Silva Kuschke
Assistant Professor
Education:
B.Communication Pathology, 2010 (University of Pretoria, South Africa)
M.Communication Pathology, 2015 (University of Pretoria, South Africa)
Additional Training in Cochlear Implantation, 2018 (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa)
PhD: Audiology, 2022 (University of Pretoria, South Africa)
Biography:
Dr Kuschke is clinically trained as a pediatric audiologist, and completed her undergraduate and post-graduate education in South Africa. Before joining the Faculty at Vanderbilt University, she was Senior Research Audiologist at the hearX Group in South Africa, a MedTech company focusing on the development of mobile hearing healthcare solutions. She was the Chief Audiologist and Head of the Audiology Department between April 2016 – February 2023 at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town; the largest dedicated academic paediatric hospital in sub-Saharan Africa. She enjoys working with children, providing support to families with hearing impaired children, clinical teaching, and lecturing. Silva completed her PhD in Audiology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, in 2022, and is an early-career researcher. Her interests are conducting context-specific and clinically relevant research into childhood hearing loss, with a particular focus on decentralising hearing healthcare to make it more accessible in low- to- mid-income contexts.
ORCID: 0000-0002-1046-7435