Meet Our Professional Advisory Committee

Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, PhD

Dr. Christine Yoshinaga-Itanois a Professor of Audiology in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Science, Center for Neurosciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Department of Otolaryngology and Audiology at the University of Colorado, Denver and the Marion Downs Hearing Center. Dr. Yoshinaga-Itano is both a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing and an audiologist. 

Dr. Yoshinaga-Itano has assisted many state departments of education and public health agencies, schools for the deaf and blind, and early intervention programs throughout the United States and its territories.  In addition, she has served as a consultant for many countries currently developing their early hearing detection and intervention programs, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Korea, Belgium, Poland, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, Philippines, and South Africa.   

Education and Field Involvement

She received her Bachelors degree from the University of Southern Californiain Psychology, her Masters degree in Education of the Hearing Impaired and Ph.D. in Audiology and Hearing Impairment from Northwestern University.

She is currently the Chair of the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing.  She is a member of the Academy of Audiology,  the American Speech, Language & Hearing Association, and the Colorado Academy of Audiology.

Publications

She has conducted research in the areas of language, speech, and social-emotional development of deaf and hard-of-hearing infants and children for over thirty years.  Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Office of Education, Maternal and Child Health, the Center for Disease Control, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Colorado Department of Education, and the University of Colorado.  Her research has been used as justification for establishing universal newborn hearing screening throughout the United States and also world-wide.  Over the last 20 to 30 years, she has focused on the impact of early-identification and early intervention on the developmental outcomes of children with significant hearing loss.

Personal

Dr. Yoshinaga-Itano loves singing in her church choir, and plays the piano or guitar when she has a chance.  She enjoys running, 5K, 10K and half marathons – but marathons aren’t her favorite!  She’s tried triathalons but recommends learning to ride a bike before you are 50.  If she had more time, she’d learn more foreign languages.