We are currently ENROLLING cochlear implant and typical hearing participants in on-going research studies!


How to Participate in On-Going Research with the CILab
Depending on the avaliability of research and active researchers, the CILab offers different types of participation opportunities. The majority of our listening experiments consist of asking the participant to repeat back words and/or phrases, similar to the testing performed by audiologists. Other ancillary experiments consist of listening to various forms of speech, enhanced or modified to improve intelligibility, or to listen to speech in a free-field, everyday listening conditions with our research platform (CCi-MOBILE). Review the 'Study Details' for the experiments that are currently enrolling to learn more about what participation looks like.

Due to COVID-19, the CILab is now offering participation opportunities in virtual, or online modalities in compliance with the Institutional Review Board (IRB). To better understand what participating virtually means vs. what participating online means, see the 'Remote Experiment Overview' below. To find out which studies are being offered virtually or online, the Study Details are organized according to the experiment modality. To learn more about the experiments offered three times a year, including the the overview, experimental tasks, and enrollment, select the Study Details below for typical hearing or cochlear implant participants.
·    Want to learn how to participate online? View Remote Experiment Overview


NEW! The CILab currently has a participation opportunitiy for typical hearing individuals that are primary speaking partners of cochlear implant participants. Primary speaking partners can include spouses, children, grandchildren, care takers, coworkers, and other persons involved in daily oral interactions with the CI participant. See the study details for more information on how to participate! This study is only offered for in-lab participation or for those who are within the Dallas-Ft.Worth area as it requires both the primary speaking partner and the cochlear implant participant to participate together in the same session. Eligibility includes adult (>18 years of age) typical hearing individuals with no diagnosis of hearing loss or the use of assistive hearing devices.
·    Winter 2025 Study Details for Cochlear Implant Participants: View Study Details
·    Winter 2025 Study Details for Typical Hearing Participants: View Study Details

Experiments with Active Enrollment
To participate in any of the above experiments within the enrollment period listed in the table at the top of the page, email the lead investigator or the research coordinator. This information can be found in the Study Details document. For questions on eligibility, extention of the enrollment period, or other questions related to the experimental protocol (time, modality, etc.), please contact the research coordinator(s), Taylor Lawson at [email protected] or Dr. Juliana Saba at [email protected].
Last Updated: January 23, 2025

Human Subjects Research in the CILab
All research studies are approved by the Institutional Review Board of The University of Texas at Dallas. See the flyer below for more information on subject eligibility, experience, and, compensation. For first time participants, please complete our online registration so the CILab can make sure you are eligible to participate. Once this is completed, our research coordinator will get in contact with you and provide mode information on how to schedule your participation day!
·    Registration and Eligibility Survey (for first time participants only): Register Online

Eligibility for Cochlear Implant Participants: Adult cochlear implant users (>18 years of age) with any FDA-approved cochlear implant (CI) system with more than 6 months device experience meet inclusion criteria for this study. To undergo study procedures with the CCi-MOBILE Research Platform, individuals must be implanted with Cochlear cochlear systems such that the research processor can communicate with the internal radio frequency (RF) coil. For non-Cochlear cochlear implant users, participants can undergo the study procedures with their clinical speech processor. Cochlear implant users must have at least 6 month device experience prior to undergoing any study procedures to ensure they are able to effective perceive, encode sound, and communicate with their device without any significant aided thresholds. Conditions will be tested with the research processor as well as their clinical processor to ensure comparable performance can be achieved in the control condition.
Eligibility for Typical Hearing Participants: Adult normal hearing subjects (>18 years of age) with no history of hearing loss meet inclusion criteria for this study, i.e., audiometric thresholds no greater than 20 dB at standard frequencies from 125-8000 Hz in each ear, no asymmetries between the two ears greater than 5 dB at any of the frequencies, and normal tympanometric measures.