Pamela Souza received her bachelor's degree in communication disorders from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, followed by masters and PhD degrees in Audiology from Syracuse University. She is a professor in communication sciences and disorders with secondary faculty appointments in linguistics and otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. Dr. Souza's research interests include speech recognition, hearing aids, and the effects of aging and cognitive change on communication. A recurring theme in her scientific work is understanding individual auditory and cognitive abilities in order to customize hearing treatment. Dr. Souza is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and the Knowles Hearing Center. She is a licensed audiologist with experience in a variety of medical settings. Her clinical interests include hearing aids, severe hearing loss, hearing assistive technology, tinnitus management, and patient education. Dr. Souza's research is funded by the National Institute on Aging and by the Knowles Hearing Center.
Lab
Education
- PhD, Audiology, Syracuse University
- MS, Audiology, Syracuse University
- BS, Communication Disorders, University of Massachusetts
Recent Publications
- Burleson A, Souza P. (2025). The time course of cognitive effort during disrupted speech. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. doi: 10.1177/17470218251316797. Online ahead of print.
- Rallapalli V, Freyman R, Souza P. (2024). Relationship between working memory, compression, and beamformers in ideal conditions. Ear and Hearing. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001605. Online ahead of print.
- Szatkowski G, Souza P. (2024). Evaluation of communication outcomes with OTC hearing aids. Ear and Hearing. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001608. Online ahead of print.
- Roy A, Bradlow A, Souza P. (2024). Effect of frequency compression on fricative perception between normal hearing English and Mandarin listeners. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 155, 3957–3967.
- Ellis G, Crukley J, Souza P. (2024). The effects of SNR, T60, WDRC speed, and DNR in a realistic restaurant setting. Ear and Hearing 45, 760-774.
- Davidson A, Souza P. (2024). Relationships between auditory processing and cognitive abilities in adults: A systematic review. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 67, 296-345.
- Ng S, Ellis G, Souza P, Gallun F, Wright R, Ostendorf M. (2023). Assessing the stability of the spectro-temporal cue weighting angle for listener categorization. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, 45, 050009.
- Strori D, Souza P. (2023). The role of working memory by hearing-impaired older adults: Does the task matter? International Journal of Audiology, 62, 1067-1075
Recent Funding
- National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders R01.Characterizing variability in hearing aid outcomes among older adults(principal investigator). 2017-2022.
- National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders R01,Acoustic effects of WDRC amplification(principal investigator), 2016-2021.
- National Institutes on Deafness and Communication Disorders K01.Investigating the relationship between directional microphones, compression, and working memory in realistic spatial conditions(sponsor; Varsha Rallapalli, principal investigator), 2019-2022.
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom.Environment-aware Listener-Optimized Speech Processing for Hearing Enhancement in Real Situations (E-LOSPHERES).(consultant; Mark Huckvale, University College London, principal investigator). 2019-2022.
Courses
- CSD 411 Evaluation and use of amplification systems
- CSD 519 Pediatric amplification
- CSD 521 Aging and cognition
- CSD 551 Responsible conduct of research in communication sciences and disorders