2016 Fall Convention
A BIG thank you to Oticon, our 2016 Platinum sponsor!
Thank you to our Gold sponsors!
Thank you to our Silver sponsors!
This year, our guest speakers included Dr. Daniel Lee, M.D., FACS from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Dr. Richard Salvi, Ph.D. from the University of Buffalo, and Dr. Donald Schum from Oticon. Our convention took place at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Natick, MA on Friday, September 30th.
2016 Conference Photos
Dr. Daniel Lee's primary clinical focus is cochlear implant surgery for infants, children and adults. He is currently studying the outcomes following unilateral and bilateral cochlear implants in children and has a special interest in surgery for the malformed inner ear (large vestibular aqueduct, Mondini, common cavity.)
He is the director of the Wilson Auditory Brainstem Implant program based at the Mass. Eye and Ear and Mass. General Hospital. He offer the auditory brainstem implant (ABI) as an option for infants, children, and adults who are deaf and cannot receive the cochlear implant. He works Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2) patients who are deaf from bilateral vestibular schwannomas (acoustic neuromas,) as well as pediatric and adult patients who are deaf from scarred inner ears, or absent or damaged auditory nerves. He is currently working on two FDA clinical trials on the ABI in both children and adults.
Presentation topic: Cochlear or auditory brainstem implants for children with severe to profound hearing loss
This presentation will provide an overview of the auditory pathways, indications for pediatric CI or ABI, radiologic criteria for implantation, and surgical and audiologic outcomes.
Dr. Richard Salvi has a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Syracuse University and completed a post-doc in auditory physiology at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. Dr. Salvi is a Professor in the Dept. of Communication Disorders and Sciences and is the Director of the Center for Hearing and Deafness. He has published more than 440 papers related to anatomy and physiology of hearing, otoacoustic emissions, auditory plasticity, hair cell regeneration, noise-induced hearing loss, ototoxicity, age-related hearing loss, tinnitus and brain imaging of tinnitus in humans and animals.
Dr. Salvi serves on the editorial board of Hearing Research, Audiology and Neuro-Otology, Noise and Health and other scientific journals.
Watch Video: Remodeling Sensory and Motor Circuits in the Brain: New Insights from Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
Research Article: Tinnitus and hyperacusis involve hyperactivity and enhanced connectivity in auditory-limbic-arousal-cerebellar network
Presentation Topic: Neural network mediating the phantom sound of tinnitus and loudness hypersensitivity (hyperacusis)
Hearing loss is often accompanied by tinnitus, a phantom ringing sensation and hyperacusis, sounds perceived as intolerably loud or painful. Since tinnitus and hyperacusis are triggered by hearing loss, these disorders were assumed to originate in the ear. However, since ablating the auditory nerve failed to eliminate these symptoms, tinnitus and hyperacusis are now believed to arise from aberrant neural activity within the brain. To identify the neural substrate for these disorders, we induced tinnitus and hyperacusis with salicylate, an ototoxic drug and used behavioral, electrophysiological and fMRI techniques to identify the tinnitus-hyperacusis neural network. Salicylate depressed the neural output of the cochlea, but amplified sound-evoked neural responses in the amygdala, inferior colliculus, medial geniculate body and auditory cortex. fMRI revealed hyperactivity within a neural network consisting of the inferior colliculus, medial geniculate body and auditory cortex with side branches to the cerebellum, amygdala and reticular formation. Functional connectivity analysis revealed enhanced coupling within the auditory network and between the auditory network and the cerebellum, reticular formation, amygdala and hippocampus. The components of this network can account for the distress, spatial location, arousal and gating of tinnitus and hyperacusis.
Donald J. Schum, Ph.D. currently serves as Vice President for Audiology & Professional Relations for Oticon, Inc. Previous to his position at Oticon in Somerset, New Jersey, Don served as the Director of Audiology for the flagship Oticon office in Copenhagen, Denmark, and also held appointments at the University of Iowa, School of Medicine and at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Presentation Topic: The Individualized Effects of Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Sensorineural hearing loss represents a change in the physiology of a complex system. Decades of research have shown that the effects on the perception of auditory signals varies significantly from patient to patient. However, as a field, we have been slow to incorporate this variation into fitting practices. In this talk, the nature of the individualized effects of hearing loss will be reviewed along with approaches that have been introduced to better reflect this natural range of performance in fitting practice.
Schedule of Events for 2016 Convention
7:00 – 7:30 Exhibitor and Sponsors Set Up
7:30 - 8:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:00 - 8:15 Opening Remarks by Wendy Ring, President of MAA
8:15 - 9:45 (1.5 CEUs, including ABA Tier 1) Daniel Lee, M.D., FACS: Cochlear or auditory brainstem implants for children with severe to profound hearing loss
9:45 - 10:15 Break, Silent Auction and Exhibitors
10:15 - 11:45 (1.5 CEUs, including ABA Tier 1) Daniel Lee, M.D., FACS: Cochlear or auditory brainstem implants for children with severe to profound hearing loss
11:45- 12:45 Lunch and Silent Auction
12:45 -1:00 Legislative Updates with Gloria Craven, Craven and Ober, Policy Strategists
1:00 - 2:30 (1.5 CEUs) Donald Schum, Ph.D.: The Individualized Effects of Sensorineural Hearing Loss
2:30 - 3:30 (1 CEU, including ABA Tier 1) Richard Salvi, Ph.D., Neural network mediating the phantom sound of tinnitus and loudness hypersensitivity
3:30 - 3:45 Break/Announce Silent Auction Winners
3:45 - 5:45 (2 CEUs, including ABA Tier 1) Richard Salvi, Ph.D., Neural network mediating the phantom sound of tinnitus and loudness hypersensitivity