Medicine, Dentistry and Health SciencesDepartment of Otolaryngology

Our Students

Current Students

  • Komal Arora - PhD
    Thesis title: Optimising speech coding schemes for individual cochlear implant users
    Supervisors: Richard Dowell, Pam Dawson, Andrew Vandali
  • Andrew Chang - MD
    Thesis title: Local delivery of Dexamethasone via round window -- optimisation of current model and its role in the
    treatment of inflammatory inner ear diseases
    Supervisors: Stephen O'Leary, Rachael Richardson, David Sly
  • Cengiz Cimenkaya - Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program
    Supervisor: Bryony Nayagam (nee Coleman)
  • Tim Connolly - MSurg
    Thesis title: Pharmacological protection of the inner ear
    Supervisor: 
    Stephen O'Leary
  • Michael Eager - PhD
    Thesis titleNeural network modelling of the auditory brainstem
    Supervisors: David Grayden, Anthony Burkitt, Hamish Meffin, Richard Dowell
  • Joanne Enticott - PhD
    Thesis title: Preservation of inner ear sensory function following cochlear implant surgery
    Supervisors: Stephen O'Leary, Richard Dowell
  • Amy Hampson- Honours
    Thesis title: Effect of neurotrophins on the function of degenerating auditory neurons
    Supervisors: David Sly, Ricki Minter
  • Syazana Hanifa- AMS
    Thesis title: Can prenatal thyroid hormone supplementation rescue hearing loss in TMPRSS1 mutant mice?
    Supervisor: Justin Tan
  • Leon Heffer - PhD
    Thesis title: High rate electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve
    Supervisors: Stephen O'Leary, Rob Shepherd, David Sly, James Fallon
  • Katherine Henshall - MAud
    Thesis title: Relationships between central auditory processing defictis and auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia
    Supervisors: Gary Rance, Collette Mckay, Alex Sergejew
  • Rod Hollow - MAud
    Thesis Title: An evaluation of speech perception when introducing adaptive dynamic range optimisation (ADRO) to adults who use both a cochlear implant and a contralateral hearing aid.
    Supervisors: Richard Dowell, David Grayden
  • Colleen Holt - PhD
    Thesis title:Perception and production of prosodic features in young people with cochlear implants and hearing aids
    Supervisors: Janet Fletcher, Richard Dowell, Shani Dettman
  • Chelsea Jose - PhD
    Thesis title: A comparison of bilateral cochlear implants and cochlear implant and hearing aids in adults
    Supervisors: Karyn Galvin, Richard Dowell
  • Mansze Lai – PhD
    Thesis title: Binaural advantages for children with bilateral cochlear implants
    Supervisors: Richard Dowell, Colette McKay, Karyn Galvin
  • Thomas Landry - PhD
    Thesis title: Effects of exogenous neurotrophins in the deaf stimulated cochlea
    Supervisors: Rob Shepherd, Andrew Wise, Richard Dowell, James Fallon
  • Jaime Leigh - PhD
    Thesis title:Impact of age at identification and implantation on speech and language outcomes for children who receive cochlear implants before two years of age
    Supervisors: Shani Dettman, Richard Dowell
  • Matthew Ng - AMS 
    Thesis title: Effect of neurotrophin-3 on auditory nerve response to high rate cochlear implant stimulation
    Supervisors: Leon Heffer, David Sly
  • David Perry - PhD
    Thesis title: Plastic reorganisation of the central auditory pathway following cochlear implantation
    Supervisors: James Fallon, Rob Shepherd, Hugh McDermott

  • Kerrie Plant - PhD
    Thesis title: Evaluating clinical outcomes and optimising device fitting for recipients with significant residual hearing
    Supervisors: Robert Cowan, Hugh McDermott, Richard van Hoesel
  • Alexandra Rousset - PhD 
    Thesis title:  Outcomes for congenitally deafened adults who receive a cochlear implant.
    Supervisors: Richard Dowell, Gary Rance, David Sly
  • Vanessa Surowiecki - PhD
    Thesis title: Learning to hear: The influence of cognition on developing speech feature perception skills in children using a cochlear implant
    Supervisors: David Grayden , Paul Maruff, Graeme Clark , Richard Dowell

  • Daniel Taft - PhD
    Thesis title:Travelling waves for cochlear implants
    SupervisorsDavid Grayden, Anthony Burkit
  • Elisha Thomas - PhD
    Thesis title:Paradigms to Control Delivery of Pharmaceutical Agents to the Cochlear
    Supervisors: Stephen O'Leary, Malcolm Davidson, Erol Harvey
  • Tian Tu - AMS
    Thesis title: Gene therapy in the cochlea for nerve survival and regeneration after hearing loss
    Supervisor: Rachael Richardson

  • Andrew Vandali - PhD
    Thesis title: Optimisation of Rate-pitch Perception in Cochlear Implant Hearing.
    Supervisors: Robert Cowan, David Sly
  • Jessica Vitkovic - PhD
    Thesis titleHabituation and its relationship to patient outcomes to vestibular physiotherapy in vestibular migraineurs
    Supervisors: Gary Rance, Mark Paine, Richard Dowell
  • Jingnan Zhang - AMS 
    Thesis title: Effect of brain derived neurotrophic factor on auditory nerve response to high rate cochlear implant stimulation
    Supervisors: David Sly, Leon Heffer
  • Yi Zhao - PhD
    Thesis title: Validity of Virtual Reality temporal bone simulators in otolaryngology training
    Supervisors: Stephen O'Leary, Gregor Kennedy, Richard Hall

Recently completed students

  • Bryony Coleman - PhD
    Thesis title: Tissue regeneration in the deaf cochlea using stem cells.
    Supervisors: Rob Shepherd , Michelle De Silva
  • Pam Dawson - PhD
    Thesis title: The relationship between speech perception and development in young cochlear implantees and their ability to perceive rapid changes in the electrical signals.
    Supervisors: Colette McKay , Peter Busby , Graeme Clark
  • Shani Dettman - PhD
    Thesis title: The relationship between primary caregiver/preverbal child interactions and subsequent communication development for children using the multichannel cochlear implant
    Supervisors: Peter Blamey, Margaret Brown
  • Patricia Hurley  - PhD
    Thesis title: Ultrastructure of the Auditory nerve following a Sensorineural Hearing Loss
    Supervisors: Rob Shepherd , Tony Paolini
  • Pedram Imani – Master of Surgery
    Thesis title: Minimising cochlear infection following cochlear implantation
    Supervisors: Stephen O’Leary, Graeme Clark
  • Jack Li - Advanced Medical Science
    Thesis titleEffects of exogenous application of neurotrophins to healthy populations of auditory nerves.
    Supervisor: David Sly
  • Valerie Looi – PhD
    Thesis title: Music perception of cochlear implant users
    Supervisors:  Hugh McDermott , Colette McKay

  • Elizabeth Manning - Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program
    Supervisor: David Sly
  • David Nayagam - PhD
    Thesis title: Neural encoding of complex sounds in the central auditory pathway.
    Supervisors: Tony Paolini , Anthony Burkitt , Graeme Clark , Janine Clarey
  • Karina Needham  - PhD
    Thesis title: Neural mechanisms underlying the processing of auditory information through stellate cells of the ventral cochlear nucleus.
    Supervisors: Tony Paolini , Jeremy Crook
  • Carrie Newbold - PhD
    Thesis title: Methods for maintaining low intracochlear electrode impedance
    Supervisors: Rob Shepherd , Christie Huang, Rachael Richardson, Dusan Mijovic
  • Pauline Nott - PhD
    Thesis title: Early communication development of chiildren with severe-profound hearing loss.
    Supervisors: Robert Cowan ,  Margaret Brown , Gillian Wigglesworth
  • Farnoosh Noushi  - Master of Surgery
    Thesis title: A neurotrophin-releasing cochlear implant electrode
    Supervisors:  Stephen O'Leary
  • Louise Paatsch - PhD
    Thesis title: The relationship between lexical development, speech production skills and speech perception abilities in hearing-impaired children.
    Supervisors: Julia Sarant, Richard Dowell, Margaret Brown

  • Andrea Simpson - PhD
    Thesis title:Consonant perception by hearing-aid users with high-frequency hearing impairment, and its relation to cochlear ‘dead regions’
    Supervisors: Hugh McDermott, Richard Dowell
  • Brett Swanson  - PhD
    Thesis title: The development and evaluation of a cochlear model audio processor for cochlear implants.
    Supervisors:   Hugh McDermott, Collette McKay, Jim Patrick

  • Leon Winata - Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program
    Supervisor: David Sly
  • Jason Wong - Advanced Medical Science 
    Thesis title: Combined therapy for hearing protection during cochlear implantation. 
    Supervisors:   Stephen O'Leary, Hayden Eastwood
  • Cila Umat - PhD 
    Thesis title: A study of the interaction of pitch and loudness in electrical stimulation to improve spectral shape perception among cochlear implantees.
    Supervisors: Colette McKay , Hugh McDermott 
    Thesis titleCombined therapy for hearing protection during cochlear implantation
    Supervisors: Stephen O'Leary, Hayden Eastwood
  • Andy Zhang - PhD 
    Thesis title: Investigation of the topology and feasibility of integrating implantable acoustic sensors with the human auditory system.
    Supervisors: Peter Seligman , Tony Klein, Robert Cowan
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