Research Faculty

Research Interests: The overall goal of our current research project is to specify how perceptual and cognitive abilities interact to determine relative benefits of sensory devices for children with moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss. 

Dr. Firszt's clinical and research interests include bilateral and unilateral cochlear implants in adults and children, asymmetric hearing and unilateral haring loss, speech recognition, behavioral and electrophysiologic measures with electrical stimulation and optimization of speech processor mapping.

Dr. Hirose's clinical interests include pediatric hearing loss, cochlear implantation, chronic ear surgery, cholesteatoma, conductive hearing loss, aural atresia, BAHA, ear infections, speech disorders, velopharyngeal insufficiency, cleft palate, craniofacial disorders.

The goal of the Kim Lab is to characterize the properties of sound coding and processing in the cochlea and along the auditory pathway through in vivo real-time monitoring of sound-evoked multicellular activities. Additionally, we aim to identify the transport mechanisms responsible for ototoxic drug entry into the cochlea via in vivo drug tracking and subsequently develop pathway blockers to prevent drug-induced hearing loss.

The Kumar Lab is working to advance therapeutic strategies for hearing disorders, including difficulty hearing in noisy environments, hyperacusis, tinnitus, and hearing deficits associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). By understand how auditory dysfunction arises from alterations in cortical neural circuits, they hope to leverage this knowledge to develop interventions that restore hearing function.