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Biography
Since 1st October 2015, I have been Director of the Scottish Section of Hearing Sciences (formerly the MRC/CSO Institute of Hearing Research) in Glasgow. I lead the section's research programme in the areas of hearing disability and hearing aids, with projects seeking to understand real-life auditory behaviour, improve methods of assessing disability and intervention benefit, and propose innovative solutions for hearing problems.
Prior to 2015, I worked for 20+ years in research in the Danish hearing-aid industry, including from 2000-2013 as Director of Oticon's Eriksholm Research Centre. Here I directed numerous research projects which have impacted the wider field of hearing-aid R&D.
Expertise Summary
Hearing impairment: psychoacoustics, disability, intervention, rehabilitation.
Communication behaviour, clinical processes in hearing device interventions.
Cognitive hearing science: Effort, Fatigue.
Hearing aids: design, evaluation, innovation.
Methodologies: Psychophysics, self-report, field trials, ecological momentary assessment (EMA), mathematical modelling, placebo, big data, motion tracking, eye tracking, pupillometry.
Research Summary
Description of real-world auditory ecology via self-report, objective measurement and momentary assessment.
Use of large-scale hearing health service delivery data for research; pitfalls and potential.
Predictors of long-term persistence with hearing aids - general health, cognitive decline, treatment pathway, comorbidities, audiometric configuration.
Micro-behaviours during conversation in challenging acoustic conditions: what do they tell us about hearing problems and potential solutions?
Theory and methodologies for studying interactive hearing-related performance and behaviours - beyond the passive listening scenario.
Modelling the transformation of hearing (perceptual) challenge into psychosocial consequences via cognitive and behavioural processes.
Past Research
Interactions between cognitive function, listening performance and hearing-aid signal processing algorithms.
Computer modelling of room acoustics.
Individual differences in hearing disability; diagnosis and stratified treatment.
Hearing-aid fitting procedures; pathways to optimal results.
Do hearing aids alleviate fatigue in the hearing-impaired ?
Evaluation of listening effort and hearing-loss related fatigue via pupillometry