WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2025

8:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Ear & Hearing Editorial Board Meeting  CAMELBACK LODGE BOARDROOM

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM: AAS Executive Board Meeting  CAMELBACK LODGE BOARDROOM

1:00 PM - 5:30 PM: Registration  CONVENTION DESK

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2025

7:45 AM - 5:00 PM: Registration  CONVENTION DESK

8:00 AM - 8:10 AM: Opening Comments  GRAND BALLROOM ABC

Lisa L. Hunter, PhD, AAS President
Rachael Frush Holt, PhD, President-Elect and Program Chair

8:10 AM - 9:10 AM: Translational Research I  GRAND BALLROOM ABC   Moderator: Tina M. Grieco-Calub, PhD

Fast and Accurate Diagnosis Using the Parallel Auditory Brainstem Response
Ross Maddox, PhD
Associate Professor, Kresge Hearing Research Institute, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

9:20 AM - 11:40 AM: Concurrent Podium Presentations 

PODIUM SESSION I: HEARING AIDS & INTERVENTION    GRAND BALLROOM ABC   Moderator: Aaron C. Moberly, MD

9:20 AM – 9:40 AM: Pre-Fitting Determinants of Hearing Aid Persistence Among 284,175 US Veterans
Lauren K. Dillard, AuD, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

9:40 AM – 10:00 AM: Nested Trial of Telehealth versus Conventional Hearing Care in ACHIEVE
Nicholas S. Reed, AuD, PhD, New York University, Baltimore, MD

10:00 AM – 10:20 AM: Effect of Hearing Intervention on White Matter Hyperintensity Volume: Findings from a Secondary Analysis of the ACHIEVE Randomized Trial
Alison R. Huang, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

10:20 AM – 10:40 AM: BREAK

10:40 AM – 11:00 AM: Factors Associated with the Cognitive Benefits of Hearing Intervention
James Russell Pike, New York University, Chapel Hill, NC

11:00 AM – 11:20 AM: Preliminary Results on a Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the ACHIEVE Hearing Intervention
Emmanuel E. Garcia Morales, PhD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD

11:20 AM – 11:40 AM: The Integrated Digit-in-Noise Test for Hearing and Cognitive Screening
Lena Wong, PhD, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

PODIUM SESSION II: LISTENING ENVIRONMENTS     GRAND BALLROOM DEF   Moderator: Jason Galster, PhD

9:20 AM – 9:40 AM: Acoustic Environments for Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
New Investigator Presentation
Carlos Benítez- Barrera, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

9:40 AM – 10:00 AM: Effects of Age and Hearing Aid Use on Auditory Environments
New Investigator Presentation
Erik Jorgensen, AuD, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

10:00 AM – 10:20 AM: The Daily Auditory Environment of People with Tinnitus
Erika Skoe, PhD, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

10:20 AM – 10:40 AM: BREAK

10:40 AM – 11:00 AM: Effects of Cultural Dynamics on Everyday Acoustic Environments
Nairán Ramírez-Esparza, PhD, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

11:00 AM – 11:20 AM: Cultural Differences in Listening Environments for Hispanic Cochlear Implant Users
Emily R. Spitzer, AuD, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY

11:20 AM – 11:40 AM: Passive Sensing to Make Sense of Daily-life Listening Experiences
Jeppe Hoey Christensen, PhD, Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, Snekkersten, Denmark

PODIUM SESSION III: HEARING AID POLICY / HEARING LOSS: EFFORT AND FATIGUE     LA VALENCIA   Moderator: Adam K. Bosen, PhD

9:20 AM – 9:40 AM: Medicaid Hearing Aid Policies and Hearing Aid Purchasing among Older Adults
Michelle Arnold, AuD, PhD, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

9:40 AM – 10:00 AM: The Impact of Private Insurance Hearing Aid Mandates on Hearing Aid Spending and Utilization
Michael Pesko, PhD, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

10:00 AM – 10:20 AM: Effects of Individual Differences on Listening Experiences in Daily Life
Andreea Micula, PhD, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

