The studies listed below provide examples of work being conducted at Boys Town National Research Hospital. All of these studies have been approved by the Boys Town National Research Hospital’s Institutional Review Board.
Normal Hearing Studies:
Infant Audio Visual Development Study:
The Perceptual Development Laboratory under the direction of Nicholas Smith, Ph.D. is currently enrolling infants with normal hearing for a perception study. This study will look at how infants understand which sounds belong to certain objects; how they use visual information on a talker’s face to perceive speech; and how and why parents talk differently when speaking to infants (“baby talk” or “motherese”). If your child is between 2 – 12 months of age and you are interested in this study, please call 402-452-5091 or email perceptual.development@boystown.org.
Hearing Loss Studies:
Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss:
Researchers at the Universities of Iowa, Kansas and North Carolina, and Boys Town National Research Hospital (in Nebraska) are working together to understand the successes and needs of children with mild-to-severe hearing loss.
Children with confirmed mild-to-severe hearing loss ages 6 months through 6 years and children with normal hearing ages 18 months through 5 years are needed. Children will be tested at least once a year for three consecutive years in the areas of hearing, speech, language, social and academic development. Parents will be interviewed on the telephone and children’s teachers will be asked to complete surveys in between visits. Test sessions will be held at a speech and hearing center close to your home. If you are interested in participating, contact a research team member in your area. Monetary compensation is provided.
University of Iowa:
Marlea O’Brien (800) 551-5601 or marlea-obrien@uniowa.edu
Nebraska or Kansas:
Boys Town National Research Hospital, Meredith Spratford (402) 452-5054 or meredith.spratford@boystown.org
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill:
Melody Harrison (919) 966-9459 or melody_harrison@med.unc.edu
Children with Minimal Hearing Loss:
Dawna Lewis, Ph.D. is enrolling children between 8 and 12 years of age with minimal hearing loss for a research study. To be included in the study, a child must have either bilateral minimal, unilateral, or high frequency hearing loss. Children will be asked to come to Boys Town National Research Hospital-East in Omaha, Nebraska for multiple sessions. Monetary compensation is provided. For more information, contact Dawna Lewis at 402-498-6607 or Dawna.Lewis@boystown.org.
Individuals with Cochlear Implants:
Michelle Hughes, Ph.D., is enrolling pediatric and adult cochlear implant (CI) recipients for a study comparing auditory-nerve responses measured via the CI to perceptual measures with the CI. Participants must be at least 11 years of age with a minimum of 3 months of CI use with a newer-generation device having telemetry capabilities (please inquire if unsure of device type). This study involves several experiments. CI recipients are invited to participate in some or all of the experiments. For each experiment, participants are needed for a total of approximately 4-9 hours, which can be scheduled over several visits according to the convenience of the participant. For this study, participants will (1) read, sleep, or watch a movie while sounds are played through the CI with no active participation or responses required; (2) listen to sounds played through the CI and make certain judgments about the sounds; and/or (3) listen to speech through the CI and repeat back what is heard. Monetary compensation is provided for hourly participation and travel. For more information, contact Michelle Hughes at 402-452-5038 (office) or 402-452-5049 (lab), or email michelle.hughes@boystown.org.
- Click here to see our research brochure. You do not need to be a patient at BTNRH to participate.
- Click here for research volunteer database form.
To have your name and/or your children’s names added to our database of interested research volunteers for current or future studies please fill out the research volunteer database form and mail it to:
Sandy Estee, Coordinator Human Research Subject
555 North 30th Street
Omaha, NE 68131
Or fax to Sandy Estee at 402-498-6351.
Sandy.Estee@boystown.org