Ida Institute Announces New Advisory Board

By Amanda Farah Cox

The Ida Institute is pleased to announce the latest incarnation of our Advisory Board. The new board will serve for the next two years. We will be welcoming three new members:

Huw Cooper
Ph.D. Consultant Clinical Scientist (Audiology)
Chair, British Society of Audiology, UK
Huw has worked in audiology and with cochlear implants since 1983 and leads the adult audiology services at one of the largest hospitals in the UK.

Darcy Benson
Au.D., audiologist and practice owner, US
California Hearing Center and Audiology Services, Inc.
Darcy brings her perspective as a clinic owner and manager. We look forward to the insights she can offer from her experience not only within the industry, but also with outreach.

Melanie Gregory
CEO, Ear Foundation, UK
Melanie is Ida’s former Senior Audiologist. We are happy to continue working both with Mel and the Ear Foundation.

They will be joining our current Advisory Board members:

Louise Hickson
Ph.D. Professor of Audiology Co-Director,
Communication Disability Centre
The University of Queensland, AUS

Lucille Beck
Ph.D. Director of Audiology and Speech Pathology Service 
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, US

Christine Yoshinaga-Itano
Ph.D. Professor of Audiology 
Institute of Cognitive Science
Center for Neurosciences
University of Colorado, US

De Wet Swanepoel
Ph.D. Communication Pathology
Professor, Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
University of Pretoria, ZA

Deborah Ferarri
Ph.D. Professor, Speech Language Pathology and Audiology Department School of Dentistry of Bauru
University of São Paulo, BR

Uwe Hermann
Senior Director and Head of Eriksholm Research Centre, DK

Ida wishes to thank our departing Advisory Board members Adrian Davis and Sue Archbold, who will both be retiring. Adrian has been a member of the Ida Advisory Board since the beginning, and his contributions helped establish Ida’s credibility at an early stage. Sue, who joined the Advisory Board in 2014, is retiring from her role as CEO of the Ear Foundation in October, has been a vital link between Ida and the CI world. We thank them for their dedication and wish them the best.