Cochlear implant program receives $15,000 fellowship from the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

GREENVILLE, N.C. —   East Carolina University’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders has received one of nine $15,000 fellowships in the country awarded by the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Funding from Cochlear Americas Corp. and Gift of Hearing Foundation will provide mentored work experience to a selected fellow in the areas of cochlear implant candidate evaluation, device fitting, auditory rehabilitation and counseling. 

Cochlear implants are small, complex electronic devices that can help provide hearing to a person who has severe to profound hearing loss. The implants consist of an external portion that sits behind the ear and an internal portion surgeons place under the skin along with an electrode array that curls around the cochlea.

The Cochlear Implant Program of Eastern Carolina began in 1999. More than 80 people have received implants since that time from the program’s team of specialists: faculty and staff in the ECU Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic, Dr. Bradley Brechtelsbauer with Eastern Carolina ENT-Head & Neck Surgery, and speech and audiology professionals at Pitt County Memorial Hospital.