Rene H. Gifford Bs, MS, BA, PhD, CCC-A

Rene H. Gifford, Ph.D, CCC-A, is a Professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences with a joint appointment in the Department of Otolaryngology. She is the Director of the Cochlear Implant Program at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center in the Division of Audiology as well as the Director of the Cochlear Implant Research Laboratory. Her NIH-funded research investigates basic auditory function and spatial hearing abilities for individuals using combined electric and acoustic stimulation (EAS), hearing preservation with cochlear implantation and speech perception for adults and children with cochlear implants.

She has published over 80 peer-reviewed and authored a book in 2013 entitled “Cochlear Implant Patient Assessment: Evaluation of Candidacy, Performance, and Outcomes.” She was also the 2015 recipient of the ASHA Louis M. DiCarlo Award for Recent Clinical Achievement as well as the 2017 recipient of the Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Award for Research, both awarded for her work in auditory outcomes following hearing preservation cochlear implantation. Dr. Gifford and her husband, Branden, are parents to three teenage boys, Levi, Jacob, and Aidan.