Michelle Arnold, AuD, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD), recently served as an expert panelist invited to contribute her research, expertise, and recommendations as part of a joint National Institutes of Health (NIH)/U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) working group on accessible and affordable hearing health care. Arnold was selected to lead a discussion on hearing health care outcomes and consequences in the U.S.
The working group, which was co-sponsored by the FDA and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) met at the NIH Neuroscience Center in Bethesda, MD. The purpose of the two-day meeting was to discuss accessible and affordable hearing healthcare 15 years after a working group met on the topic in 2009, and now in the context of over-the-counter hearing aids.
Knowledge shared at the working group will be used to assist the NIDCD and FDA in developing a future research agenda for enhancing accessible and affordable hearing care for Americans.