Lab Team

Kendra Marks

Kendra is the research coordinator for the Hearing Aid Lab, helping to run daily operations and serving as the main point of contact for the lab’s many wonderful participants. She received her bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from Oakland University and her AuD from Northwestern University. Kendra has worked in private practice assessing hearing loss, fitting hearing aids, and programming cochlear implants. She also completed a research fellowship at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include how to best optimize hearing aid settings for an individual’s hearing loss and cognitive function. In her personal life, Kendra enjoys cooking for friends and family, reading, and watching television.

Varsha Rallapalli

Varsha is a research assistant professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Speech and Hearing from the All Indian Institute of Medical Science. She went on to earn her AuD and PhD from Purdue University, where she became increasingly interested in hearing aid technology and using that technology to meet patient needs.  Her research interests include evidence based practice, tailored hearing aid fittings, and individual hearing differences. She joined the Hearing Aid Lab in order to focus on translational clinical research and the opportunity to work hands-on with hearing aids and research participants. Her current research focuses on the role of cognitive abilities in fitting hearing aids, as well as directional microphones and amplitude compression. In her personal life, Varsha enjoys reading, watching television shows, and traveling.

Benjamin Tetteh Amartey

Benjamin is a PhD student at Northwestern University. He graduated from the University of Ghana with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in audiology. Following his master’s degree, Benjamin worked as a clinical audiologist in private practice in Ghana, assessing and diagnosing hearing loss, and fitting hearing aids. He was drawn to the Hearing Aid Laboratory due to its focus on translational research. His research interests include the impact of age-related hearing loss and cognitive decline on speech understanding, individual differences and variabilities in hearing aid outcomes, and tailoring hearing aid fittings to optimize outcomes in adverse listening environments. Benjamin spends his free time watching movies and television shows, catching up with family and friends, and traveling.

Andrew Burleson

Andrew is an AuD/PhD student at Northwestern University. Andrew’s interest in music led him to completing a dual Bachelor’s in psychology and music performance from Clark University in Worcester, MA. After earning his degree, Andrew worked in neuropsychological research before discovering audiology and deciding to continue his education by pursuing an AuD/PhD. The Hearing Aid Lab’s focus on working memory and hearing aid processing drew Andrew to the lab, and he is currently conducting research in cognitive hearing science. He is interested in how the brain compensates for degraded speech information for people with and without hearing loss. Andrew also enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons, going camping, hiking, hanging out with his dog, and fostering puppies.

Anna Cosenza

Anna is a second-year AuD student at Northwestern University. She graduated from Northern Illinois University with a degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders back in 2015. She then obtained her Master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Wisconsin- Madison in 2018. After working predominantly as an Employment and Life Skills Counselor with young adults with disabilities, Anna longed to return to the communication sciences, thus her pursuit of Audiology. Anna’s research interests involve understanding how cognitive abilities inform our counseling approach and recommendations, as well as predict outcomes and adherence to hearing treatment. In her personal life, Anna enjoys reading, biking, and thrifting.

Esther Cha

Esther Cha is an undergraduate research assistant at Northwestern University. She is planning to graduate in 2023 with a double major in Neuroscience and Psychology before attending the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She was inspired to join the Hearing Aid Laboratory due to her grandfather’s hearing loss and an interest in conversation analysis. Her hobbies include baking, crocheting, and walking around the Lakefill in all seasons (but especially fall!).

Marina Cox

Marina is a third-year Doctor of Audiology student and graduate research assistant in the lab. She received her bachelor’s degree in Hearing and Speech Sciences from the University of Maryland College Park. At Maryland, Marina completed an undergraduate thesis using computation models to predict speech reception thresholds for real and simulated bilateral and single-sided deafness cochlear implant users. Her current research interests reside in bilateral streaming, motion-based beamformer adaptation, and best-practice device programming for cognitive decline. Outside of Audiology, she enjoys rollerblading, reading historical fiction, and watching anime.

Nathan Fishpaugh

Nathan Fishpaugh is an undergraduate student studying Computer Information Technology, and joined the lab in the summer of 2019 to assist with data entry and technical support. He has experience with programming languages from Java to Visual Basic, software applications including Microsoft Office and Qualtrics, and hardware troubleshooting. His hobbies include hiking, paintball, building desktop computers, and volunteering at his local no-kill animal shelter.

Yu-Hsuan Huang

Yu-Hsuan is a Doctor of Audiology student at Northwestern University. Yu-Hsuan received her Bachelor of Science degree in Audiology from Asia University in Taiwan, and completed her externship training for clinical audiology and cochlear implant training in Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in Taiwan. After earning her degree, Yu-Hsuan worked in Vapor hearing aid company as an audiologist and closely working with hearing aid manufactures Signia and Beltone for one and a half years. Yu-Hsuan’s interest in hearing healthcare and hearing aids processing led her to pursue an AuD. She is currently conducting research in effect of hearing aid compression. She is interested in how compression affects speech intelligibility and sound quality. Moreover, She enjoys playing violin, reading, dancing, singing, bouldering, top-roping, golfing, and swimming. 

Siqi Li

Siqi is a PhD student at Northwestern University. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from Shanghai Jiaotong University and her master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology from Beijing Language and Culture University, where she gradually became interested in hearing science. Siqi was drawn to the Hearing Aid Lab because of its focus on customized audiologic interventions. She is interested in the individual differences underlying speech perception mehcanisms that cause variabilities in hearing aid outcomes. In her spare time, Siqi enjoys reading, watching movies, doing yoga and spending time with family and friends.

