Meet the Team

Current Members

Principal Investigators

lutfi-robert

Robert Lutfi, PhD
Professor, Communication Science and Disorders
Office: PCD 3021
rlutfi@usf.edu
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Dr. Lutfi's research focuses on human auditory perception. He is particularly interested in how one's ability to detect and recognize complex sounds in noise is affected by both lawful and random variation in sound, as occurs in nature. He has published on a wide range of topics on human auditory perception, including humanauditory frequency analysis, human auditory pattern analysis, computational models of auditory masking, the perception of auditory motion, sound source identification, the auditory abilities of children and the problem of listening in noise for the hard-of-hearing.
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Jungmee Lee, PhD
AuD Program Director
Office: PCD 4021C
jungmeelee@usf.edu
CV

Dr. Lee's major training is in experimental psychology, specializing in auditory perception (psychoacoustics). The research focus has been on perception mechanisms of time-varying signals like speech and music (auditory temporal processing) in both normal and impaired hearing system. Recently her research has been expanded to combine knowledge of physiological measure (i.e., otoacoustic emissions) and psychoacoustics to better understand the auditory system. 

 

PhD Students

rodriguez-briana

Briana Rodriguez
Research Assistant
AuD & PhD Doctoral Student
Bcrodriguez@usf.edu
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Briana Rodriguez got her Bachelors in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Bachelors of Aging Sciences from the University of South Florida. She is a Ph.D. candidate, recipient of the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship, and audiology extern with ENT & Allergy Associates of Florida (ENTAAF). Her research interests lie in the areas of auditory perception/intervention and psychoacoustics. Briana has experience working with veteran, geriatric, and Spanish-speaking populations.

kummerer-lindsey

Lindsey Kummerer, AuD
Research Assistant
PhD Doctoral Student
Lkummerer@usf.edu
CV

Lindsey Kummerer earned her Doctor of Audiology degree from the University of South Florida (USF) in 2023.  She is now pursuing her Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders at USF. Her current research interests are understanding speech-in-noise (SIN) difficulties and the individual differences when listening to SIN for both hearing impaired and normal hearing indidviduals. Her other interests include the different physiological measures of SIN difficulties, including otoacoustic emissions, the middle ear muscle reflex (MEMR) and extended high frequency measures.

 

AuD Doctoral Students

lebedeker-abigail
Abigail Lebedeker
Research Assistant
AuD Doctoral Student
alebedeker@usf.edu

Abigail Lebedeker graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor's in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2023. She is now pursuing her AuD as a second-year student. Her audiology doctoral project aims to examine extended high-frequency otoacoustic emissions data in musicians, evaluating its potential application as a subclinical tool for early detection of noise-induced hearing loss in musicians.

Angelina Natalie
Research Assistant
AuD Doctoral Student
angelinanatalie@usf.edu
Angelina Natalie got her CSD Bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022. She is currently perusing her AuD as a second-year student in the program. Her audiology doctoral project aims to connect questionnaire data to objective test results while also showing the importance of looking beyond the audiogram. 
Michael Zandona
Research Assistant
AuD Doctoral Student
Mgzandona@usf.edu

Mike Zandona got his Bachelor's in Applied Linguistics and Japanese from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His current research interests include bilingual speech perception, speech perception in noise, and psychoacoustics. 
Chase Ontario
Research Assistant
AuD Doctoral Student
chasekozak@usf.edu

Post-Baccalaureate Students

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Gabriella Brown
Research Assistant
Post-Baccalaureate
brown421@usf.edu
Gabriella Brown graduated from USF with a major in Language, Speech, and Hearing Sciences, and a double minor in Deaf Studies and Children’s Behavioral Healthcare. Her current research interests examine individual differences and the learning effect for the Quick Speech-in-Noise (QuickSIN) task, and its overall reliability for clinical use.

Undergraduate Students

Reagan Huynh
Research Assistant
Undergraduate
huynh261@usf.edu
Lillian Simon
Research Assistant
Undergraduate

Lillian Simon is a fourth-year USF undergraduate student. Lillian is currently majoring in
Psychology with a minor in Children’s Behavioral Healthcare. Her current academic and research interests relate to the topics of speech language pathology,
hearing loss, and audiology.