Meet Our Team
The Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health draws on the diverse expertise of its faculty members and trainees from a broad array of disciplines in order to advance a global understanding of hearing and its impact on overall patient health. Please select each team member below for a brief summary of their work.

Frank R. Lin, MD, PhD is the Director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health and a…
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Bonnielin Swenor, MPH, PhD, is the director of the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research…
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Amber Willink, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Sydney and adjunct associate…
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Carrie L. Nieman, MD, MPH is an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and…
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Jennifer A. Deal, PhD, is an epidemiologist and gerontologist with expertise in cognitive aging…
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Josh Betz, MS, is biostatistician in the Johns Hopkins Biostatistics Consulting Center and is a…
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Nicholas Reed, AuD is an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at…
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Esther Oh, MD, PhD, is an associate professor in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and…
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Christine Mitchell, ScM is a research associate in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns…
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Dr. Moyses Szklo, MD, MPH, is a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He received his medical degree…
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Josef Coresh, MD, PhD, is the George W. Comstock Professor of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and…
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Luigi Ferrucci, MD, PhD, is the Scientific Director of the National Institute on Aging and…
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Margaret Korczak, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology…
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Marilyn Albert, PhD, is director of the Division of Cognitive Neuroscience and a professor in…
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Mike Weikert, MFA, is the founding director of the Center for Social Design at the Maryland…
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Sarah Szanton, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Community-Public Health in the Johns…
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Adele Goman, PhD is a research associate in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins…
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Susan Resnick, PhD, is a senior investigator in the Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience at the…
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Kening Jiang, MHS, joined the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health as a biostatistician…
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Mindy Dmuchowski is the Cochlear Center’s Academic Program Coordinator, where she assists…
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Vidisha Agarwalla is the Cochlear Center’s Social Design Fellow and a graduate of the Social…
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Position: Research Program Coordinator
Training: Bachelors of Science in Biology (William…

Clarice Myers, AuD, received her clinical doctorate from Texas Tech University Health Sciences…
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Tara Thallmayer, MPH, is a graduate of Temple University with a Masters of Public Health in…
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Molly Sheehan joined the Cochlear Center in Spring 2020 to organize and expand its…
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Audrey Mossman recently graduated from University of Colorado with a B.S. in Biology. Currently…
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Emmanuel E. Garcia, PhD, joined the Cochlear center for Hearing and Public Health as a…
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Jami Trumbo, MSPH, received her master’s of science in public health in health education and…
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Laura Sherry, AUD, is a research audiologist with the Cochlear Center where she is currently the…
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Shannon Smitherman received her Bachelor degree in Human Services from the College of Notre Dame…
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Anna Marie Jilla, PhD, AuD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Epidemiology and is mentored by Cochlear Center director Frank Lin, and core faculty Amber Willink, Nicholas Reed, and Jennifer Deal. She received her AuD and PhD from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Her research interests include applications of health economics for improving hearing health care accessibility and shaping health policy for adults with hearing impairment.
.PRE-doctoral trainees
Julie Yi is a medical student taking a research year at the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health between her third and fourth years of medical school. She completed her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Duke University and worked in healthcare consulting prior to medical school. Her research focus is on behavioral interventions for age-related hearing loss, and she plans to apply for residency in otolaryngology in the fall of 2021..
Lama Assi, MD, is currently an MPH student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She received her medical degree from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship with Dr. Bonnielin Swenor at the Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, during which she collaborated with Dr. Nicholas Reed on projects related to sensory loss and health care utilization. After completing the MPH program, she hopes to complete clinical training in ophthalmology and later work as a clinician-researcher focused on improving access to care for older adults with sensory loss.
Anna Javins is the 2020-2021 audiology doctoral resident in the Johns Hopkins Department of Otolaryngology in the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center. Anna received her undergraduate bachelor of arts degree in speech and hearing science from The Ohio State University and will receive her doctorate of audiology (Au.D.) from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in May 2021. Anna completed an undergraduate honors research thesis exploring the impacts of cognitive workload, situational awareness, and hearing loss on driving behaviors in both young and older drivers. In medical school, she spent time doing research regarding directional microphone configurations and spatial awareness as it relates to hearing aid use. She has also developed a special passion for vestibular research and completed her doctoral capstone on a novel acoustic vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) measure of the vestibulospinal pathway to assess postural instability in dizzy patients. Anna’s research passions revolve around healthy balance and hearing during the aging process as well as disparities in health literacy among geriatric and minority populations. Anna aims to publish research that helps to empower patients to take ownership of their healthcare while actively dismantling barriers to this goal. .
John Shin is a SHARP fellow at the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health. Before arriving at the Center, John spent the two years at the National Institute on aging as a post-baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award Fellow in Dr. Susan Resnick's lab. Working with his mentor, Dr. Murat Bilgel, he implemented a retrospective study design looking at the associations between amyloid, brain atrophy, and cognition in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. John received his bachelor of science degree in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University in 2018 and is currently pursuing a master of public health degree with a concentration in epidemiological and biostatistical methods for public health and clinical research at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Abhishek Gami is a third-year medical student. He completed his undergraduate degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins. His research interests include hearing loss and cochlear implants, and he is mentored by Nicholas Reed, AuD. He plans to apply for a residency position in otolaryngology.
Alison Huang, MPH, is a PhD student in the Department of Mental Health. She is interested in modifiable risk factors of age-related cognitive decline and poor mental health in older adults. She also works with the Cochlear Center studying mental health outcomes, such as loneliness and social isolation, associated with hearing impairment. Prior to coming to Hopkins, she worked for several years in social behavioral research consulting. She currently holds a MPH and a Certificate in Survey Methodology. Her mentors are George Rebok, Jennifer Deal, and Frank Lin..
Perry Kuo is a physician from Taiwan and currently a PhD student in Epidemiology with a focus on aging at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His research interests include investigating potential modifiable risk factors for age-related hearing loss, evaluating the effect of hearing loss on physical activity and physical functions and assessing the impact of hearing aids on physical activities and physical functions.
Pablo Martinez Amezcua, MD, received his medical degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and is a doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is interested in studying social determinants of health, physical activity and prevention of diseases associated with age such as hearing loss, cardiovascular disease and mobility disability.
Danielle Powell, AuD, is a doctoral student in Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prior to starting the program, she worked as an audiologist in the Washington, D.C., area. She received her Doctorate of Audiology from the University of North Carolina in 2013. Her research interests include the association of hearing loss with dementia, and healthy aging..
Jonathan J. Suen, AuD, is currently a PhD student at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) where his research focuses on examining the relationship between age-related hearing loss and loneliness. Following his clinical studies in audiology at Gallaudet University, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Frank Lin where he addressed hearing loss within public health frameworks. Through his participation at the JHSON's Center for Innovative Care in Aging during the fellowship, he developed an interest in gerontology and behavioral interventions for promoting hearing health equity and healthy aging. He is currently co-advised by Dr. Jennifer Wenzel of the JHSON and Dr. Frank Lin for his PhD training..

JOIN OUR TEAM
Prospective applicants are encouraged to reach out to Jennifer Deal prior to submitting any materials. Materials should be submitted via email to Shannon Smitherman, Academic Program Coordinator, hearingsph@jhu.edu.
Contact Shannon Smitherman with questions about submission procedures at 443-287-7779 or hearingsph@jhu.edu.
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