Meet the experts

 Dr. Kathy Dowd, AuD received her undergraduate degree in French Education from Spalding University, Masters in Audiology from University of Louisville and Doctorate from Salus University.   In the last five years, Dr. Dowd has worked to raise the awareness of chronic disease and ototoxic medications that cause hearing loss by instructing diabetes educators, optometrists and audiologists nationally about this silent unmet medical need. Her background in Audiology for 40 years is varied:  educational audiology at local and state levels, as well as private practice in ENT and proprietary clinics. 

Dr. Dowd’s goal for the next 5 years with the Audiology Project is to find ways to raise awareness within the medical, state and national communities about chronic diseases co morbid with hearing loss, to organize audiology organizations around this issue and to assist the transition of Audiology from retail to medical management models of patient audiology healthcare.    

Dr. Mitchell Sommers obtained a PhD in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1993. He went on to Indiana University for three years after graduating. He then accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Sommers has been with Washington University for over 25 years and is currently Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Christi Themann worked as a Research Audiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for over 30 years. Her experience includes evaluating hearing protector attenuation, developing effective hearing loss prevention strategies, and managing audiometric testing in epidemiologic surveys. During her tenure at NIOSH, Christi helped develop the 1998 criteria document on occupational exposure to noise as well as the 2025 update to the criteria document recommending hearing protector fit testing. Christi has also worked as a temporary Strategic Content Developer at AudiologyOnline and as an adjunct instructor at the University of Pittsburgh.  Trained in audiology, epidemiology, and public health, Christi enjoys bringing together the wide range of data and perspectives to develop policies, programs, and materials that will help people hear well and enjoy sound throughout their lifetime.