10:20 AM – 10:40 AM: BREAK

10:40 AM – 11:00 AM: Why Am I So Tired? Predicting Listening-Related Fatigue in Adults
Benjamin Hornsby, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

11:00 AM – 11:20 AM: Cochlear Implant Listening Effort Reflects Expectation of Consistent Difficulty
Matthew Winn, AuD, PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

11:20 AM – 11:40 AM: Impact of Cochlear Implant Use on Comprehension and Listening Effort
Terrin N. Tamati, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

11:45 AM - 12:45 PM: Lunch  CYPRESS COURT TERRAZA

12:45 PM - 1:00 PM: Poster Session I Setup - Put Up Posters  TERRAZA

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM: Student Travel Award Poster Forum  GRAND BALLROOM DEF   Moderator: TBD

Student travel awardees will have the opportunity to do a “sneek peek” of their posters in 5-minute podium presentations. The purpose of this forum is to highlight student research and to interest attendees in attending posters to get more information and meet presenters. Selection is based on merit scores from blinded review and diversity factors (race, ethnicity, gender, region).

2:00 PM - 4:55 PM: TECHNOLOGY UPDATES (Industry Sponsored Sessions)

2:00 PM - 2:25 PM: First Round / 2:30 PM - 2:55 PM: Repeat of Sessions

Session 1A: From Prescription to OTC: Evaluating Jabra Enhance's Dual-Tier Approach to Hearing Care
Harvey B. Abrams, PhD and Katie Keese, AuD, Jabra Enhance   GRAND BALLROOM ABC

Session 1B: The Social Consequences of Hearing Loss:  Are Hearing Aids Enough?
Brian J. Taylor, AuD, WS Audiology - Signia   GRAND BALLROOM DEF

Session 1C: Live is Good, is Auracast Better? Real World Demonstrations of Auracast Broadcast Streaming
Jill Mecklenburger, AuD, GN Hearing   LA VALENCIA

3:00 PM - 3:25 PM: Second Round / 3:30 PM - 3:55 PM: Repeat of Sessions

Session 2A: IHS Research Update 2025 - High Frequency Testing Options for Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEP) and Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) 
Rafael E. Delgado, PhD, Intelligent Hearing Systems Corp.   GRAND BALLROOM ABC

Session 2B: Low Delay Processing and Speech Intelligibility 
Eric Branda, PhD, WS Audiology   GRAND BALLROOM DEF

Session 2C: Leveraging Deep Neural Networks to Improve Noise Reduction in Edge AI 
Michelle L. Hicks, PhD, Starkey   LA VALENCIA

4:00 PM - 4:25 PM: Third Round / 4:30 PM - 4:55 PM: Repeat of Sessions

Session 3A: Achieving Superior Patient Outcomes with DNN Denoising in Audéo Sphere Infinio 
Elizabeth Stewart, PhD, Sonova US   GRAND BALLROOM ABC

Session 3B: Genetic Testing and Counseling as Part of the Audiologic Assessment 
Joan Hewitt, AuD, Project TALK, Akouos, A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company; In accordance with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals (PhRMA Code), CEU cannot be provided for this session.   GRAND BALLROOM DEF

Session 3C: Finding the Right Balance: How to Adapt Intelligent Hearing Aid Features to Individual User Needs
Sébastien Santurette, PhD, Oticon A/S   LA VALENCIA

5:00 PM - 6:15 PM: Carhart Memorial Lecture  GRAND BALLROOM ABC   Moderator: Ryan McCreery, PhD; Introduction: Gurjit Singh, PhD

Hearing Health and Aging Well
Kathy Pichora-Fuller, PhD, FCAHS
Professor Emerita, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

6:30 PM - 7:30 PM: Opening Reception (not eligible for CEU)  CYPRESS COURT

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2025

7:45 AM - 1:30 PM: Registration  CONVENTION DESK

8:00 AM - 8:30 AM: Early Career Research Award Presentation  GRAND BALLROOM ABC   Moderator: Hideko Heidi Nakajima, MD, PhD

