Brad Buran

Dr. Brad Buran has a profound sensorineural hearing loss, has bilateral cochlear implants, grew up using Cued Speech as his communication modality, and is fluent in American Sign Language. He is an auditory neuroscientist and a Research Assistant Professor in the Oregon Hearing Research Center and the Department of Otolaryngology at OHSU. He completed his Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology. Following his doctorate, Dr. Buran pursued postdoctoral training with Dr. Dan Sanes at New York University and Dr. Stephen David at OHSU. His work focuses on a type of hearing loss colloquially known as hidden hearing loss. This type of hearing loss cannot be detected using available clinical tests, but is thought to be widespread. Age and occupational noise exposures are thought to be risk factors and this type of hearing loss may underlie various auditory complaints such as difficulty understanding speech in noise, a ringing in the ears and/or difficulty tolerating loud sounds. Dr. Buran is actively working on diagnostic assays and therapeutic treatments for this type of hearing loss.