As a neuroscientist and clinical audiologist, Dr. Julie Arenberg’s research focuses on improving speech perception outcomes and quality of life for children and adults with severe hearing loss, many of whom are treated with cochlear implants.

Through her work, she has developed quick, reliable tools to assess the underlying health of the auditory system and functioning of cochlear implants to improve programming and optimize speech understanding in cochlear implant patients. She has demonstrated improved patient outcomes by tailoring the listeners’ program settings based on the underlying basic auditory neuroscience and providing an enriched signal.

In three recent studies, most listeners improved on vowel identification in noise when using a novel stimulation strategy (Arenberg et al., 2018) and a subset of patients improved when we deactivated or focused some implant channels (Bierer & Litvak, 2016, DeVries and Arenberg, in press).

Dr. Arenberg is the Director of Audiology Research and Education. Prior to joining Mass. Eye and Ear, she worked at the University of Washington, directing their Cochlear Implant Psychophysics Laboratory as well as their Clinical Doctorate of Audiology Graduate Program.

Education
BS, Communication Disorders, Boston University
PhD, Neuroscience, University of Michigan
MS, Audiology, San Francisco State University

Postgraduate Training
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Epstein Laboratory, University of California at San Francisco Clinical Fellow, Audiology, Stanford Hospital and Clinics

Professional Societies
Association for Research in Otolaryngology
American Auditory Society
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
American Cochlear Implant Alliance

Honors (select)
Predoctoral Treineeship, NIH/NIDCD
Visiting Fellowship, Cambridge University Life Member, Cambridge University

Editorial Roles (select)
Editorial Board Member and Associate Editor, Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
Editorial Board Member and Associate Editor, Trends in Hearing
Ad hoc reviewer, Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology; IEEE Transactions in Biomedical Engineering; IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering; Journal of the Acoustical Society of America; Ear and Hearing; Hearing Research; Archives of Otolaryngology; American Journal of Audiology; International Journal of Audiology; Journal of Neuroscience; Otology & Neurotology; Audiology & Neurotology; Journal of the American Academy of Audiology; Acta Acustica; Trends in Amplification/ Trends in Hearing; Journal of Speech-Language and Hearing Research; Biomedical Research International; Cochlear Implants International; Journal of the American Medical Association – Otolaryngology; Journal of Neuroengineering; PLOS One

Current Funding
2012–2022:
Perceptual implications of cochlear implant electrode-neuron interfaces
NIH (NIDCD) 2R01 DC12142
PI
This project seeks to improve the way that cochlear implants are programmed for children and adults by better understanding the underlying interface between cochlear implant electrodes and the target neurons.

2017–2020:
Bespoke methods for improving speech perception by cochlear implant users
Action on Hearing Loss, International Project Grant, IPG#82
Co-PI
This project explores new methods for programming cochlear implants along with developing new assessment tools for quantifying how effective the new programs are at delivering speech information to the listeners.