Many ILAA scholarship recipients have graduated and started their professional careers. Here's an update on your scholarship dollars at work:
Samira Anderson, Au.D., Ph.D graduated in December 2012 from Northwestern University. She joined the faculty at the University of Maryland’s Hearing and Speech Sciences department in January of 2013, and she is enjoying teaching her first class, Advanced Clinical Audiology, to the Au.D. graduate students. She is busy setting up an electrophysiology lab in which she plans to use brainstem and cortical evoked potentials to assess central processing and auditory plasticity in older adults. Her recent publications include “Reversal of age-related neural timing delays with training,” Proc Natl Acad Sci, 2013, “Auditory brainstem response to complex sounds predicts self-reported speech-in-noise performance,” J Speech Lang Hear Res, 2013, and “Aging affects neural prevision of speech encoding,” J Neurosci, 2012. 3-5-2013
Jillian Baehr Earnest, Au.D. graduated from Rush University in June 2009 after completing her 4th year externship at GN ReSound, Lake Forest Hospital, and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago. Following graduation she began work as an audiologist at the Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana. In June 2010, Dr. Earnest began working at the Naval Health Clinic in Great Lakes, which subsequently joined with the North Chicago VA to form the nation’s first Federal Health Care Center. She is proud to be a part of the joint venture of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, IL, serving the veterans, active duty service members, their dependents, and military retirees.
7-5-2012
Renee Banakis, Au.D. graduated in August of 2008 from Northwestern University. During her time at Northwestern, Dr. Banakis participated in research that for the first time showed the presence of spontaneous otoacoustic emissions in laboratory mice. After receiving her Au.D. degree, Dr. Banakis worked as a clinical audiologist and a research scientist at Northwestern University. In the fall of 2009, Dr. Banakis entered medical school at Northwestern University and plans to specialize in otology. She will begin her residency in March and graduate in May of 2013.
7-18-2012
Jacqueline Busen, Au.D. graduated from Rush University in June 2010 after completing her externship at University of Illinois Medical Center. While completing her studies, Dr. Busen conducted a research study on the use of probe-microphone measurements, the results of which she presented at American Academy of Audiology 2010 convention. She currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, and enjoys working at Phoenix Children's Hospital where her areas of interest include electrophysiology and cochlear implants. In addition, she spends her spare time completing a Research Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.
7-15-2012
McLorn Carpenter, Au.D. graduated from Rush University in June of 2010. After spending her 4th year externship at Dreyer Medical Clinic in Aurora, Illinois, she began work at the Naperville office of Midwest Hearing Consultants, LLC. She performs diagnostics and hearing aid fittings on pediatric through geriatric patients. She enjoys the daily challenges she faces in a quick-paced ENT facility, and loves the variety in her clinical position. She plans to continue advocating for hearing conversation and the audiology field as a whole.
7-19-2012
Lia Ferro, Au.D. graduated from Northwestern University in 2006 after completing her externship at the University of Chicago. As a student, she conducted research examining newborn hearing screening practices in the State of Illinois, the results of which were published in the International
Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology in 2007. Dr. Ferro presently directs the cochlear implant program at University of Chicago, and has a special interest in pediatric diagnostics.
2008
Jessica Fulton Melton, Au.D. graduated from Rush University in June of 2006 after completing her externship at Lake Forest Hospital and Hines VA in Maywood. Upon graduation she worked at the Ear Institute in Chicago, providing basic and advanced diagnostics, and hearing aid, cochlear implant, and BAHA services. In August 2007 she joined Cochlear Corporations as a Clinical Applications Specialist where she provides clinical and technical support for cochlear implant and Baha centers in Illinois and Wisconsin.
11-2-2012
Jaimie Gilbert, Ph.D. received her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in May of 2009. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at Indiana University in the Speech Research Lab in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences from 2009 to 2012. Beginning with the fall semester 2012, Dr. Gilbert will join the faculty at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point (UWSP) as an Assistant Professor in the School of Communicative Disorders Au.D. program. Dr. Gilbert is looking foward forward teaching students and continuing to research speech perception in adverse listening conditions.