Improving the Diagnosis of Otitis Media and Associated Hearing Loss in Children
Gabrielle R. Merchant, AuD, PhD
Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM: Translational Research II - Killion Lecture  GRAND BALLROOM ABC   Moderator: Julie G. Arenberg, PhD

Understanding Individual Variability Among Older Adults with Hearing Loss
Pamela Souza, PhD
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

9:30 AM - 10:30 AM: Awards & Recognitions (not eligible for CEU)  GRAND BALLROOM ABC

Membership Update: Lisa L. Hunter, PhD, AAS President
Life Achievement Award: Professor Linda J. Hood, PhD, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Ear and Hearing Update: Ruth Litovsky, PhD, Editor-in-Chief
Ear and Hearing Editor's Award: Extended High-Frequency Thresholds: Associations With Demographic and Risk Factors, Cognitive Ability, and Hearing Outcomes in Middle-Aged and Older Adults. Helfer KS, Maldonado L, Matthews LJ, Simpson AN, Dubno JR.Ear Hear. 2024 Nov-Dec 01;45(6):1427-1443. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001531. Epub 2024 Jul 11.
Ear and Hearing Readers' Choice Award

10:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Poster Session I Presentations  TERRAZA

Presenters with odd numbered posters should plan to present between 10:30 am - 11:30 am. Presenters with even numbered posters should plan to present between 11:30 am - 12:30 pm. Presenters are also free to be available at any other time the poster is on display.

12:30 PM - 12:45 PM: Poster Session I - Take Down Posters  TERRAZA

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM: Lunch  CYPRESS COURT

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM: NIH Grant Information Session  GRAND BALLROOM ABC   Moderator: Kaylah Lalonde, PhD

Box lunches will be available in the room.

Cendrine Robinson, PhD, MPH
Director of Workforce Development and Community Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, NIH

Funding from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) advances scientific and clinical discovery. NIDCD staff will provide an overview of fellowship, career development, and research funding opportunities. The session will also cover advice for successful applications. This session is aimed at AuD or PhD students, post-doctoral fellows, and early-stage investigators.

Hua Ou, MD, PhD
Program Officer, Office of Data Science Strategy, Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of Director, NIH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) drives innovations in science and technology that aim to improve the health of all humankind. Critical to NIH’s mission is a sustainable, diverse, and well-trained biomedical and health research workforce. This presentation will offer an overview of the NIH Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS) and the programs toward building a strong and diverse data science community in biomedical and health research. It will highlight programs that enhance the data science competencies in trainees and scientists.

1:30 PM - 4:30 PM: Concurrent Podium Presentations

Podium Session IV: HEARING LOSS: EPIDEMIOLOGY AND GENETICS / HEARING AIDS   GRAND BALLROOM ABC   Moderator: Carrie Nieman, MD

1:30 PM - 1:50 PM: Polygenic Risk Score-Based Association Analysis of Audiometry and Otoacoustic Emissions
Ishan Sunilkumar Bhatt, PhD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

1:50 PM - 2:10 PM: Genetic Factors Explain Differences in Otoacoustic Emissions Among Young Adults
Valerie Alexandra Ingalls, BA, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

2:10 PM - 2:30 PM: Comorbidity Landscapes of Age-Related Hearing Loss, Tinnitus, and Speech-in-Noise Deficits
Ishan Sunilkumar Bhatt, PhD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

2:30 PM - 2:50 PM: Longitudinal Association Between Sleep Disturbances and Hearing Loss
Kening Jiang, Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD

2:50 PM - 3:10 PM: BREAK

3:10 PM - 3:30 PM: Genetic Risk Modeling of Acquired Hearing Loss Using Artificial Intelligence
Ishan Sunilkumar Bhatt, PhD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

3:30 PM - 3:50 PM: Clinical Trial Results on One vs Two Hearing Aids
Sherri Smith, AuD, PhD, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC

3:50 PM - 4:10 PM: An Accessible Image-Based Questionnaire for Assessing Hearing and Hearing-Aid Outcomes
Gabrielle H. Saunders, PhD, Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness (ManCAD), Manchester, UK

