Summary: The American Cochlear Implant Alliance (ACI Alliance) named the winners of the CI2024 Vancouver student poster competition, which featured innovative research in cochlear implants and related technologies.
Key Takeaways:
- Outstanding Research Recognized: The CI2024 student poster competition highlighted significant research by Jordan Varghese, Robel Alemu, and Sofia Hein Machado on cochlear implant technologies and their impact on hearing.
- Diverse Areas of Study: The winning posters covered topics ranging from tonotopic-based intracochlear electrocochleography and spatial hearing accuracy in children to the impact of home language exposure on bilingual children with cochlear implants.
- ACI Alliance’s Commitment: The ACI Alliance continues to prioritize student participation and aims to eliminate barriers to cochlear implantation through research, awareness, and advocacy.
American Cochlear Implant Alliance (ACI Alliance) congratulates the student poster winners for CI2024 Vancouver: 17th International Conference on Cochlear Implants and Other Implantable Technologies held last week at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The student poster competition was chaired by Lisa Park AuD and posters were reviewed by hearing health professionals across the care continuum.
The CI2024 poster winners are:
Jordan Varghese, MD, MSCI, Washington University St. Louis for the poster “Tonotopic-Based Intracochlear Electrocochleography Estimates Performance for Perimodiolar and Lateral Wall Arrays.” Varghese is a third-year otolaryngology resident at Washington University and is planning to apply for a neurotology fellowship to begin in 2027.
Robel Alemu, BS, MSC, University of Toronto SickKids for the poster “Spatial Hearing Accuracy in Children with Cochlear Implants and Peers with Bilateral Bone Conduction Devices.” Alemu is a PhD student at the University of Toronto interested in spatial hearing in children with different types of hearing devices, and is currently working on his dissertation.
Sofia Hein Machado, BS, University of Houston for the poster “Exploring the Impact of Home Language Exposure on Spanish Outcomes of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Spanish-English Bilingual Children Who Use Cochlear Implants.” Hein is a PhD student in the Communications Science and Disorders Department at the University of Houston and will be working on her dissertation in 2025.
Student participation continues to be an ACI Alliance organizational priority as the organization works to increase clinical and research involvement in CI. ACI Alliance is a not-for-profit membership organization created with the purpose of eliminating barriers to cochlear implantation by sponsoring research, driving heightened awareness, and advocating for improved access to cochlear implants for patients of all ages across the U.S.
Further reading: ACI Alliance Raises Concerns Over AAP Pediatric Hearing Assessment Recommendations
Logo: ACI Alliance
