Scientific Committee Bio Dennis Barbour , MD, PhD, Associate Professor,Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis.
Dennis’ research interests include auditory processing, cognitive neuroscience, machine learning and medical diagnostics. Most recently he has developed new machine learning methods for rapidly and thoroughly evaluating perception and cognition. These new tests are not only useful for exploring normal nervous system function, but also for diagnosing disorders. Jing Chen, PhD Jing’s research interests include auditory perception, speech perception, and speech signal processing strategies for hearing aids and cochlear implants. She has developed and released a smartphone-based application（Hearing Assistant）for persons living in the mainland of China. The app includes the functions of pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, and real-time hearing compensation. Johan Frijns, Professor Otology and physics of hearing, LUMC. Within the focus field of (neuro-) otology / audiology of the department of Otorhinolaryngology, my own research direction is otology and auditory physics with special emphasis on cochlear implants. These are electrical inner ear prostheses, which allow deaf and severely hearing-impaired children and adults to interact with the hearing and speaking world, again or for the first time in their lives. Dr Yağmur Güçlütürk, assistant professor at Artificial Intelligence department, Radboud University. I am an assistant professor at Artificial Intelligence department, where I use various computational modeling and psychophysics techniques as well as utilizing new technologies such as deep learning and augmented/virtual reality to develop and test neuroprosthetics applications. Dr Cris Lanting, Medical Physicist/audiologist, Radboudumc. Cris’ current research is focussed on: Hearing and Genes: what are perceptual consequences of genetic mutations and how can we assess these?Middle ear implants: what is the output of newly developed implants and can we measure this? Cochlear Implants: preservation of residual hearing during cochlear implantation and how to measure this. Dr Qinglin Meng, Lecturer, Acoustics Laboratory, School of Physics and Optoelectronics, South China University of Technology, China.Research Interests: Technology of hearing devices (cochlear implants and hearing aids), hearing health care, and auditory neural coding mechanisms. Most recently, Qinglin is working on some fine structure enhancement algorithms, lexical tone perception, and acoustic simulations for auditory prostheses. Prof David Moore, professor of Otolaryngology and Neuroscience Dave is Director of the Communication Sciences Research Center, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, USA. Current research interests include development of listening skills in children, hearing health care delivery using self-administered precision solutions, and effect of enriched auditory experience on the developing brain. John van Opstal, professor in Systems Biophysics, Radboud University. The main research topics in John’s lab are Human sound-localization and plasticity; Sound processing in the behaving monkey, Multisensory integration, and the Role of monkey Superior Colliculus in saccadic eye-head gaze shifts. De Wet Swanepoel, Professor of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology, University of Pretoria. De Wet’s research interests span the field of early identification and diagnosis of hearing loss, objective measures of auditory functioning and ear and hearing telehealth. The improvement of ear and hearing health care through translational research is consistently emphasized, in particular the improvement of access to, and the quality of ear and hearing health care. Sarah Verhulst, Associate Professor in Hearing Technology, Ghent University. Sarah combines physiological methods (EEG and otoacoustic emissions) with computational modeling of the auditory periphery to study how different aspects of peripheral hearing loss (cochlear synaptopathy/hidden hearing loss and outer-hair-cell loss) interact and affect sound perception. Marc van Wanrooij, Assistant professor – Biophysics, Radboud University. My research focuses on the question how information from our visual, auditory and vestibular senses is processed optimally by our brains. It specifically relates on how we deal with multiple sources of information that might be conflicting or ambiguous, and on how we cope if our senses become impaired. Fan-Gang Zeng, Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, Cognitive Sciences, Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and Director of the Center for Hearing Research at University of California Irvine. Fan-Gang is a leader in hearing science and technology, with 268 publications, 13071 citations and an h-index of 54 (Google Scholar, August 8, 2019). He led the development of the Nurotron 26-electrode cochlear implant (SFDA approval in 2011 and CE Mark in 2012) and SoundCure tinnitus suppressor (FDA clearance and CE Mark in 2011). 