7-1-2012
Kristine Henslin Trester, Au.D. graduated from Rush University in June 2012, after completing her fourth year externships at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital and at North Shore Audio-Vestibular Lab. While completing her externships, she presented her research regarding the noise levels associated with the Chicago Transit Authority trains at ILAA, AAA, and Rush research forum, and won awards at ILAA and Rush. Upon graduation, she joined North Shore Audio-Vestibular Lab full time. 3-8-2013
Blythe Holmes Kitner, Au.D. completed the first half of her 4th year externship at Resurrection Hospital, Chicago, IL and the second half at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. She noted that the combination of those two sites for her externship provided excellent training in both clinical and research aspects of audiology. Following graduation from Rush University in 2009, Dr. Kitner worked at Lake Forest Hospital and Tri-City Balance and is presently on the clinical faculty at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Kitner is currently serving as Vice President of Membership of ILAA. 6-30-2012
Jessica Levine Hoffman, Au.D. graduated from Northwestern University in 2010. As a student, she conducted research on auditory brainstem responses to vocoded coded sounds in human subjects. In addition to receiving a research award from ILAA, Dr. Hoffman received a research award from the American Academy of Audiology in 2009 and presented a poster of her findings at the 2010
AAA conference. Dr. Hoffman moved to London, United Kingdom in February 2011 where she worked as a pediatric audiologist for eight months before joining The Portland Hospital in London as a pediatric cochlear implant audiologist. As an audiologist and bilateral cochlear implant recipient, she is actively involved with mentoring, public speaking, and providing advice for cochlear implant candidates, cochlear implant recipients, and professionals through various organizations. 6-30-2012
Erin Maierle, Au.D. completed her 4th year externship at the UCLA Medical Center and began working there as a Senior Audiologist after her graduation from Rush University in June, 2007. Dr. Maierle states she enjoys working at UCLA due to the dedicated and collaborative staff of audiologist from all over the United States with a variety of specialties and clinical backgrounds, the wide variety of services provided, including electrophysiologic testing, aural rehabilitation, amplification, and implantable devices, and the close relationship with UCLA’s Head and Neck Department and Craniofacial Team. She is pleased to work with a diverse population which provides an opportunity to use her Spanish-speaking skills. 2008
Rachel McMullen, Au.D. graduated from Rush University in 2010 after completing her 4th year externship at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital and Lake Forest Hospital. She currently is working at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital. 7-19-2012
Megan Mulvey Worthington, Au.D. graduated from Rush University in June 2008 after completing her externship at the Mailman Center for Child Development (part of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Miami) in Miami, Florida. Following graduation, Dr. Worthington began working as an audiologist at NorthShore University Healthcare, formerly known as Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. Dr. Worthington is currently serving as the ILAA Vice President of Public Relations. 8-24-2012
Sara Neumann, Au.D. graduated from Illinois State University in December 2012 after completing her 4th year externship at Hearts for Hearing in Oklahoma City, OK. During her time at ISU, Dr. Neumann researched drum corps percussionists' attitudes towards hearing conservation, and she continues to work with high school marching bands and drum corps around the country. Currently, she is a clinical audiologist at Hearts for Hearing where she specializes in pediatric audiology and pediatric and adult cochlear implants. In addition, she is involved in research projects conducted at Hearts for Hearing. 1-2-2013
Stephanie Rachel Pesa, Au.D. graduated from Rush University in June 2010 after completing her 4th year externship at Hines VA Hospital and Adventist Hinsdale Hospital/ Adventist Paulson Pediatric Rehab. Dr. Pesa is currently working at the Portland VA Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. She notes that she feels privileged to serve our nation's veterans and "I love my job; I couldn't be happier at this facility." 8-20-2012
Lauren Sandberg Nadler, Au.D. graduated from Rush University in June 2012 after completing her externship at Children's Memorial Hospital (now Lurie Children's) in Chicago. As a student, she conducted research examining the identification of sarcasm in children with and without hearing loss, the results of which she presented in a poster at the American Academy of Audiology's 2012 convention. Upon graduation, she received Rush University's College of Health Sciences Dean's Award and Outstanding Student in Audiology Award. Dr. Nadler joined Advanced Bionics as a product development audiologist in September 2012. She is excited to have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of clinical, research, and education activities, as well as to help mold the future of cochlear implants. 10-10-2012
