Created to provide strategic support to the Foundation, the Advisory Board is comprised of key individuals from top industries and universities who work in the field of hearing loss. This includes educators, researchers, manufacturing professionals and mentors who work to directly support individuals with hearing loss or program related areas. The members will provide guidance and feedback on public policy, population needs, research, and emerging issues to assist the Foundation in effective program development. Our goal is for the Advisory Board members to act as advocates for the populations we serve and the work of the Foundation.
ADVISORY BOARD
Kate Gfeller Ph,D. University of Iowa - Advisor
Kate Gfeller, Ph.D., is the Russell and Florence Day Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences in the School of Music and the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa. Gfeller is a member of the Iowa Cochlear Implant Clinical Research Team in the Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. As a part of that multidisciplinary team, her research on music perception has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation, and the Department of Defense. For over 30 years, she has worked as part of multidisciplinary teams in conducting basic and translational research and providing music therapy services for children and adults with hearing losses. She has investigated perception and enjoyment of music, with an emphasis on real-world complex sounds, as well as music-based programs for auditory skill development. This includes applications intended to promote more meaningful involvement in social and educational settings.
Jeff Granuke, Area Vice President of Sales, Cochlear Americas - Advisor
Jeff Graunke has spent the bulk of his career in the medical device field with the last twenty years focused on the hearing health industry. As Area Vice President of Sales for Cochlear Americas, the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, Mr. Graunke is responsible for leading a field team focused on servicing surgeon, audiology and hospital customers. He has first-hand knowledge of both the barriers adults and children face when living with disabling hearing loss and the remarkable impact that today’s implantable technology and habilitation therapies can have on a patients future.
S. BENJAMIN KANTERS - ADVISOR
Mr. Kanters has been on the faculty of Columbia College since 1993, where he directs Music Recording Concentration. His teaching responsibilities include recording technology, audio theory, and hearing physiology. Prior to Columbia, Mr. Kanters spent twenty years in the audio and music industries. These years included fourteen as an adjunct professor of audio in the Schools of Music and Communications of Northwestern University, a partner and sound engineer in aconcert club, and a partner and chief managing engineer for a recording company in Evanston. Mr. Kanters continues to research developments in the field of hearing physiology including hearing disorders and conservation. It is through this dedication to conservation and research that he provides keen insight to the FHSR and assists in the long range planning for The Foundation’s programmatic work.
Amanda J. Long, Au.D. Advanced Bionics - Advisor
Amanda Long is the Regional Manager of the Great Lakes region for Advanced Bionics and is based in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to joining Advanced Bionics in 2010, Dr. Long worked at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas seeing both pediatric and adult cochlear implant patients and provided a variety of pediatric diagnostic audiology and hearing aid services. She received her Bachelors of Science in Education from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia and her Doctorate of Audiology from Rush University in Chicago, Illinois.
Trish Patterson, Au.D., CCC-A - Advisor
Trish has been a Field Training Audiologist with ReSound for two years. Trish grew up with a family member with hearing loss, and thus began her journey into audiology. Her clinical experience in audiology includes differing medical settings, as well as private hearing aid practices. Her love of audiology and hearing aids transitioned into wanting to bring as much knowledge as possible to other experts in the field, and she very much enjoys her position at ReSound, facilitating trainings on product, software, and hearing device features to both other ReSound employees and their customers. She holds a BA from Vanderbilt University, an AuD from Northern Illinois University and is pursuing a M.Ed from Colorado State University. Trish is excited to contribute to the Advisory Board in the upcoming years.
Richard Reed, Musician - Advisor
Before losing his hearing to antibiotics, musician and CI user Richard Reed played piano and Hammond organ with Junior Walker & the All Stars, Otis Rush, Hubert Sumlin, Roomful of Blues, Ronnie Earl, Mark Cutler, and many other R&B, Blues and Rock & Roll bands. Unable to appreciate music for nearly ten years due to his hearing loss, he had CI surgery in 2002.
Certified by The Hearing Loss Association of America and Gallaudet University as a hearing loss specialist, Mr. Reed is a guest lecturer at universities, symposiums and research facilities across the globe. His experiential knowledge helps researchers improve the fidelity of hearing loss technologies.
In presentations and lectures, using a digital keyboard, Mr. Reed demonstrates how things sounded on CI activation day; and how those strange auditory sensations changed over time- through trial and error, device upgrades, new mapping strategies- with practice, patience and neuroplasticity. Notes and scales evolve into simple melodies, harder-to-discern harmonies, and whole songs, interspersed with one person’s light-hearted and informative take on the frustrating challenges and rich rewards of “CI music”.
Scott Murray, B.S., Aerospace Studies, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Director
Scott is a Cochlear Implant recipient and a proud proponent of adaptability and accessibility in life with hearing loss. Scott's professional background includes varied financial, analytical, and sales experience. He currently works in a business development role in the construction industry, building relationships and serving as a resource for communities. Scott is passionate about supporting and encouraging high achievement of both children and adults in the hearing loss community. He also serves as a Senior Peer Support Team Member in the MED-EL HearPeers community.
Laura Corcoran, M.S., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert AVT
Consumer Engagement Manager, Midwest Region & Bilingual Programs, MED-EL Corporation
Laura Corcoran is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Auditory Verbal Therapist fluent in English, Spanish and ASL.
For over a decade, Laura provided speech-language and auditory verbal therapy to children with hearing loss and their families and was Director of the Kellogg Child & Family Program at HEAR Wisconsin, an early intervention program based in the Milwaukee area. Currently, Laura is a Consumer Engagement Manager in the Midwest Region and part of the UnidosOímos Bilingual Program for MED-EL Corporation where she provides support and outreach services for MED-EL recipients, cochlear implant candidates as well as speech-language pathologists, educators, audiologists and cochlear implant clinics.
BE A PART OF IT ALL.
Join our Advisory Board.
We are currently accepting applications for an open board position. If our mission resonates with you, please contact us today.
