boystown.org
Boys Town National Research Hospital logo
Boys Town National Research Hospital logo

Core Services and Facilities Participant Core

Participant Core

​Through the Research Participant Services Core (Participant Core), the Center for Perception and Communication in Children has implemented an innovative and effective solution to challenges of standardized testing, recruitment of special populations and regulatory compliance. The Participant Core provides services and expertise to support investigators at all stages with clinical measurement training and administration, research participant recruitment, and community engagement in research.

Clinical Measurement Program

The Clinical Measurement Program was designed to provide administration and interpretation of evidence-based clinical assessments to COBRE investigators, along with training and services related to clinical measures from a centralized team of clinical experts.

Recruitment Program

The Recruitment Program offers support to scientists and research labs in their efforts to recruit and communicate with participants.

  1. ​Maintain the RAD volunteer registry.
  2. ​Centralize multi-lab recruitment and coordinate scheduling efforts for special populations.
  3. ​​​Assist labs with developing and implementing a recruitment plan.

Research Community Engagement Program

The Research Community Engagement Program was established to build stronger connections between researchers and communities that have not often been closely involved in research activities.

By forming partnerships rooted in mutual respect and trust, the program supports research that is relevant, accessible and responsive to the real-world needs of individuals and communities.

The Community engagement program aims to:

  • Strengthen the quality and impact of research by working with families, educators, healthcare professionals and community organizations
  • Foster greater awareness, knowledge sharing and long-term collaborations to remove barriers in participation
  • Ensure that research questions, methods and outcomes reflect what matters most to the communities we serve


Funding for the Research Participant Services Core ​​​comes from a Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number P20GM109023.  

Meet Our Team

Krystal Werfel, Ph.D.
Director, Center of Childhood Deafness, Language and Learning
Sophie E. Ambrose, Ph.D.
Coordinator of Clinical Measurements Program
Melissa Henry, Au.D., CCC-A
Research Audiologist
Natalie Mason, M.S.
Research-Speech Language Pathologist
Victoria Sweeney, Au.D., CCC-A
Research Audiologist
Kayla Skaggs, M.A., CCC-SLP
Senior Speech-Language Pathologist
Samantha Steier, M.S., CCC-SLP
Bilingual Research Speech-Language Pathologist (English/Spanish)
Emma Kate Thome, Ph.D., CF-SLP
Research Speech-Language Pathologist