Susan Scollie, PhD

Dr. Susan Scollie is recognized as a global leader in developing a personalized and prescriptive method for fitting and verifying hearing aids for infants and young children. With her colleagues at the National Centre for Audiology at the University of Western Ontario (aka Western University), Dr. Scollie has refined the Desired Sensation Level Version 5.0 (DSL 5.0), originally developed by Dr. Richard Seewald, with multiple applications that are now used throughout the world on a daily basis by clinicians to improve the auditory, speech, language, academic, and social development of thousands of children. Dr. Scollie’s unique expertise in translating evidence-based science behind the DSL 5.0 method to clinical applications, and her personal collaborations with hearing aid manufacturers and manufacturers of diagnostic hearing aid analyzers, have brought DSL 5.0 into routine clinical practice.

As an associate professor at Western University, she leads the child amplification laboratory team, which works closely with Ontario’s Ministry of Children and Youth Services to develop, implement, and evaluate evidence-based protocols for the Ontario Infant Hearing Program, which is recognized as a global leader and authority in the determination of evidence-based, gold standard clinical practice for pediatric hearing healthcare.

In less than two decades, Dr. Scollie’s research and professional productivity have accomplished more than most others have accomplished in a full career. Additionally, Dr. Scollie has served as the mentor for many doctoral students who have sought the opportunity to study under this unique researcher and clinician, and are now contributing to the field of audiology. Nine of her articles have been recognized by the Hearing Journal for “Best in Audiology Literature,” which identifies outstanding articles from audiology, hearing science, and related fields that can be used by researchers and clinicians to provide better service to consumers. She was a co-author of a paper that earned the 2015 “Ear and Hearing Editors’ Award” for “Evaluation of Speech-Evoked Envelope Following Responses as an Objective Aided Outcome Measure.”

In 2005, she received the Kenneth J. Rooney Memorial Award from the Hearing Foundation of Canada, and in 2015, she was awarded the 2015 Innovator of the Year title by WORLDiscoveries, for her technology transfer work with the DSL fitting method in clinical practice.

Dr. Scollie’s contributions in applied research, professional advocacy, and clinical management have unquestionably made lasting and far-reaching impact on the lives of millions of infants and children. It is only fitting that the Academy’s 2018 Award in pediatric audiology, named in honor of Dr. Marion Downs for her own quest to made a difference in the lives of children, be awarded to Dr. Susan Scollie. The American Academy of Audiology is pleased to bestow its 2018 Marion Downs Award in Pediatrics to Dr. Susan Scollie, in recognition of her significant contributions to the field of pediatric audiology, and to children with hearing loss.