Macquarie University and National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL) are delighted to welcome Dr Sriram Boothalingam, from March 2022, in the first joint research appointment under the Macquarie University and NAL partnership program. Sriram will lead collaborative research to understand the listening brain and objective measures to assess hearing in health and disease and help develop innovative diagnostic tools to help clinicians treat those with hearing loss.
Sriram brings a unique capability as both a hearing scientist and an audiologist. His education, research, and teaching experience spans four countries. Before joining Macquarie University and NAL, Sriram was an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison, USA for over four years. Sriram’s research focuses on understanding how the human brain talks back to the ear through neural networks called efferents. He uses non-invasive tools such as otoacoustic emissions (OAEs; sounds generated by ears) and electroencephalography (EEG; brain waves) to measure ear and brain activity, respectively. Sriram’s work also involves developing audiological diagnostic tools to detect hearing loss early.
Having published in major hearing science journals, and consistently secured competitive grants to support his research, Sriram will be a very strong contributor to the research team and a valuable additional to research undertaken at the Australian Hearing Hub.
With experience teaching undergraduate and graduate students in hearing sciences,. Sriram has adopted and successfully implemented blended teaching approaches. At Macquarie University, Sriram will provide critical and contemporary teaching to students enrolled in the Master of Clinical Audiology program.
“The ability to bring a talent like Sriram to Australia demonstrates the unique value that the Australian Hearing Hub brings to hearing research,” said Prof David McAlpine, Academic Director, Macquarie University Hearing. “Membership of the Australian Hearing Hub enables this kind of unique collaboration and allows for exciting opportunities for working together, bringing new approaches to helping people with hearing loss through research and innovation,” said Dr Brent Edwards, NAL Director.
Outside work, Sriram likes to hike, camp, and ride his motorcycle.
This strong partnership between Macquarie University and NAL will generate high-impact translational research to improve the lives of those leaving with hearing loss.
