Clinical Considerations for Fitting Modern Hearing Aids

Brad A. Stach, PhD

Director of the Division of Audiology, Henry Ford Hospital

Brad A. Stach, Ph.D. is Director of the Division of Audiology, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.  He also serves as Director of Audiology Clinical Education at Wayne State University Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Dr. Stach has served in audiology leadership and clinical positions at The Methodist Hospital of Houston, Georgetown University Medical Center, the California Ear Institute at Stanford University, the Nova Scotia Hearing and Speech Clinic, and the Central Institute for the Deaf. He is a founding board member of the American Academy of Audiology and has served as its President and the Chair of its Foundation’s Board of Trustees.  Dr. Stach is the author of a number of scientific articles, books, and book chapters and is the Audiology Editor-in-Chief for Plural Publishing.

Joshua M. Alexander, PhD

Joshua M. Alexander is an assistant professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He received his Ph.D. in Audiology (psychoacoustics) and post-doctoral training in speech perception at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Before coming to Purdue, he completed both clinical and post-doctoral fellowships at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. Professor Alexander’s research interests focus on auditory processes contributing to speech perception deficits in hearing-impaired listeners and signal processing to overcome them. Ongoing projects in his Experimental Amplification  Research (EAR) laboratory include work on frequency-lowering techniques, wide dynamic range compression, and speech enhancement techniques.

Todd Ricketts, PhD

Associate Professor at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson center for Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences and Director of the Dan Maddox Hearing Aid Research Laboratory

Todd A. Ricketts, Ph.D, CCC-A, is an associate professor at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson center for Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences and Director of the Dan Maddox Hearing Aid Research Laboratory. Prior to moving into the Vanderbilt position in 1999, Todd spent three years as an assistant professor at Purdue University. His current research interests are focused in amplification and microphone technology, as well as the relationship between laboratory and everyday benefit. Todd has published more than fifty scholarly articles and book chapters. To date he has presented over 100 scholarly papers/poster presentations, short courses, mini-seminars, and workshops to professional and scholarly conferences both nationally and internationally. He was also named a fellow of the American Speech Language Hearing Association in 2006. He continues to pursue a federally and industry funded research program studying the interaction between amplification technology, listening environment and individual differences as they impact benefit derived from hearing aids and cochlear implants. His current work includes examination of the viability of directional technology for school aged children, the relative benefits and limitations of manual switching, automatic switching and “asymmetric” microphone technology;the impact of extended high frequency bandwidth on user perceived sound quality as a function of hearing loss and the relative benefits and limitations of bilateral cochlear implants. He also serves as the chair of the Vanderbilt University Institutional Review Board: Behavioral Sciences Committee. 

Ron Leavitt, AuD

Audiologist, Corvallis Hearing Center

Ron Leavitt received his Bachelor’s and Master’s in audiology at the University of Arizona and obtained his Doctorate at the Arizona School of Health Sciences.  He has published numerous articles in professional journals and textbooks.  He has served as a consultant to the American Bar Association Courtroom Access Board, The US Forest Service Access Board and the Hearing Loss Association of America Teen Transition Projects.

Dr. Leavitt has been the recipient of several awards throughout his career, including:  Outstanding Graduate Student in Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Arizona; Best of Hearing Health Care providers 2011-2013 Hearing Review; Best Audiologist Western US 2012 Rayovac Award; Best Hearing Aid Fitting Protocol, 2013 Audioscan Challenge; Larry Mauldin Excellence in Teaching Award, 2014; and Editor’s Top 10 Must-Read Articles of 2013 Hearing Review.   Along with his graduate student Audiology Assistant, he received the Best of Undergraduate Research Award at the 2014 American Academy of Audiology Convention in Orlando.