Hall Named Chair of Communicative Disorders Department

GAINESVILLE-An internationally known audiologist has been named chairman of the University of Florida College of Health Professions' department of communicative disorders.

James W. Hall III, Ph.D., succeeds Michael Crary, Ph.D., who will continue as a professor and researcher in the department. Hall's two-year appointment began July 1.

Hall lectures worldwide on audiology topics and is the author of more than 120 journal articles, book chapters and books. Before joining the UF faculty in July 2000, Hall held clinical and academic audiology positions at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, University of Texas - Houston Medical School and Vanderbilt University's School of Medicine.

As chairman, Hall intends to continue the department's tradition of excellence in clinical service. He also will promote the department's focus on continuing education programs for audiologists and speech pathologists. Since audiology and speech pathology are dependent upon technology, practitioners need regular updates to stay abreast of the latest advance in diagnostic and treatment devices.
"Here at UF, we have state-of-the-art equipment, and we know the latest techniques," Hall said. "We need to get the skills and techniques into the hands of practicing audiologists and speech pathologists so all can benefit."

He plans to build further on the department's clinical strengths by encouraging faculty research in applied hearing and speech science and by expanding external funding for their research efforts.

"Within the past year, academic faculty members in the department of communicative disorders have more than doubled their volume of sponsored research. We anticipate that this positive trend will continue. " Hall said.

Hall's research interests include auditory electrophysiology, the evaluation of auditory function through recorded responses from the brain. This method is especially successful when assessing the hearing of individuals who can't communicate their responses to testers, such as newborns, Hall said. His book on the technique, "Handbook of Auditory Evoked Responses," is a standard resource for audiologists.

Hall also is investigating treatments for tinnitus, the occurrence of sound such as ringing or whistling in an individual's ears when there are no external sounds present. The causes of tinnitus are not well understood, and the condition affects millions of Americans each year.

Hall's work on how the brain processes sound involves the development of techniques for evaluating and treating school-age children with auditory processing disorders. Since these children may have difficulty following teachers' instructions, they routinely perform poorly in school.

"As a department, we're very excited to explore opportunities for collaboration with other departments and entities on UF's campus," Hall said. "It is also an especially exciting time to be a part of the College of Health Professions as we look forward to expanding into the new Health Professions/Nursing/Pharmacy complex when it opens in the spring of 2003."