Keynote Speakers
The 8th International Congress on Bone Conduction Hearing and Related Technologies is proud present our four keynote speakers.
Prof. Matthew Mason, University of Cambridge
Presenting: Evolutionary Adaptations Towards Bone-Conducted Hearing Matt Mason read Zoology at the University of Cambridge, UK, and went on to complete a PhD on the structure and function of the middle ear of mammals. His postdoctoral studies, working with Peter Narins at UCLA, involved the use of laser vibrometry to examine sound transmission in the frog ear. In 2001, Matt returned to Cambridge where he is now Professor of Comparative Physiology. He continues to study how ear morphology relates to function, across a wide range of unusual vertebrates.
Saad Bhamla, PhD, Georgia Tech
Presenting: An Ultra-Low-Cost Hearing Aid for Age-Related Hearing Loss and Other Frugal InventionsDirector of The BhamlaLab, which explores fundamental and applied research questions through the development of new experimental tools and techniques at the intersection of soft matter, organismic physics and global health. Research interests include Ultra-fast Organismic Physics, Biological Soft Matter, and Frugal Science and Global Health.
Anu Sharma, PhD, University of Colorado Boulder
Presenting: Cortical Neuroplasticity in Pediatric Hearing Loss: Clinical ImplicationsProfessor Sharma’s research focuses on the impact of hearing loss on the brain. She is currently examining the effects of auditory deprivation (ranging from mild-moderate hearing loss to profound deafness) on development and re-organization of the central auditory pathways, and on cross-modal compensatory plasticity from visual and somatosensory modalities. Dr. Sharma is also interested in the effects of intervention with hearing aids and cochlear implants on cortical plasticity and behavioral outcomes. Dr. Sharma is interested in neuroplasticity at both ends of the age spectrum (infants and young children, as well as age-related hearing loss in older adults). Dr. Sharma and her research team are conducting studies using evoked potentials and high-density EEG in adults and children with normal hearing, hearing loss and auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder. She directs a state-of-the-art laboratory where students perform electrophysiology testing (using auditory, visual and somatosensory stimulation) source localization and EEG brain dynamics as well as speech perception and cognitive behavioral experiments.
Andrew Brown, PhD, University of Washington
Presenting: Leveling-Up Spatial Hearing: For a Couple of Ears, It’s TimeAndrew Brown completed his PhD in Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Washington, where he studied human binaural hearing. Postdoctoral fellowships with Ruth Litovsky (University of Wisconsin, 2012) and Dan Tollin (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 2013-2017) led to work in several new areas including auditory brainstem physiology and clinical hearing devices. Andrew returned to the University of Washington in 2018, where he is now an Associate Professor in Speech and Hearing Sciences, working to measure and mitigate constraints on human spatial hearing outcomes, particularly during the use of hearing devices.
Speaker Disclosures:
Prof. Matthew Mason, University of Cambridge
Biography: Matt Mason read Zoology at the University of Cambridge, UK, and went on to complete a PhD on the structure and function of the middle ear of mammals. His postdoctoral studies, working with Peter Narins at UCLA, involved the use of laser vibrometry to examine sound transmission in the frog ear. In 2001, Matt returned to Cambridge where he is now Professor of Comparative Physiology. He continues to study how ear morphology relates to function, across a wide range of unusual vertebrates.
Financial Disclosure: Receiving an honorarium from the University of Colorado School of Medicine for his OSSEO presentation.
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.
Saad Bhamla, PhD, Georgia
Director of The BhamlaLab, which explores fundamental and applied research questions through the development of new experimental tools and techniques at the intersection of soft matter, organismic physics and global health. Research interests include Ultra-fast Organismic Physics, Biological Soft Matter, and Frugal Science and Global Health.
Financial Disclosure: Receiving an honorarium from the University of Colorado School of Medicine for his OSSEO presentation.
Non-Financial Disclosure: Director of TheBhamlaLab
Chrisanda Sanchez, AUD, University of Miami
Chrisanda Sanchez completed her doctoral program at the University of Florida in 2016, while completing an externship at the Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates. Her areas of expertise include Pediatric Diagnostics, Pediatric Hearing Aids & BAHA, Pediatric Cochlear Implants, ABR, Central Auditory Processing Disorders, and Adult Diagnostics. She currently works as an audiologist at the University of Miami.
Financial Disclosure: No financial disclosures.
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.
Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown completed his PhD in Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Washington, where he studied human binaural hearing. Postdoctoral fellowships with Ruth Litovsky (University of Wisconsin, 2012) and Dan Tollin (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 2013-2017) led to work in several new areas including auditory brainstem physiology and clinical hearing devices. Andrew returned to the University of Washington in 2018, where he is now an Associate Professor in Speech and Hearing Sciences, working to measure and mitigate constraints on human spatial hearing outcomes, particularly during the use of hearing devices.
Financial Disclosure: Receiving an honorarium from the University of Colorado School of Medicine for his OSSEO presentation.
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.
Bill Hodgetts, PhD, MSc, BA
A Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Alberta. I hold a joint appointment at the Institute for Reconstructive Sciences in Medicine (iRSM) where I am program director for audiology and bone conduction amplification (BCA). I obtained a B.A. (Psychology) and M.Sc. (Audiology) from the University of Western Ontario and a Ph.D. (Rehab Sciences) from the University of Alberta.
Financial Disclosure: No financial disclosures.
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.
Anu Sharma, PhD
Professor Sharma’s research focuses on the impact of hearing loss on the brain. She is currently examining the effects of auditory deprivation (ranging from mild-moderate hearing loss to profound deafness) on development and re-organization of the central auditory pathways, and on cross-modal compensatory plasticity from visual and somatosensory modalities. Dr. Sharma is also interested in the effects of intervention with hearing aids and cochlear implants on cortical plasticity and behavioral outcomes. Dr. Sharma is interested in neuroplasticity at both ends of the age spectrum (infants and young children, as well as age-related hearing loss in older adults).
