Au. D. graduate joins Medical Center faculty

Medical Center leadership is proud to announce the following addition to its faculty and leadership staff.

Catherine Sassano, Au. D.

Dr. Catherine Sassano, a recent Au. D. graduate of the University of South Florida, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of otolaryngology and communicative sciences.

After receiving her B.S. in communication science and disorders summa cum laude from Florida State University, Tallahassee, in 2016, Sassano earned her Au. D. at USF in May. While pursuing her advanced degree, she served as a research assistant at USF’s Auditory and Speech Sciences Laboratory from 2018-19 and gained clinical experience at UMMC from 2019-20 and at other professional speech and language facilities in Florida.

A student member of the American Academy of Audiology, Sassano has given research presentations at the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association Convention and at FSU’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. In April 2019, her third year of graduate school, she defended her Audiology Doctoral Project, “The Creation of Vestibular Appointment Flowcharts based on Patient Symptoms and Best Practices." Dr. Alex J. Elkins, a member of UMMC's audiology faculty, served on her committee for the project, and his expertise played an integral role for the successful completion of the manuscript and its defense.