Irina Castellanos, PhD

Bio

My passion for research stems from my interest in understanding the dynamic interplay between early sensory input, neurocognitive development and functioning, and the social environment across infancy through adulthood. My graduate training, which was funded by an NIGMS R25 award, focused on multisensory processing and allowed me to pursue several research questions concerning how infants and young adults process social linguistic information in the context of audiovisual vs. visual-only stimulation. I then extended this line of research during my postdoctoral training by examining how neurocognitive systems are impacted by a period of early auditory deprivation in pediatric cochlear implant users. My postdoctoral fellowship, which was funded by an NIDCD T32 award and an NCATS TL1 award, provided me with specialized training across several fields, including Otology, Cognitive Hearing Science, and Pediatric Clinical Psychology.

Dr. Castellanos currently serves as the Director of the DeVault Otologic Research Laboratory.

Dr. Castellanos’ research interests center on neurocognitive and social-cognitive development and functioning across the lifespan in individuals with and without hearing loss. She maintains three areas of focused research: (1) social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment following hearing loss, (2) the psychology and physiology of stress and coping, and (3) how early language learning may result from the multisensory coordination of attention during parent-child interactions.

Key Publications

Castellanos, I., & Houston, D. M. (2023). Temperament in children with and without prelingual hearing loss. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00182 [Selected to appear in the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, ASHA, Showcase]

Castellanos, I., Kronenberger, W. G., & Pisoni, D. B. (2018). Questionnaire-based assessment of executive functioning: Psychometrics. Applied Neuropsychology: Child, 7, 93–109. doi:10.1080/21622965.2016.1248557

Castellanos, I., Kronenberger, W. G., & Pisoni, D. B. (2018). Psychosocial functioning in long-term cochlear implant users. Ear & Hearing, 39, 527–539. doi:10.1097/AUD.0000000000000504

Moberly, A. C., Patel, T. R., & Castellanos, I. (2017). Relations between self-reported executive functioning and speech perception skills in adult cochlear implant users. Otology & Neurotology, 39, 250–257. doi:10.1097/MAO.0000000000001679

Moberly, A. C., Houston, D. M., & Castellanos, I. (2016). Non-auditory neurocognitive skills contribute to speech recognition in adults with cochlear implants. Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology, 1, 154– doi:10.1002/lio2.38

Castellanos, I., Pisoni, D. B., Kronenberger, W. G., & Beer, J. (2016). Early expressive language skills predict long-term neurocognitive outcomes in cochlear implant users: Evidence from the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories. American Journal of Speech–Language Pathology, 25, 381–392. doi:10.1044/2016_AJSLP-15-0023. [Editor’s Award for most impactful article]