Guidelines for Determining CI Candidacy, presented in partnership with the ACIA

Sandra Prentiss
PhD CCC-A

Sandra Prentiss, PhD, CCC-A, is an Associate Professor at the University of Miami Ear Institute. She graduated from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and completed her post-doctoral studies at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Prentiss is an experienced clinician and researcher with a specific focus in cochlear implantation (CI). Her research centers around patient-oriented outcomes in cochlear implant recipients. She investigates peripheral and central factors affecting variations in speech understanding with efforts to individualize pre-operative testing methods and counseling for potential candidates. She has published and presented at multiple national and international conferences regarding these topics.

Daniel Zeitler
MD FACS

Daniel Zeitler, MD FACS is a fellowship-trained Otologist/Neurotologist at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, WA where he serves as Co-Director of the Listen for Life Cochlear Implant Center and Assistant Professor in the University of Washington Department of Otolaryngology. He earned his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine and completed his general surgery internship and residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at New York University Medical Center/Bellevue Hospital. He then completed his fellowship in Otology/Neurotology at the University of Miami Ear Institute. Dr. Zeitler has held numerous research chairs at Virginia Mason for his work investigating cochlear implant outcomes, cochlear implantation for single-sided deafness, and using artificial intelligence to predict outcomes following vestibular schwannoma surgery. He has published over 50 articles, numerous book chapters, and remains active in the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and the American Neurotology Society. 

Donna L. Sorkin
MA

Andrea Warner-Czyz
PhD

Dr. Andrea Warner-Czyz, Associate Professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing at The University of Texas at Dallas, investigates the effect of hearing loss on communication skills, social interaction, and quality of life in children and adolescents who use hearing aids and cochlear implants.

Margaret Dillon
AuD CCC-A

Matthew Carlson
MD

Matthew Carlson, MD is a Professor of Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota. He is currently the cochlear implant program medical director, neurotology fellowship program director, and division chair of neurotology at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Carlson serves as the site director for Headmirror.com, an independent non-profit open access educational resource for otolaryngology trainees and practicing physicians and is the co-chair of the Hearing Health Collaborative, dedicated to overcoming the challenges in advancing good healthcare practices and public policy on hearing care. Dr. Carlson’s primary clinical and research interests surround cochlear implant and vestibular schwannoma care and outcomes.

Lisa Park
AuD CCC-A

Dr. Park is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She holds a Master of Science in Speech and Hearing from Washington University in St. Louis and a Doctorate in Audiology from The University of Florida. Her clinical research focuses on expanding cochlear implant indications for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and optimizing outcomes for non-traditional pediatric cochlear implant recipients.

Nancy Young
MD

Dr. Young is the Lillian S. Wells Professor of Pediatric Otolaryngology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is Head, Section of Otology and Neurotology and Medical Director, Audiology & Cochlear Implant Programs at the Ann and Robert H Lurie Children’s of Chicago. She is a member of the Council of the American Otological Society and a founding board member of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance. Dr. Young’s research uses machine learning enabled neural predictors to forecast language. The long-term goal of this research is to develop custom therapies to maximize language and cognition after cochlear implantation.