Archie’s Cochlear Implant Lab at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) focuses on answering clinically relevant questions in children with hearing loss. Through several lines of research, Drs. Karen Gordon and Blake Papsin and their teams seek to determine the effects of auditory deprivation during early human development and the extent to which function in the auditory system can be established or restored through auditory prostheses including cochlear implants. We have been specifically interested in the relative effects of unilateral versus bilateral deprivation because children listen in ways and environments which are unique from adults.
Taking a child-centred approach, our key discoveries have provided insight into sensitive periods in human auditory development, demonstrated the impacts of bilateral hearing on the vestibular system and balance, and guided new clinical practice. Learn more about the History of the Lab.
