Our Research Team
Principal Investigator
Kaylah Lalonde (she/her) is director of the Audiovisual Speech Processing Lab. Dr. Lalonde completed her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Sciences at Indiana University, followed by three years of postdoctoral training on the Auditory Neuroscience Training Grant and in Dr. Lynne Werner's Infant Hearing Lab at the University of Washington.
At Boys Town National Research Hospital, Dr. Lalonde directs a project entitled “Factors Influencing Audiovisual Benefit in Children with Hearing Loss.” She also works collaboratively on a project entitled “Effects of Face Masks on Word Learning in Preschool Age Children.” Both projects are funded by the NIH National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Dr. Lalonde also directed completed projects entitled “Development of Audiovisual Speech Enhancement in Children" and “Effects of Hearing Aid Compression on Temporal Cues in Audiovisual Speech” that were funded through Centers for Biomedical Research Excellence Grants from the NIH.
Dr. Lalonde's research focuses on the development of audiovisual speech perception from infancy to adulthood and the effects of pediatric hearing loss on said development. Her work examines the contribution of auditory, visual, cognitive, linguistic, stimulus and task-related factors to performance on speech perception tasks—and thus to development in general. Her long-term goals are to form a unified account of the development of AV speech perception in noise and to improve outcomes for children with hearing loss by incorporating data about audiovisual speech perception into testing and intervention practices.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Devon Major (she/her) Devon P. Major is a postdoctoral fellow at Boys Town National Research Hospital, co-mentored by Dr. Monita Chatterjee, director of the Auditory Prostheses and Perception Laboratory, and Dr. Kaylah Lalonde, director of the Audiovisual Speech Processing Laboratory. She earned her Ph.D. in Audiology from Syracuse University, where her research focused on the relationship between individual differences in autistic traits and the neural stability of brainstem processing of speech and nonspeech sounds. At Boys Town National Research Hospital, Devon is expanding her research interests and training to include audiovisual integration and the perception of emotions in children with and without hearing loss.
Lab Manager
Grace Dwyer (she/her) is the manager of the Audiovisual Speech Processing Lab. Grace joined the lab in September 2021 as a full-time research assistant and has been the lab manager since May 2024. She graduated from Iowa State University in November 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. Grace joined the lab to gain research experience and to learn about lab management. She manages data collection and stimulus development for our current studies and assists with development of new study protocols. She also runs the lab’s social media accounts.
Research Assistant
Abby Pitts (she/her): Abby Pitts joined the lab in November 2022 as a part time research assistant. She graduated from Drake University in August 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Health Services Management. Abby joined the lab to gain experience in research. She assists in data collection and data management.
Ava Ng (she/her): Ava Ng joined the lab in June 2024 as a student intern. She is currently attending Case Western Reserve University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and a minor in Psychology. Ava joined the lab to learn more about hearing and speech perception research as well as to gain experience working on a research project. She is in charge of data collection for the Audiovisual Speech Processing Lab’s Summer research project.
