The audiology division also will be integrated closely into the children's hospital for speech pathology and audiologic care. Alfred L. Nuttall, Ph.D., is the director of the Oregon Hearing Research Center. The research center occupies 17,000 square feet in the Mark O. Hatfield Research Center. There is a temporal bone lab complete with eight fully equipped positions. The neuroscience building is adjacent to the hospital and less than a block from the outpatient facility.
Research is chiefly related to otology, although it involves all areas of otolaryngology.
The faculty is actively recruiting four additional senior scientists and plans to increase the research space. The temporal bone lab, which resides in the neuroscience building, has equipment assigned to each resident. Formal temporal bone courses are offered during the first and second year in training, and access to the lab is always available. It consists of five audiologists. The department provides basic and advanced evaluations, including ABR, ECOG, otoacoustic emissions, intraoperative monitoring, cochlear implant evaluation and rehabilitation, vestibular assessments, and hearing aid dispensing.