Rachel Pennock

Rachael is a PhD student at Northwestern University. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and communication science & disorders; she went on to earn her clinical doctorate at the University of South Florida. After completing her AuD, Rachael worked as a clinical audiologist at a private practice in Columbus, GA. She worked with adults and children, performing hearing and vestibular evaluations, fitting and maintaining hearing aids, and conducting various electrophysiology tests. She is interested in how hearing and communication change in older adults who rely on hearing aids, particularly in complex and challenging listening environments. Outside of academia, Rachael loves to walk her dog, practice new bakes, and catch up with friends.

Abhijit Roy

Abhijit is a PhD student at Northwestern. His passion for the field of hearing and sound is driven by a background in sound design and acoustical studies and a fascination for the curiosities of auditory neurology. Abhijit is interested in the manner in which hearing aids respond to musical stimuli and in helping create signal processing solutions for better hearing aid user experience. Outside the lab, he likes to play guitar, go on drives, and explore the surrounding areas.

Maya Reid

Maya is a second-year AuD student at Northwestern University. She became interested in the field after learning about it from a friend who wore hearing aids. She was matched with the Hearing Aid Lab her freshman year at Northwestern through a scholarship program and enjoyed it enough to stay on as a research assistant once the program ended. She is interested in research involving cognition and audiology, as well as using her Spanish-language skills to conduct research on the connection between linguistics and audiology. Maya enjoys playing basketball, spending time with friends and family, and listening to music.

Grace Szatkowski

Grace is a PhD student at Northwestern University. She graduated from the State University of NY at Buffalo with a bachelor’s degree in Speech and Hearing Science and went on to complete her clinical doctorate in audiology at the Northeast Ohio AuD Consortium (Kent State & University of Akron) in Ohio. Grace was inspired to pursue a career in audiology in memory of her grandparents. She is interested in how hearing and cognition changes over the lifespan. Research interests include investigating innovative and interprofessional modifications to assessment and treatment for hearing loss and dementia. In her personal life, she enjoys jogging, hiking, birdwatching, playing video games, and reading.

Christina Yue

Christina is a second-year AuD student at Northwestern University. She graduated from St. John’s University in Queens, New York with a major in Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology. She first learned about this field after taking an American Sign Language course and went on to taking audiology related courses out of curiosity. She is interested in working with both the geriatric and pediatric population. Christina enjoys eating out, taking walks, doing puzzles, traveling and going to the beach in her free time.

Kathryn Arehart

Kathryn Arehart is a Professor at University of Colorado. Her collaborations with Dr. Souza include the effects of hearing loss on pitch perception, signal-processing algorithms to improve speech-in-noise perception by persons with hearing loss, perception of sound quality, the interactive effects of aging and hearing loss on speech perception and the customization of hearing-aid signal processing for the individual listener with hearing loss with the goal of optimizing hearing-aid outcomes.

Lauren Balmert

Lauren Balmert is an Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine (Biostatistics) at Northwestern University and a member of both the Biostatistics Collaboration Center (BCC) and Northwestern University Data Analysis and Coordinating Center (NUDACC).  Dr. Balmert’s interests include clinical trial design and analysis.  She has collaborated with the Hearing Aid Lab on several projects focusing on analysis of individual predictors of hearing aid outcomes.

Frederick (Erick) Gallun

Frederick (Erick) Gallun is a professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, Oregon Health and Sciences University. Dr. Gallun’s interests include the role of non-energetic (‘informational’) masking and memory processes on the ability of listeners across the age span to make multiple simultaneous or sequential judgments in various domains (intensity, location, speech); the influences of age and hearing loss on binaural sensitivity, binaural interference, and binaural and monaural temporal integration; amplitude-modulation sensitivity and its role in speech intelligibility and interactions with compression in hearing aids; and the potential impacts of cognitive impairment on auditory tasks.

Kimberly Mueller

Dr. Mueller is an Associate Professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  Her research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms and behavioral aspects of speech and language changes across the spectrum of aging, preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia, and other forms of dementia. Her work utilizes naturalistic speech-language sample analysis as one means of analyzing and understanding subtle changes to communication. Dr. Mueller is also interested in the design and testing of multimodal therapeutic interventions to address cognitive-communication difficulties and quality of communication life in people living with MCI and dementia.

Angela Roberts

Angela Roberts is a faculty member in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders and in the Department of Computer Science at Western University, London, Ontario..  Her collaborative work with Dr. Souza focuses on real-life communication benefits of hearing aids for adults with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease.

Richard Wright

Richard Wright is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington, Seattle. He completed his PhD at UCLA and an NIH training post-doc at Indiana University. His research interests include phonetics, speech perception and spoken word recognition, sources of variability in spoken language, and speech technology. He is the director of the Phonetics Laboratory in the Department of Linguistics, University of Washington.

Michael Blackburn, AuD, Senior eSolutions Manager, Sonova Group, Aurora, IL

Marc Brennan, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE

Alyssa Davidson, AuD, PhD, Research Audiologist, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD

Evelyn Davies-Venn, AuD, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Gregory Ellis, PhD, Research Scientist, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD

Eric Hoover, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Lorienne Jenstad, PhD, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Christi Miller, PhD, Research Scientist, Facebook Reality Labs, Seattle, WA

Barbara Ohlenforst, PhD, Research and Development Engineer, Netherlands Aerospace Centre, Amsterdam

Paul Reinhart, PhD, Clinical Project Manager, Cochlear, Denver, CO

Andrew Sabin, PhD, Research Lead, Bose Hear, Framingham, MA

Tim Schoof, PhD, Research Scientist, Advanced Bionics, Valencia, CA

Jing Shen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA