Scientific Foundations of Audiology: Perspectives from Physics, Biology, Modeling, and Medicine

About The Authors

Anthony T. Cacace, PhD, is an audiologist and research professor of communication sciences and disorders at Wayne State University. He was staff scientist at the Advanced Imaging Center, the Neurosciences Institute, Department of Neurology, and was director of oto-neurological research in the Division of Otolaryngology at Albany Medical College before transitioning to Wayne State University. Dr. Cacace’s interests include auditory processing disorders, psychoacoustics, electroacoustics (otoacoustic emissions, middle ear power reflectance), electrophysiology, neuroimaging, and tinnitus.

Emile de Kleine, PhD, is a medical physicist-audiologist at the University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands. He earned his degree in applied physics at University of Twente, The Netherlands, and subsequently completed his doctorate and his training in audiology at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University Medical Center Groningen. Dr. de Kleine’s interests include otoacoustic emissions, cochlear implantation, tinnitus, and hyperacusis.

Avril Genene Holt, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Wayne State University School of Medicine and Research Health Specialist at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center. Her research in the field of auditory neuroscience has included studies of the anatomy, physiology, neurochemistry and gene expression of the central auditory system. Specifically, she has expertise in deafness related changes in the gene expression and production of neurotransmitters and ion channels in the auditory brainstem. Dr. Holt has expanded her research to include identifying and measuring correlates of tinnitus, including examining neuronal activity, volume, and oxidative stress in central auditory pathways using imaging approaches. Her ultimate goal is to modulate neuronal excitability in an effort to prevent or reverse the maladaptive neuroplasticity frequently observed with conditions such as hearing loss and tinnitus.

Pim van Dijk, PhD, is a medical physicist-audiologist at the University Medical Center Groningen and a professor of audiology at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. His interests include the biophysics of hearing, clinical audiology, and the neuroscience of tinnitus. Dr. van Dijk’s recent work includes otoacoustic emission research in various vertebrate species and neuroimaging studies in tinnitus patients.