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Children's Auditory Research and Evaluation
(CARE) Center

The Children’s Auditory Research and Evaluation (CARE) Center includes a world-renowned pediatric audiology clinic as well as two productive research laboratories:  A laboratory on the Development of Human Auditory Function and a laboratory on Pediatric Hearing Loss and Auditory Perception. 

The CARE Center includes a satellite laboratory (Infant Auditory Research Lab) at Women and Children’s Hospital – University of Southern California, where newborns are routinely evaluated and the process of hearing maturation is explored.  CARE Center research focuses on the investigation of normal auditory development, hearing loss and its effect on perception, speech/language and family dynamics, sensory devices, and new speech perception measures for infants and children.  Our goal is to understand normal auditory development well enough to use it as a framework for identifying hearing loss and initiating the appropriate course for rehabilitation.

Co-Department Heads:

Research Staff:

  • Arthur Boothroyd, Ph.D., Visiting Scientist
  • Ellen Ma, M.D.,  Manager of Infant Auditory Research Laboratory (USC)
  • Karen Johnson, Ph.D., Clinical Research Coordinator, Research Associate
  • Jean DesJardin Ph.D., Research Associate
  • Amy Martinez, M.A., Clinical Research Coordinator, Research Associate
  • Sandra Oba, M.S., Research Audiologist
  • Leslie Visser-Dumont, M.A., Research Audiologist
  • Ping Luo, M.S.E.E., Systems Engineer
Clinical Associates:
  • William Luxford, M.D., Neurotologist
  • Jose Fayad, M.D., Neurotologist
  • Margaret Winter, M.S., Clinical Coordinator of the CARE Center
The relationship between clinical and research programs of the CARE Center is unique and mutually beneficial.  Many of the research projects are a direct outcome of issues arising from clinical practice.  For example, new diagnostic tests developed in the laboratory are often implemented in the CARE Clinic to provide a much needed, thorough assessment of auditory abilities in young children.  Additionally, clinical trials are conducted in the CARE Center with hearing devices such as the cochlear implant or state-of-the-art digital hearing aids.  Conversely, clinical patients of the CARE Center act as valuable research subjects and generously participate in research projects that help us explore hearing and deafness in children.

Our research programs collaborate with other departments within the House Ear Institute (i.e., Cell and Molecular Biology, Auditory Implants and Perception) and with outside academic institutions as well (Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University, USC, UCLA).  CARE Center projects are funded by the National Institutes of Health, the House Ear Institute and private organizations such as the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and the National Organization for Hearing Research.  For more details about each project, please click the project titles below: