Meet Some Staff

Dr James Fallon
Auditory Neurobiology Research Group -- Bionic Eye Project

After finishing his studies in 2002, Dr James Fallon got his first taste of cochlear implant research during a brief period working for Professor Rob Shepherd at The Bionic Ear Institute. James did not always plan a career in cochlear implant research. His studies at Monash University provided him a broad background in a range of relevant areas, including a Bachelor of Science (Physiology), a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Computer Science, with honours) and a PhD (Biomedical Engineering)

Prior to James taking a position within the Auditory Neurobiology Research Group, headed by Professor Robert Shepherd in 2005, he studied a range of phenomena related to our sense of touch at the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute in Sydney, as a Research Fellow.

James is involved in a range of other studies within The Bionic Ear Institute, including the new iconic Bionic Eye Project. A major objective of all of his research is to apply his finding to the clinical environment that aims to achieve better outcomes for people with sensory deficiencies.

Associate Professor Chris Williams
Bionic Eye Project

Associate Professor Chris Williams was recently appointed Senior Researcher on the Bionic Eye Project. Chris completed his PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Auckland and prior to joining The Bionic Ear Institute he was Associate Professor of Brain Rescue and Repair at the Liggins Institute, Auckland. With extensive experience in brain research and repair research, Chris has progressed several projects through to commercial development and clinical trials.

Working closely with Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) this initial 18 month research project is a feasibility study designed to address the key biocompatibility and efficacy issues associated with a high resolution Bionic Eye. The ultimate objective of this important work is to develop a bionic implant capable of restoring vision to people suffering from eye diseases such as macular degeneration, which is responsible for 48% of all blindness in Australia.

Dr David Nayagam and Dr Rachael Richardson

After studying mainly maths and sciences at high school, Dr David Nayagam did a Bachelor of Science (Neuroscience) / Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) (Hons.) at the University of Melbourne. David then did his PhD at the University of Melbourne’s Department of Otolaryngology / The Bionic Ear Institute in auditory electrophysiology.

David studied and characterised an important, but poorly understood, part of the brain that is involved in hearing and identified a pathway responsible for controlling neural spike timing in the brainstem, midbrain and higher centres. At the end of his PhD project, Prof. Graeme Clark encouraged David to apply for a position on the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES; Bionics program) project.

Dr Rachael Richardson has worked at the Bionic Ear Institute for over 6 years after completing a PhD researching cancer of white blood cells.

Rachael’s early work at the Bionic Ear Institute helped us to understand how nerve growth factors can help preserve auditory nerves after deafness. From her work we realised that nerves require only very small doses of nerve growth factors to survive and if they receive too much then they can grow in abnormal ways which may confuse the sound perceived by cochlear implant recipients. Using conducting polymers made by the team of polymer chemists at the University of Wollongong, Rachael has found a way to deliver small doses of nerve growth factors directly to the auditory nerves using the cochlear implant itself.

Dr. Jeremy Marozeau
Research Fellow - Music & Voice Perception

Dr. Jeremy Marozeau recently joined the Institute as a Research Fellow focusing on the perception of music and voice pitch information for people with a cochlear implant.

Jeremy received his doctorate from the University of Paris-VI and his dissertation was on the effect of the fundamental frequency on timbre. He completed his PhD with the Perception and Musical Cognition team at the Institute for Music/Acoustic Research and Coordination (IRCAM, Paris) and as an invited researcher at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) of U.C. Berkeley. After working at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS, Marseille) on modeling the loudness of impulsive sounds, he continued his research on loudness in hearing-impaired listeners as a Research Associate at Northeastern University in Boston with Dr. Mary Florentine.

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