4:10 PM - 4:30 PM: Factors Influencing Hearing Aid Adoption, Usage, and Retention
Varsha Athreya, PhD, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

Podium Session V: AUDIOLOGY AND OTOLOGY: DIAGNOSIS AND INTERVENTION      GRAND BALLROOM DEF   Moderator: Jessica R. Sullivan, PhD

1:30 PM - 1:50 PM: Ear Canal Geometry from Infancy Through Old Age
Susan E. Voss, PhD, Smith College, Northampton, MA

1:50 PM - 2:10 PM: Audiometric Thresholds and Computed Tomography in Children with Down Syndrome
Keelin Fallon, BA, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA

2:10 PM - 2:30 PM: Broadband and 8kHz chirp ABRs in Fullterm and Preterm Infants
New Investigator Presentation
Chelsea Blankenship, AuD, PhD, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

2:30 PM - 2:50 PM: 
Data-Driven Audiometric Classifications and Speech Perception Measures
Matthew Fitzgerald, PhD, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

2:50 PM - 3:10 PM: BREAK

3:10 PM - 3:30 PM: Why the NoSπ Threshold Should be Measured in Audiometric Evaluations
Douglas S. Brungart, PhD, Walter Reed National Military Center, Bethesda, MD

3:30 PM - 3:50 PM: Effects of Audiometric Threshold on N0Sπ Detection
Daniel E. Shub, PhD, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD

3:50 PM - 4:10 PM: Use of Artificial Intelligence Hearing Aids for Identifying Fall Risk
Jwala Rejimon, AuD, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

4:10 PM - 4:30 PM: Preliminary Study of Remote Counseling and Sound Therapy for Hyperacusis
Ann Elizabeth Perreau, PhD, Augustana College, Rock Island, IL

Podium Session VI: COCHLEAR IMPLANTS / SPEECH PERCEPTION   LA VALENCIA   Moderator: René Gifford, PhD 

1:30 PM - 1:50 PM: Pre-operative Predictors of Early Cochlear Implant Outcomes in Adults
Aaron C. Moberly, MD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

1:50 PM - 2:10 PM: Mapping Considerations for Cochlear Implant Users with Unilateral Hearing Loss
Margaret Dillon, AuD, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

2:10 PM - 2:30 PM: Spatial Cues in Speech-in-Noise: Orienting Responses in Pediatric Implant Users
Hillary A. Snapp, AuD, PhD, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL

2:30 PM - 2:50 PM: Distorted Tonotopy in Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Cross-Species Study
Hari Bharadwaj, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

2:50 PM - 3:10 PM: BREAK

3:10 PM - 3:30 PM: Bayesian-Guided Estimation of Speech Reception Thresholds in Background Noise
Christopher Slugocki, PhD, Office of Research in Clinical Amplification (ORCA-USA), WS Audiology, Lisle, IL 

3:30 PM - 3:50 PM: Spectral Weighting and Aided Speech Recognition in Noise Among Older Adults with Age-Related Hearing Loss
Yi Shen, PhD, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

3:50 PM - 4:10 PM: Factors Influencing Audiovisual Speech Benefit in Children: Acoustic-Phonetic Redundancy
Kaylah Lalonde, PhD, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE

4:10 PM - 4:30 PM: Social Influence on Eye Gaze Behavior During Audiovisual Speech Perception
Justin T. Fleming, PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

2:50 PM - 3:10 PM: Poster Session II Setup - Put Up Posters  TERRAZA

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM: Mentoring Research Projects: Strategies for Mentors and Mentees

Session Organized by the Student and Post-Doctoral Mentoring Committee  GRAND BALLROOM ABC   Moderator: TBD      

Panelists:
Maureen Shader, AuD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Purdue University
Uzma Ahktar, AuD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Rush University Medical Center
Victoria Sanchez, AuD, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of South Florida

6:30 PM - 7:30 PM: spAAS Happy Hour (not eligible for CEU)  GARDEN COURT RESTAURANT

Informal setting to socialize and meet new people. A cash bar and light snacks will be available. 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2025

7:45 AM - 3:45 PM: Registration  CONVENTION DESK

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM: Translational Research III  GRAND BALLROOM DEF   Moderator: Rachael Frush Holt, PhD

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM: (Hearing) Industry Research Consortium Sponsored Session   GRAND BALLROOM DEF   MODERATOR: TBD

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Poster Session II Presentations  TERRAZA

Presenters with odd numbered posters should plan to present between 10:00 am - 11:00 am. Presenters with even numbered posters should plan to present between 11:00 am - 12:00 pm. Presenters are also free to be available at any other time the poster is on display.

