Colorado Audiology Symposium 2025
Clinically Meaningful Change in Hearing and Balance
Saturday, June 28, 2025
Registration:
Click Here to Register!
The deadline to register is June 12, 2025.
Program:
| Saturday, June 28, 2025 | |
| 7:15 am - 8:00 am | Registration and Breakfast |
| 8:00 am - 11:30 am | Presentation Content |
| 11:30 am - 12:50 pm | Lunch and Exhibiting |
| 12:50 pm - 3:00 pm | Presentation Content |
| 3:00 pm | Meeting Adjourned |
Breakfast and Lunch will be provided to in-person attendees.
This seminar will explore the concept of “clinically meaningful change” in hearing and balance assessment, focusing on its significance in improving patient outcomes. We will examine the distinction between statistically significant changes and changes that truly impact a patient’s quality of life. Key topics include:
- Defining Clinically Meaningful Change: Understanding what constitutes meaningful improvement in auditory and vestibular function.
- Assessment Metrics: Evaluating current tools and methods for measuring change in hearing and balance.
Patient-Centered Outcomes: Incorporating patient perspectives to determine the impact of interventions. - Clinical Applications: Translating research findings into practical approaches for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.
This seminar aims to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice, fostering a deeper understanding of how to assess and achieve outcomes that matter most to patients.
Location:
Donald M. Elliman Conference Center, 2nd floor, Anschutz Health Sciences Building, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center
1890 N Revere Ct, Aurora, CO 80045
Parking:
The Vail Parking Lot is the closet parking to the meeting location. Please view the parking map by clicking here.
Zoom - Link will be sent to registrants prior to conference day
*Online participants can submit live questions and comments to presenters through the Zoom chat function.*
Continuing Education Units (CEUs):
This event is still in the application process to obtain ASHA and AAA CEUs.
Learning Outcomes:
- Define Clinically Meaningful Change: Participants will be able to define what constitutes a clinically meaningful change in auditory and vestibular function, distinguishing between statistical significance and patient-centered improvements in quality of life.
- Evaluate Assessment Tools: Participants will develop the ability to critically assess current metrics and methods used to measure changes in hearing and balance, understanding their strengths and limitations in clinical settings.
- Implement Patient-Centered Approaches: Participants will be able to think of ways to incorporate patient perspectives into clinical decision-making, ensuring that hearing and balance interventions are aligned with patient priorities and lead to improved outcomes in diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.
Presentation Topics and Speakers:
- Clinically meaningful change: Definition and methods – Vinaya Manchaiah
- It matters where you start: Considering baseline in determining meaningful change in patient reported outcomes – Sumit Dhar
- Measuring clinically meaningful change for adult hearing aid users through speech perception testing – Matt Fitzgerald
- Redefining dizziness outcomes: Bridging the gap between assessment, treatment, and meaningful patient improvement – Devin McCaslin
- How to measure clinically meaningful change in individuals with tinnitus? – Vinaya Manchaiah
- Clinically significant improvements in auditory, speech, language, and literacy outcomes in borderline and traditional CI candidates following implantation - René H. Gifford
- Clinically significant differences in pediatric audiology: Navigating the gray areas for better outcomes– Kristin Uhler
Sumit Dhar, PhD
Sumitrajit (Sumit) Dhar, PhD studies hearing, hearing loss, and hearing healthcare. Sumit has studied audiology and hearing science at the University of Mumbai, Utah State University, and Purdue University. He is the Hugh Knowles Professor of Hearing Science and the Associate Provost for Faculty at Northwestern University. Work in Sumit’s lab is supported by federal agencies such as the NIH and PCORI, foundations such as the American Hearing Research Foundation, and industry.
Matt Fitzgerald, PhD
Dr. Fitzgerald is an Associate Professor and the Chief of Audiology at Stanford University where he oversees the adult and pediatric audiology practices. He completed his undergraduate degree at The Wichita State University, followed by clinical training in audiology at Vanderbilt University. He completed a clinical fellowship year at the Henry Ford Hospital, and subsequently entered the PhD program at Northwestern where he was mentored by Dr. Beverly Wright. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the New York University School of Medicine under Dr. Mario Svirsky, studying the process of adaptation in recipients of cochlear implants, and later joined the faculty at NYU. In 2015 he joined the faculty of Stanford University as the Chief of Audiology. His current research interests are the translation of new tools to measure suprathreshold function in the audiologic test battery, with a particular emphasis on speech-in noise assessments. He also continues to examine adaptation in recipients of cochlear implants, and on new tools to help patients with tinnitus.
Devin McCaslin, PhD
Devin L. McCaslin, PhD, is the Clinical Director of the Communication Sciences and Disorders program at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor and a Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. His academic, clinical, and research interests focus on outcomes measures, vestibular assessment, and using artificial intelligence to manage and treat dizziness in patients. Dr. McCaslin has also served as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology and as a board member for the American Auditory Society, American Balance Society, and American Academy of Audiology. Additionally, he is a past president of the American Balance Society.
Vinaya Manchaiah, PhD, AuD
Dr. Vinaya Manchaiah, AuD, MBA, PhD serves as the Professor of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and as the Director of Audiology at the University of Colorado Hospital (UCHealth). He is the Principal Investigator at the Virtual Hearing Lab (www.virtualhearinglab.org). He also has a position as an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and an Adjunct Professor at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India. He has authored over 200 scientific manuscripts and 5 textbooks.
René H. Gifford, PhD
René Gifford, PhD, CCC-A is Chief of Audiology and Research at Hearts for Hearing in Oklahoma City. She also serves as co-CEO of the Clinical Board of Directors for the Institute for Cochlear Implant Training (ICIT). Her research has been NIH funded for over 20 years and focuses on combined electric and acoustic stimulation (EAS) with particular emphasis on speech and music perception, spatial hearing, and development of speech, language, and literacy for children with hearing loss. She has authored over 170 peer-reviewed publications, two books, and multiple book chapters in the fields of cochlear implants and pediatric audiology. Dr. Gifford has been recognized with many career awards for her contributions to Audiology and Hearing Sciences including the 2015 Louis M. DiCarlo Award for recent clinical achievement from ASHA, the 2021 Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology from AAA, and was a featured scientist on the National Public Radio, Science Friday broadcast entitled Breakthrough: Portraits of Women in Science--Hearing a Whole New World. She is actively involved in clinical care, research, and training audiologists and hearing scientists.
Kristin Uhler, PhD
Dr. Kristin Uhler is an Associate Professor at the Univeristy of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where she works in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She is also the Kelley Family/Schlessman Family Scottish Rite Masons Chair in Childhood Language Disorders and practices audiology at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Dr. Uhler's research is focused on auditory and language outcomes for children with hearing loss and developing evidence-based practices in the field of pediatric audiology.
Speaker disclosures can be found by clicking here.
Lodging Recommendations:
The Benson Hotel and Faculty Club
The Benson Hotel is a ~10 minute walk to the meeting location inside the Anschutz Health Sciences Building.
Address: 13025 E Montview Blvd, Aurora, CO 80045
To book, please visit this website.
Hyatt House Aurora-Denver
Hyatt House Aurora is a ~15 minute walk to the meeting location inside the Anschutz Health Sciences Building.
Address: 12230 E Colfax Ave, Aurora, CO 80011
To book, please visit this website.
For questions, please contact the Department's Special Projects Coordinator, Katie Schroder, at katherine.schroder@cuanschutz.edu