Dr. Sharma and her research team are conducting studies using evoked potentials and high-density EEG in adults and children with normal hearing, hearing loss and auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder. She directs a state-of-the-art laboratory where students perform electrophysiology testing (using auditory, visual and somatosensory stimulation) source localization and EEG brain dynamics as well as speech perception and cognitive behavioral experiments.
Financial Disclosure: Receives funding from NIH, Hearing Industry Research Consortium, Demant Foundation. Received honoraria and travel support from Oticon, Phonak, Advanced Bionics.
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.
Sharon Cushing, MD
Sharon Cushing is a pediatric otolaryngologist specializing in vestibular function and cochlear implantation at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children.
Financial Disclosure: No financial disclosures.
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.
Hannes Maier
Hannes Maier studied mathematics and physics at the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany. After the pre-diploma, he continued is studies at the Université de Paris Sud, Orsay, France, before he received a Max-Planck fellowship at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt, Germany. There he worked there on the theory of interaction between electric fields and cells receiving his diploma in physics in 1987 and his PhD in 1993 from Johann-Wolfgang-v. Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany. After a post-doctoral position at the Dept. of Otolaryngology, Hearing Research Laboratory, Tübingen University, Germany working experimentally on the micromechanics of the apical cochlea he was appointed Head of Audiology/Neurotology at the Dept. Otolaryngology, Hamburg Eppendorf University Medical School, Hamburg, Germany in 1998. From 2008 to 2011 he joined the start-up Phonak Acoustic Implants SA, Morges, Switzerland as senior research scientist for the development of an active direct acoustic cochlear implant. In 2012 he was appointed associate professor for Experimental Audiology in the Cluster of “Excellence Hearing 4all” and Head of the Acoustic Implants Team, Dept. Otolaryngology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany. His main areas of research are the audiological and experimental evaluation of active middle ear implants and bone conduction devices as well as the development of new acoustic implants.
Financial Disclosure: Receiving an honorarium from the University of Colorado School of Medicine for his OSSEO presentation.
Non-Financial Disclosure: Recipient of the OSSEO award.
Carolina Der, MD, PhD
Dr. Der is an otolaryngologist and audiologist at the Dr. Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital in Santiago, Chile. Her primary focus is in Pediatric Otolaryngology.
Financial Disclosure: No financial disclosures.
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.
Dr. Patricia Castellanos
Patricia started her private practice in 1990; Later, in 2009 she created the Sonrisas que listeners Foundation in order to offer accessible and reliable services to people living in poverty, of all ages. She is passionate about her work and reflects it in all the programs she develops, especially the newborn hearing screening and school hearing screening.
Financial Disclosure: Employed by Phonak
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.
James E. Saunders, MD, FACS
James E. Saunders is an Associate Professor of Otology / Neurotology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where he teaches aspects of otology and neurotology to medical students, residents and undergraduate students. He completed an M.D. at University of Oklahoma, his residency and a research fellowship in Otolaryngology at Duke University Medical Center, and a Research and Clinical Fellowship at the House Ear Institute. In addition to clinical practice, he has broad research interests and has published many articles on sudden sensorineural hearing loss, the microbiology of chronic otitis, and hearing loss genetics.
Dr. Saunders has been involved with many projects related to the etiology, prevention and treatment of hearing loss in the developing world including collaborations with the World Health Organization and the Global Burden of Disease Project. He is the past Chairman of the Humanitarian Efforts Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology � Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF), the incoming International Coordinator for AAO-HNSF and a co-founder of the Coalition for Global Hearing Health and Mayflower Medical Outreach, an organization that supports and trains otolaryngology and audiology providers in Nicaragua.
Financial Disclosure: No financial disclosures.
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.
Melissa Tumblin
My name is Melissa Tumblin. I am not a medical doctor nor am I a psychologist, but I am a mother to a child who was born without her right ear who has hearing loss. I am a stay at home mom who is married to my best friend, Brent, and I have two very happy little girls, Hailey and Ally. Ally was born with Microtia and Aural Atresia of her right ear. Because of advocating for Ally, I have learned about hearing loss, school programs, and surgical options more than I ever imagined I would. For these reasons and my passion for helping others, I wish to share what I have learned with everyone. I have been asked to speak at events and small gatherings. I have served as a Board of Director Member for the Hands & Voices Organization and as a member of the Parent Advocacy Board/Council for Children’s Hospital Colorado. My family and I live in Colorado, USA. I have over ten years of medical/surgical device marketing experience and I continue to work part time as a medical device marketing consultant. My career has taught me to be an advocate for the products that I market and for the companies that I have marketed for. Now, that I am a mother, I find myself being an advocate for my daughters, especially for my Ally. I received my Bachelors degree in Psychology/Biology (EPOB, geared toward premed) from the University of Colorado at Boulder and I love what I do.
Financial Disclosure: Founder of the Ear Community
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.
Myrthe Hol
Dr. Myrthe Hol completed her medical studies in Utrecht (1995-2002) and her ENT residency (2003-2009) at Radboudumc in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. In 2005 she completed her PhD: BAHA - New indications and long - term patient satisfaction. She went to, Lucerne, Switzerland, guided by Prof. Linder and Prof. Fisch (www.fimf.ch). 2009-2021 ENT-surgeon otologist Radboudumc,research focus temporal bone implants (BI) and auriculair reconstructions. 2021 - current Chair, prof ENT at UMCG (Groningen)
Financial Disclosure: No financial disclosures.
Non-Financial Disclosure: No non-financial disclosures.