12:00 PM - 12:15 PM: Poster Session II - Take Down Posters  TERRAZA

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM: Lunch  CYPRESS COURT

1:00 PM - 3:30 PM: Special Session: Gene Therapy  GRAND BALLROOM ABC   Moderator: O'neil W. Guthrie, MS, PhD, CCC-A

Gene Therapy: When Desires Precede the Evidence
O’neil W. Guthrie, MS, PhD, CCC-A 
Cell & Molecular Pathology Laboratory, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ

Patients’ Perspective on Gene Therapy for Hearing Loss
Emma J. Kagel, JD, MBE, HCE-C, LPEC
Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Bioethics Alliance, Boston, MA

Clinical Challenges and Opportunities for Implementing Gene Therapy for Hearing Loss
Marci M. Lesperance, MD
Professor, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Pediatric Otolaryngology in the Era of Gene Therapy for Deafness
Keiko Hirose, MD
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

Impact of Universal Newborn Genetic Screening on the Treatment of Hearing Loss in Children
Sharon L. Cushing, MD
Professor, Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Audiologists’ Perspectives on Gene Therapy for Hearing Loss
Ryan McCreery, PhD
Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE

Bioethical Analysis of Stakeholders’ Perspectives About Gene Therapy for Hearing Loss
Emma J. Kagel, JD, MBE, HCE-C, LPEC
Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Bioethics Alliance, Boston, MA

Moderated Community Discussion

3:30 PM - 3:45 PM: Summary and Adjournment  GRAND BALLROOM ABC

AAS Conference Registration
Cancellation Policy: If registered and unable to attend the conference, AAS offers a full refund of the registration fee. Email [email protected] for assistance.

AAS Invited, Podium, and Technology Update Session Speakers Bios and Disclosures

AAS Poster Presenter Bios and Disclosures

Financial and In-Kind Support Provided By:

Jabra Enhance - The session "From Prescription to OTC: Evaluating Jabra Enhance's Dual-Tier Approach to Hearing Care" was funded in its entirety by Jabra Enhance.

WS Audiology - Signia - The session "Age-Related Hearing Loss and Social Disconnectedness: How Hearing Aids Might Help?" was funded in its entirety by WS Audiology - Signia.

GN Hearing - The session "Live is Good, is Auracast Better? Real World Demonstrations of Auracast Broadcast Streaming" was funded in its entirety by GN Hearing.

Intelligent Hearing Systems Corp. - The session "IHS Research Update 2025 - High Frequency Testing Options for Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEP) and Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE)" was funded in its entirety by Intelligent Hearing Systems Corp.  

WS Audiology - The session "Low Delay Processing and Speech Intelligibility" was funded in its entirely by WS Audiology

Starkey - The session "Leveraging Deep Neural Networks to Improve Noise Reduction in Edge AI" was funded in its entirety by Starkey.

Sonova US - The session "Achieving Superior Patient Outcomes with DNN Denoising in Audéo Sphere Infinio" was funded in its entirety by Sonova US.

Akouos, A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company - The session "Genetic Testing and Counseling as Part of the Audiologic Assessment" was funded in its entirety by Akouos, A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company.

Oticon A/S - The session "Finding the Right Balance: How to Adapt Intelligent Hearing Aid Features to Individual User Needs" was funded in its entirety by Oticon A/S. 

(Hearing) Industry Research Consortium - The session "(Hearing) Industry Research Consortium Sponsored Session" was funded in its entirety by the (Hearing) Industry Research Consortium.