Department News and Highlights

Published on Thursday, March 17, 2022

• Dr. Anne Kane was awarded a Triological Society Career Development Award to be funded in the amount of $40,000.
• Dr. Gina Jefferson was awarded a John C. Ruckdeschel CCRI Pilot Grant for $32,000 to support the improvement of laryngeal and lung cancer screening.
• The department had its highest year ever for peer-reviewed publications, with 41 in this past fiscal year.
• Ashley Grillis, Au.D., became the only certified pediatric audiologist in the state. She also served as Mississippi’s ASHA ambassador, meeting with Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith and Congressman Michael Guest to discuss bills in congress to expand hearing services and telehealth services for speech and audiology.
• The Translational Auditory Physiology Lab led by Dr. Christopher Spankovich was awarded a R21 grant for $275,000 in research support from the National Institutes of Health-National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The project, titled "Ear Level Cooling for Otoprotection," will explore applications of mild therapeutic hypothermia to prevent cisplatin-induced hearing loss.
• The Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education approved the UMMC Doctor of Audiology program. The program is taking applications immediately and begins in the fall semester.