Overview

My research focuses on improving clinical assessment tools and outcomes for young infants and children identified with hearing loss across the province. To do this I identify gaps in current clinical audiology assessment protocols and address any potential barriers to audiological services. I primarily compare behavioural follow-up measures to electrophysiological measures called auditory evoked potentials (AEPs), and I also look to see whether our provincial Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) program is meeting international standards.

Publications

Telehealth-enabled auditory brainstem response testing for infants living in rural communities: the British Columbia Early Hearing Program experience
International Journal of Audiology
Jennifer L. Hatton and John Rowlandson and Alison Beers and Susan Small
DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2019.1584681
04/2019

Monotic versus dichotic multiple-stimulus auditory steady state responses in young children
Ear and Hearing
Hatton, J.L. and Stapells, D.R.
DOI: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e31828d2c1d
2013

Auditory Brainstem Responses to Bone-Conducted Brief Tones in Young Children with Conductive or Sensorineural Hearing Loss
International Journal of Otolaryngology
Jennifer L. Hatton and Renée M. Janssen and David R. Stapells
DOI: 10.1155/2012/284864
2012

The efficiency of the single-versus multiple-stimulus auditory steady state responses in infants
Ear and Hearing
Hatton, J. and Stapells, D.R.
DOI: 10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181ff352c
2011

Effects of bone oscillator coupling method, placement location, and occlusion on bone-conduction auditory steady-state responses in infants
Ear and Hearing
Small, S.A. and Hatton, J.L. and Stapells, D.R.
DOI: 10.1097/01.aud.0000249787.97957.5b
2007

Current status of the auditory steady-state responses for estimating an infant's audiogram
A Sound Foundation Through Early Amplification
2004

Research

Auditory evoked potentials
This research investigates auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) from the brainstem to the cortex in the pediatric population. Our main objectives are to fill in the gaps in our understanding of brainstem AEPs in infants and children in order to improve current clinical assessment tools and protocols. Results from these studies will improve the accuracy of diagnostic assessment of hearing capacity to help inform intervention and treatment decisions in a timely fashion.

BC Early Hearing Program evaluation over a six year period
This research involves review of provincial early hearing screening, audiology, intervention program data to see how well BC’s early hearing program is meeting international benchmarks, and to see if COVID had any impacts on the timing and availability of services in hopes to mitigate any negative impacts (if any) should the province be faced with other pandemic(s) in the future.

Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) in infants and children with typical hearing and hearing loss
This research investigates auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) in the pediatric population with a focus on developing normative data for stimuli where large-sample studies are limited. For example, one focus is to report on normative results for high-frequency bone-conduction ABR. Another focus is to investigate clinical findings for infants identified with a rare disorder called Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) to see if current clinical protocols are accurately identifying and differentiating this disorder from other forms of hearing loss.

Honours & Awards

Unitron Scholarship in Audiology (2008)

NSERC Canadian Graduate Scholarship (2007)

Graduate Entrance Scholarship (2006)

NSERC USRA Undergraduate Student Research Award (2004, 2005)