Pediatric Audiology Translational Research Conference

Angela AuBuchon, Ph.D.
Research Scientist & Director of the Working Memory and Language Laboratory, Boys Town National Research Hospital

Angela AuBuchon, Ph.D., directs the Working Memory and Language Laboratory at Boys Town National Research Hospital. Her research focuses on modeling the development of working memory and understanding the mechanisms that give rise to individual differences around this development. For example, she has demonstrated how attention control and language experience contribute to the emergence and efficiency of verbal working memory strategies. Dr. AuBuchon regularly collaborates with colleagues on the interpretation of working memory and executive function measures in children with atypical language development, including children with developmental language disorder as well as children with hearing loss.

Amanda Chiao, Au.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor & Chief of Audiology, Texas Tech Health El Paso/El Paso Children’s Hospital

Amanda Chiao (she/ella) is an Assistant Professor, Chief of Audiology, and the Director of the Pediatrics and Equity in Audiology Research (PEAR) Laboratory at Texas Tech Health El Paso in the Department of Surgery. The PEAR lab conducts research on ototoxicity, the psychosocial impact of vestibular loss in children and their families, and resolving pediatric otologic health disparities. Dr. Chiao is also a senior pediatric audiologist at El Paso Children’s Hospital and facilitated the development of her region’s only comprehensive pediatric audiology and multispecialty concussion programs. Her nationally recognized clinical expertise includes vestibular testing in infants and children and concussion assessment and rehabilitation. After several years as an audiologist and researcher in the Midwest, Dr. Chiao relocated back to her hometown of El Paso, Texas with an intention to serve her community and pursue programs that served community-led needs. Her clinical research has been funded by the NIH National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders and the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology, and she is leading the “Healing Helm Project”, supported by the Toyota Way Forward Foundation to build a pediatric traumatic brain injury center at El Paso Children’s Hospital and for the United States-Mexico borderland region.

Tiana Cowan, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Research Scientist & Director of the Language Experience and Speech Perception Laboratory, Boys Town National Research Hospital

Tiana Cowan, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a Research Scientist I and Director of the Language Experience and Speech Perception (LEAP) Lab at Boys Town National Research Hospital. A key part of her research program focuses on understanding how language experience shapes oral communication outcomes for children with hearing loss, with a particular emphasis on bilingualism. Through her research, she seeks to integrate family perspectives with developmental science to inform practical, family-centered approaches that support children with hearing loss.

Elizabeth Heinrichs-Graham, Ph.D.
Research Scientist & Director of the Cognitive and Sensory Imaging Laboratory, Boys Town National Research Hospital

Elizabeth Heinrichs-Graham is a cognitive neuroscientist who uses multimodal neuroimaging with magnetoencephalography (MEG) and MRI to uncover the neural oscillatory dynamics and structural alterations that underlie variability in cognitive and language outcomes in youth with hearing loss.

Kaylah Lalonde, Ph.D.
Research Scientist & Director of the Audiovisual Speech Processing Laboratory, Boys Town National Research Hospital

Kaylah Lalonde is a research scientist in the Center for Hearing Research at Boys Town National Research Hospital whose research focuses on audiovisual speech processing in children who are deaf and hard of hearing and those with typical hearing. Her research combines developmental and experimental approaches to examine how sensory and linguistic information support speech understanding under real-world listening conditions, with a particular focus on factors that influence variability in audiovisual benefit. This work includes studies of how audiometric and perceptual characteristics relate to children’s use of visual speech, as well as foundational developmental research on audiovisual speech processing in typically developing children. Together, her research aims to better understand the mechanisms underlying speech perception in real-world listening conditions and to inform more individualized approaches to assessment and intervention.

Heather Porter, Au.D., Ph.D.
Research Scientist & Clinical Audiologist, Boys Town National Research Hospital

Heather Porter is a research scientist and clinical audiologist at Boys Town National Research Hospital. She completed clinical and research doctorates from Vanderbilt University, including training in leadership education in neurodevelopmental differences. She completed post-doctoral studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later became immersed in a clinical setting at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, working with children with complex medical histories and developmental differences. Her current roles inform a program of federally funded translational research to improve hearing health and outcomes in individuals with Down syndrome across the lifespan.

Susan Trouba, M.A., CCC-A
Audiology Manager of Cochlear Implant Program, Boys Town National Research Hospital

Susan is a clinical audiologist and for the last 25+ years has been specifically focused on cochlear implants and other implantable hearing technologies. She is currently an Audiology Manager for the Boys Town National Research Hospital Cochlear Implant Program. She serves both pediatric and adult populations and has a particular interest in treatment options for patients with single-sided deafness.