Contact Us

Washington Research Site

Anne Skalicky, MPH, Research Coordinator, Aprille O'Neill-Kemp, BA, Research Study Assistant, and Nancy Hanauer, BS, Study Recruiter

Anne earned her Master of Public Health degree at Boston University and has several years of experience in coordinating research studies, including international studies in South Africa. Anne's research interests focus on child health and welfare. She spent 2 years volunteering with the peace corps in Guatemala and is fluent in Spanish.

Aprille earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Washington and is very excited to work in research. Aprille is interested in neuropsychology and language, and hopes to return and earn a graduate degree in this field.

Nancy has a B.S. in Special Education and began her career as a teacher working with children who are Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing children with learning disabilities. She is also the founder of Hop to Signaroo, which offers American Sign Language classes and materials for hearing parents and hearing babies to aid early communication and reduce frustration.

• Weekday and Evening / Weekend Directions to Seattle Quality of Life Group in the University District neighborhood of Seattle, WA

Colorado Research Site

Melissa Garafalo, AuD, Graduate Research Assistant

Melissa is a Research Assistant with the Project HQL Colorado site. Melissa is a PhD student in the department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder working with Dr. Brenda Schick. She received her AuD from the University of Colorado at Boulder in December 2007. Melissa's research interests focus on outcomes of children and youth with hearing loss with a focus on the relationship between various outcomes, such as friendships, academics, language, and quality of life, for adolescents who are D/HH.

Texas Research Site

Poorna Kushalnagar, PhD, Postdoctoral Co-Investigator

Dr. Kushalnagar is a deaf postdoctoral fellow with the Department of Health Services, working on the quality of life research project with deaf/hoh youths in Texas. She completed her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology with focus in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Houston. Dr. Kushalnagar was awarded a two-year Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research and Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Award from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to support her research training with the Seattle Quality of Life Group. Her central research focuses on external factors within home, school and community environments that influence quality of life among deaf and hard-of-hearing youths from Spanish-speaking families. Future research plans include developing theory-based interventions for long-term cognitive and behavior changes, resulting in improved quality of life outcomes among youths who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.