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Keynote Speakers

With our global experts in the Listening and Spoken Language field, we'll explore a World of Sound Ideas Developing Future Voices!

2024 Symposium

Keynote Speakers

Ryan McCreery, Ph.D.

Vice President of Research,
Boys Town National Research Hospital (US)

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Ryan McCreery is the Vice President of Research at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. Ryan’s research seeks to optimize hearing aid benefit for children with mild to severe hearing loss using a combination of behavioral and neuroimaging research methods.

Louise Paatsch, Ph.D., MEd, GDipSpecEd (HI), DipTeach(Prim)

Professor, Deakin University (Australia)

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Louise Paatsch, Ph.D., is a professor at Deakin University in Australia. Her research areas include children’s language, pretend play, and digital play, with a strong focus on pragmatic and metapragmatic language use in children who are deaf and hard of hearing. See more.

Greg Leigh AO, Ph.D., FACE

Director, NextSense Institute (Australia)

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Greg Leigh AO, Ph.D., is Director of NextSense Institute, a centre for research and professional education operated by NextSense and Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He has published widely on early hearing detection and intervention.

Ulrika Löfkvist, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVEd

Associate Professor, Uppsala University (Sweden)

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Dr. Löfkvist is an associate professor at Uppsala University in Sweden with clinical background as a speech-language pathologist at a hearing implant center. Dr Löfkvist’s current research focus is to explore factors that explain variation in linguistic and cognitive outcome in individuals with hearing loss.

2024 Symposium

Presentations & Research

2024 Keynotes

4 Videos

2023 Symposium

Keynote Speakers

Lisa Hunter, PH.D., FAAA

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

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Dr. Lisa Hunter is an audiologist by training, and a pediatric hearing researcher who collaborates with experts in speech-language development, psychology, neonatology, and neuroimaging. Her NIH-funded research investigates the effects of prematurity on hearing and development. She has a passion for addressing systemic effects of access to care and early intervention.

Hilary Davis, PH.D. & Benjamin Hornsby, PH.D.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center & School of Medicine

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Benjamin Hornsby, Ph.D.

Ben Hornsby is an Associate Professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. His research focuses on hearing loss-related communication difficulties and their impact on quality of life in of adults and children with hearing loss. His current research examines relationships between hearing loss, mental effort, and fatigue.

Hilary Davis, Ph.D. 

Hilary Davis is a pediatric and educational audiologist at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center. She provides consultative educational audiology support to local school districts in the Nashville area. She has also partnered with researchers in the Listening and Learning Lab to assess listening-related fatigue in school-age children with hearing loss. She uses the Vanderbilt Fatigue Scales in school evaluations to support the students she serves.

Eliot Shearer, MD, PH.D.

Boston Children’s Hospital Harvard Medical School

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Dr. Eliot Shearer is a pediatric otolaryngologist and member of the Cochlear Implant Program at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), and is the Principal Investigator of the Translational Hearing Genomics Lab. His laboratory studies the genetics of hearing loss and other ear, nose, and throat disorders. He is internationally recognized for his work in developing a new genetic testing platform for the diagnosis of hearing loss and has written many research articles and several book chapters on the subject.

Lisa R. Park, AU.D., CCC-A

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Dr. Lisa Park is an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of North Carolina and the Division Chief of The Children’s Cochlear Implant Center. Her clinical research focuses on expanding cochlear implant indications for children and optimizing outcomes for non-traditional pediatric cochlear implant recipients.

2023 Symposium

Presentations & Research

2023 Keynotes

4 Videos

2022 Symposium

Keynote Speakers

Dathan D. Rush, Ed.D., CCC-SLP

Family, Infant and Preschool Program, J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center

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Dathan Rush is the director of the Family, Infant and Preschool Program (FIPP) in Morganton, North Carolina. He has a master’s degree in speech-language pathology and doctoral degree in child and family studies. He is co-author of “The Early Childhood Coaching Handbook” and “The Early Intervention Teaming Handbook: The Primary Service Provider Approach”.

Esteban Gómez Muzzio, Ph.D., MSc.

Fundación América por la Infancia

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Esteban Gómez Muzzio, Ph.D., M.Sc., is psychologist, co-founder, and executive director of Fundación América por la Infancia, an NGO devoted to promote a paradigm shift from child maltreatment to respectful and sensitive parenting and care in Latin-American countries. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers and offered more than 100 conferences and master classes in topics such as attachment theory, parenting, socioemotional development, trauma, and human resilience, and is author of the ODISEA (Oddisey) model of parenting intervention that includes instruments of evaluation like the E2P scale, video feedback, and parent therapy. He is a regular consultant in public policies for governments in Latin-American and works with professionals from over the world.

Amy R. Lederberg, Ph.D.

Department of Learning Sciences, Georgia State University

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Amy Lederberg, Ph.D., is a Professor at Georgia State University and the director of the Center on Literacy and Deafness (CLAD). CLAD has developed five educational interventions to improve language and literacy outcomes for children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Some are for children who use spoken language, while others are for those who use sign language.

Susan D. Emmett, MD, MPH

Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

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Susan Emmett, MD, MPH, is an otolaryngologist and public health expert who develops evidence-based solutions to address preventable hearing loss. She serves as Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Public Health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Director of the UAMS Center for Hearing Health Equity.

2022 Symposium

Presentations & Research

2022 Keynotes

4 Videos

2021 Symposium

Keynote Speakers

Ludovica Serratrice, PH.D.

Director of the Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism University of Reading, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences

Danielle Mathews, PH.D.

Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield

Ruth Litovsky, PH.D.

Professor & Department Chair, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Krystal Werfel, PH.D., CCC-SLP

Associate Professor, Communication Sciences & Disorders Director, University of South Carolina

2021 Symposium

Presentations & Research

2021 Keynote

4 Videos

2020 Symposium

Keynote Speakers

Linda J. Hood

Vanderbilt University

Kara Schvartz-Leyzac

Medical University of South Carolina

Lisa Davidson

Washington University School of Medicine

Lina Reiss

Oregon Health and Science University

2020 Symposium

Presentations & Research

2020 Keynote

4 Videos

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Stay in the Loop with AG Bell!

Be the first to know about webinars, events, symposiums, and more.

  • Timely Announcements

    Stay informed about upcoming conferences, webinars, and public events.

  • Professional Insights

    Get updates on thought leadership in hearing health, education, and innovation.

  • Free Resources

    Access toolkits, expert tips, and opportunities to engage.

  • Resource Library

    Get answers with access to our information library

  • Volta Voices

    A bilingual magazine with in-depth stories about growing up with hearing loss

  • Community Connections

    Learn how you can support or collaborate with the hearing loss community.

Whether you're an educator, audiologist, medical provider, business, or advocate—there's something for you.

Get updates delivered straight to your inbox.

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