Speaker bio: After completing his PhD at Northwestern University, Larry E. Humes spent 8 years on the faculty at Vanderbilt University before joining the faculty at Indiana University, where he remains today as Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He also has a faculty appointment at Northwestern University. He has published over 185 articles in peer-reviewed journals and another 60 non-peer-reviewed articles, reviews, chapters, and books.  He has presented or been a co-presenter on over 380 presentations throughout the world.

Professor Humes has received the Honors of the Association and the Kawana Award for Lifetime Achievement in Publications from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology from the American Academy of Audiology and presented the 2020 Carhart Memorial Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Auditory Society. He is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America and the International Collegium of Rehabilitative Audiology (ICRA).

Professor Humes’ areas of research include noise-induced hearing loss, psychoacoustic abilities of hearing-impaired listeners, hearing difficulties of the elderly, measuring and modeling hearing-aid outcomes, the development and evaluation of hearing-aid self-fitting methods, and, most recently, the measurement of auditory wellness in older adults.

Title: “Auditory Wellness: Concept and Measurement”

Summary: This presentation will begin with an overview of the concept of auditory wellness. Updated recommendations on the measurement of auditory wellness, including screening, measurement by audiologists, and self-assessment, will be provided. Finally, suggestions will be offered for the documentation of meaningful improvements in auditory wellness following intervention.

Summary: This presentation will begin with an overview of the concept of auditory wellness. Updated recommendations on the measurement of auditory wellness, including screening, measurement by audiologists, and self-assessment, will be provided. Finally, suggestions will be offered for the documentation of meaningful improvements in auditory wellness following intervention.

Bio: Dr Caitlin Barr (formerly Grenness) is an audiologist, researcher, and advocate committed to transforming hearing care through a whole-person, whole-life lens. A Herbert Oyer ARA Award recipient, Caitlin is CEO of Soundfair, an Australian not-for-profit focused on humanising hearing, and founding CEO of Soundcare, a wellbeing-focused audiology social enterprise that reinvests in community impact. Her work bridges the clinical and consumer worlds, shaped by a research background in person-centred care and the psychosocial dimensions of hearing loss and tinnitus. Through Soundfair, she leads initiatives that centre lived experience, reduce stigma, and challenge systems that exclude. Caitlin’s leadership and research have influenced policy, clinical practice, and service innovation across Australia. Deeply aligned with the values of Dr Patricia Kricos, she champions the idea that hearing care must go beyond devices and diagnostics — toward restoring identity, connection, and belonging. 

Title: Crossing the Floor: What I Unlearned About Expertise, Empathy, and Change 

Summary of presentation:  What if the most transformative thing we can do as hearing care professionals is to step aside — and truly listen? In this inaugural Patricia Kricos Memorial Lecture, Dr Caitlin Barr draws on her journey from clinician and academic to CEO of a lived-experience-led nonprofit to challenge assumptions about expertise, empathy, and change. Through stories from the community and reflections on her own unlearning, she invites us to rethink audiological rehabilitation as more than clinical care — but as the restoration of identity, connection, and power. Honouring the legacy of Patricia Kricos, this lecture calls on us to centre human experience, question our professional reflexes, and imagine a future shaped with, not for, the people we serve.

Title: Audiologic Rehabilitation:  Looking Back Moving Forward 

Summary of presentation: Audiologic rehabilitation is audiology. It is embedded into every aspect of an audiologist’s professional service from diagnostics to treatment. Audiologists work in a variety of employment all with opportunities to enhance communication function for people with hearing loss. A retrospective look at this author’s career in AR will highlight the changes in the profession that influenced service provision. Discussion will involve the inclusion of a discussion of the future of AR.