Magdalene Sikora, Au.D. completed her 4th year externship in Phoenix, Arizona at the Banner Baywood Medical Center, the Banner Desert Medical Center, and the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, where she notes she was able to “interact with a diverse group of patients in a wide variety of settings.” Upon her graduation from Rush University in 2008, Dr. Sikora worked at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago and its Outpatient Treatment Center in Westchester. Dr. Sikora served as ILAA co-Vice President of Ways and Means and as a member of the ILAA Hearing Screening committee and the ILAA Doctoral Scholarship committee. Dr. Sikora subsequently returned to Phoenix and is working at the VA Medical Center. 7-1-2012
Hillary Snapp, Au.D. graduated from Rush University in June 2007 after completing her 4th year externship at the University of Illinois Chicago Medical Center. Dr. Snapp is currently working at the University of Miami Ear Institute in Miami, FL where she notes she sees a “wide variety of rare pathologies…and unique cases.” Dr. Snapp also has been involved in a number of clinical research projects. An article by Dr. Snapp and a co-author, “A Recommended Protocol for BAHA Assessment and Verification for Individuals with Single-Sided Deafness,” was published in July/August 2008 issue of Audiology Today. In December 2008 she was a co-presenter of an American Academy of Audiology web seminar “Avoiding Medical Errors in Audiology.” 2008
Rachel Specht Pizarek, Au.D. completed her fourth year externship at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, New York. There she was involved in aural rehabilitation, cochlear implants for adults and pediatrics, hearing aid fittings, and diagnostic audiology. She presented her research on Auditory Training Programs at the 2011 ILAA convention. Dr. Pizarek was awarded Rush University's Faculty Award for 2012. She returned to work for Weill Cornell Medical College following graduation from Rush University in 2012. 7-19-2012
Beth Tanner, Au.D. completed her externship at the Jesse Brown VA in Chicago and continued working there upon her graduation from Rush University in June of 2006. Dr. Tanner states she loves her job and "couldn't be happier." Dr. Tanner served as the CEU Coordinator for ILAA for two years. 2009
Blair Tenllado Cristel, Au.D. completed her 4th year externship in the Audiology and Intraoperative Monitoring Services Department at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, MO. Dr. Tenllado states that she had a fulfilling clinical experience due to the comprehensive services provided, which included intraoperative monitoring. After completing her externship and graduating from Rush University in June 2007, Dr. Cristel accepted a full-time position at St. John's Mercy Medical Center as a clinical audiologist with emphasis in pediatric audiology and was recently named supervisor of the audiology department. Dr. Cristel and her husband became parents in December 2011 to their first child, a baby girl named Charlotte. 7-3-2012
Jay Vachhani, Au.D. completed his fourth year externship at the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research at the Portland VA Medical Center in Portland, OR. There he was involved in multiple clinical trials that dealt with electrophysiology, psychoacoustics, hearing conservation, aural rehabilitation, and ototoxic monitoring. He presented a poster titled “Effects of contralateral noise on the speech auditory brainstem response” at the 2011 American Auditory Society conference, and at AudiologyNow 2011 co-presented a learning module titled “Hearing loss prevention program.” He also presented at AudiologyNow 2011 a poster titled “The effect of soundfield noise on the speech auditory brainstem response,” for which he received the James Jerger Award for Excellence in Student Research from the American Academy of Audiology Foundation. Dr. Vachhani also was awarded the Rush University’s Outstanding Audiology Student award for 2011. Upon his graduation from Rush University in June, 2011, Dr. Vachhani returned to work at the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research. 7-6-2012
Darrin Worthington, Au.D. graduated in August of 2007 from Northwestern University after completing his externship at The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Eye and Ear Institute. As a student, he conducted research examining potential noise exposure from mass storage personal listening device, the results of which were published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA) in 2009 ("Comparing two methods to measure preferred listening levels of personal listening devices," JASA 3733-3741, 2009). He presently is working as an audiologist at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, IL, where he is spearheading teleaudiology services as well as their progressive tinnitus management program, and notes that his special interests are diagnostics, electrophysiology, tinnitus treatment, and musicians and the prevention/rehabilitation of hearing loss. Dr. Worthington served as ILAA Vice President of Membership from 2008 to 2010. 7-1-2012
