Associate ProfessorIsabelle Boisvert

Project Opportunities

Title: Project opportunities within the area of information, services and devices for deaf and hard-of-hearing adults

Summary of opportunity:

Hearing healthcare is changing. With advanced digital technologies and new models of care, how do we make sure that adults with hearing loss have access to useful and reliable information, products and services to support their communication?

Opportunity synopsis:

The projects that I lead or supervise generally develop from problems that clinicians or deaf and hard-of-hearing adults face with current practices. For example, when different clinicians make contradicting recommendations for similar clients, when evidence is lacking to justify certain options for clients, when information about options appears absent, incomplete or biased, or when the best available evidence is not valued or implemented in practice. How can we better support the communication of deaf and hard-of-hearing adults?

Advanced digital technologies and direct-to-consumer markets have the capability to change hearing healthcare, affecting the traditional roles of hearing health clinicians and the way information is sought and shared. I aim to address how we can best support professional training and service changes to ensure equitable access to reliable information and effective hearing health services.

I use a range of research designs often combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. My understanding of clinical measures includes behavioural, physiological, and self-reported measures.

There are opportunities available for both PhD and Masters research students.

----------Current Research Projects----------

• Deafnesses: Reconfiguring expertise and reconsidering sensory experiences with/out the cochlear implant.
  Project grant of CAN$612,000 (AUD$696,000) awarded from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (2024-2029).
  Team: Lloyd S (Laval University), Boisvert I (University of Sydney), Campos J (University of Toronto), Friedner M (University of Chicago) & Mills M (New York University). With Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Emily Kecman and Research Fellow Ms Katie Neal at the University of Sydney.

• Advancing regulatory science in hearing care: Stakeholder perspectives.
  Fellowship of £17,335 (AUD$30,663) awarded from the Birmingham Health Partners Centre for Regulatory Science & Innovation / UK SPINE Regulatory Science Fellowship 2022.
  Team: Boisvert I (University of Sydney) & Hughes SE (University of Birmingham).

• Emergency preparedness for people who are deaf/hard of hearing.
  PhD project of Ms Brigit Maguire, co-supervised with A/Prof Michelle Villeneuve (Collaborating4Inclusion).

• Clinical perceptions on the management of treatment-induced hearing loss in multidisciplinary paediatric oncology teams.
  2 honours student' projects co-supervised with A/Prof Kimberley Docking. As part of a broader project on speech pathology guidelines for children with brain tumour or leukemia, led by A/Prof Docking (Neurokids Research Laboratory).