I was captivated by Dr. Anu Sharma's research and witnessed the action first-hand in her state-of-the-art clinical lab where she examines brain changes and neuroplasticity in hearing loss. Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and utilizes assessment of cortical auditory evoked potentials, high-density EEG, and other brain imaging techniques in conjunction with behavioral experiments to determine changes in the brain, specifically the impact of hearing loss on the brain. Current results show that even mild hearing loss can result in significant change. See Dr. Sharma's article on Compensatory Changes in Cortical Resource Allocation in Adults with Hearing Loss and a second on Cross-Modal Re-Organization in Adults with Early Stage Hearing Loss.

Dr. Sharma's research team includes SLHS Audiology students who perform electrophysiology testing (using auditory, visual and somatosensory stimulation) source localization and EEG brain dynamics as well as speech perception and cognitive behavioral experiments. She is tracking the effects of intervention with hearing aids and cochlear implants on cortical plasticity and behavioral outcomes. She 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. She is seen here with student Emily Deeves (left) with their patient (right) who is undergoing an EEG. Detailed information about Dr. Sharma's research can be found at EEG LAB and on the Brain and Behavior Laboratory website.

Dr. Brennan’s current research extends from her previous phonological work conducted in the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Northwestern University that focused on how the auditory cortex encodes phonemes, how it synthesizes phonemes into words, and how these processes are affected by experience. Dr. Brennan’s current research aims to improve our understanding of how the organization of the auditory cortex for phonological information may differ in children with and without language-based learning disabilities in which phonological skill is implicated, including dyslexia. Her research projects utilize standardized behavioral measures, experimental tasks, and functional neuroimaging (fMRI). She is a member of the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, as well as a member of the Intermountain Neuroimaging Consortium (INC). Professor Brennan currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in speech and hearing sciences. She earned her PhD and MA from Northwestern University. I appreciated her willingness to meet impromptu as she was soon to teach one of her courses: 5576 SLHS Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology. 

Next door to Christine Brennan I found Assistant Professor, Dr. Christina Meyers-Denman (right) who comes to SLHS from the University of Arizona in Tucson where she received her Ph.D. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Science with a Cognitive Science Minor and specializations in Child Language Disorders, Language Learning, Intervention, and Early Bilingualism. 

Christina’s areas of expertise includes applied research in early childhood. She heads up the brand new Improving Treatment Outcomes for Young Speakers Lab (iToys) where she and students work with children who experience late vocabulary development. The Lab’s learning sessions pair normal children with those needing clinical intervention. Clinicians incorporate child-centered intervention, focused observation, parent involvement and gestural support bridges. Dr. Meyers-Denman's research will weigh the benefits of the approach with particular attention to the use of gestural support in advancing children's vocabulary development. 

OTHER RESEARCH

Dr. Brenda Schick's contributions to the field of Deaf and Hard of Hearing in research, curriulum development, and evaluation is exceptional. She is currently on Sabbatical and in the thick of an exciting new grant funded by IES. With the help of graduate students, she is studying the role of fingerspelling in literacy development in young deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Her past work, funded by NIH, focused on the development of a Theory of Mind in deaf children and how it relates to their language skills. Her work shows that complex language skills are essential for the development of skills in social cognition. With colleagues from the University of Washington, she also developed a tool to assess Quality of Life in students with a hearing loss.  

Some of Dr. Schick's other projects include the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA), a tool she co-developed which evaluates the skills of K-12 interpreters. With colleagues, she published data on the performance skills of interpreters who work in the K-12 setting. Her work on the EIPA has been incorporated into a Classroom Interpreting website dedicated to K-12 interpreting. 

Brenda co-developed a sign language curriculum (video and books) designed for parents titled Sign With Me, as well as a series of children's books that have been translated into ASL by deaf adults and children, titled Read With Me. She has served as the school board president for Rocky Mountain Deaf School, a bilingual charter school for deaf children in metro Denver. She was also a classroom teacher for deaf children. In addition, she is a CODA, having grown up in a deaf family. 

What would the SLHS department do without grad students? Raul San Agustin, Graduate Assistant (left) is the one who has been supplying me with new SLHS alumni lists each spring. He provides office support for the department by assisting with the application process; communicating and interpreting departmental and campus graduate regulations to current graduate students, staff, and faculty; describing the graduate program to prospective students; creating spreadsheets and other data sheets to assist the graduate committees in the selection and recruitment of graduate students; and maintaining documentation files as requested by state and federal agencies. He comes well prepared for these tasks with a background in  marketing/consumer products industry. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and is currently studying a Master’s Degree in Marketing (MS in Marketing) at CU Denver. Raul says he has "found that working in higher education at the SLHS Department has been amazing. As a current graduate student, I can empathize with fellow students and am happy to support their journeys.

The Department's student organization NSSLA is alive and well, I always seek out their bulletin board (right) to prove it! 

Raul and the entire staff and faculty are welcoming faces who would entertain your visit anytime if you'd like to see what's happening at your Alma Mater. Just contact the Department to schedule a visit!