd.edu
Dr. Hoover joined the faculty of the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the University of Maryland in August 2018. He received his Ph.D. in communication sciences and disorders from Northwestern University with adviser Pamela Souza, Ph.D. CCC-A, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of South Florida with advisers David Eddins, Ph.D. CCC-A and Ann Eddins, Ph.D., MBA. The goal of his research is to remove barriers to communication by applying our understanding of how the auditory system represents complex acoustic environments to the treatment of hearing loss.
Current Graduate Students
Katie Menon
Ph.D. Candidate
knp@umd.edu
Katherine (Palandrani) Menon earned her B.S. in speech-language pathology and audiology from Northeastern University in Boston, MA in 2016. She enrolled in the Au.D. program at the University of South Florida, and after working as a research assistant in the Auditory and Speech Sciences Laboratory with Drs. David and Ann Eddins, she decided to pursue research full time. Katie began a Ph.D. program at the University of Maryland with adviser Dr. Eric Hoover in fall 2019. Her research interests include evaluating and developing solutions for untreated hearing loss, and the translation of laboratory tests into clinical tools to improve diagnostics, treatment, and outcomes.
Rebecca Lloyd
Au.D. student
rlloyd2@umd.edu
Rebecca Lloyd earned her A.A. in general studies from the Community College of Baltimore County in May 2014. She graduated magna cum laude from Towson University with a B.S. in Deaf Studies in May 2017. In 2017, she was a residential life counselor at Maryland School for the Deaf in Columbia. She completed post baccalaureate classes at the University of Maryland in hearing and speech sciences. In fall 2022, she began the clinical audiology graduate program at UMD. She works part-time as a graduate assistant in Dr. Hoover's lab.
Alumni
Marjan Davoodian, Au.D. student (2025)
Years in the lab: 2021-2022
Second-year graduate student in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Audiology at the University of Maryland.
Michelle Hoon-Starr, Au.D. student (2023)
Years in the lab: 2019-2022
Capstone Thesis: "Value-sensitive design analysis of over-the-counter hearing aids," April 2022
Fourth-year graduate student in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Audiology at the University of Maryland.
Kathryn DuBois, Au.D.
Years in the lab: 2020-2021
Capstone Thesis: "The role of the masker in cognitive hearing science," April 2021
Rachel Moldenhauer, Au.D.
Years in the lab: 2019-2021
Capstone Thesis: "Using objective metrics to quantify and predict nonlinear hearing aid behavior," April 2021
Collaborators
Dr. Katie Shilton, Ph.D.
University of Maryland College of Information Studies
Associate Professor & Program Co-Director of the BS in Social Data Science
Dr. Frederick "Erick" Gallun, Ph.D.
Oregon Health & Science University
Associate Professor of Otolaryngology
Gallun Lab
Dr. Aaron Seitz, Ph.D.
Northeastern University
Professor of Psychology, Game Design, and Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Services
Center for Cognitive & Brain Health
Dr. David Eddins, Ph.D., CCC-A
University of South Florida
Professor in the Departments of Communication Sciences & Disorders and Chemical & Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Erol Ozmeral, Ph.D.
University of South Florida
Research Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders