Samuel R. Atcherson, Ph.D., is a nationally recognized leader, scholar, mentor, and educator in the field of audiology. He is a professor in the UAMS College of Health Professions Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology and a professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. As a person with lifelong hearing loss from childhood, his areas of interest and expertise include broad strokes across audiologic rehabilitation, auditory electrophysiology and health literacy and health disparities.
In the area of audiologic rehabilitation, he uses a combination of approaches to mitigate the negative effects of hearing loss or auditory processing disorders. His current projects involve transparent face masks and amplified stethoscopes, one of which is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health.
In the area of auditory electrophysiology, he focuses mostly on clinically available evoked potential systems and their use in individuals with and without hearing, auditory processing and balance disorders.
In the area of health literacy and health disparity, he has long been involved in research on the readability and accessibility of health materials. More recently, research has expanded to combine health literacy with health disparities research in people with disabilities. Communication is a basic human right, and so is access to quality health care. These areas are multidisciplinary in nature involving collaborators in audiology and deaf studies, speech-language pathology, dental hygiene and mobility and orientation for the blind and visually-impaired. Recently, he and some of his collaborators have begun exploring the use of artificial intelligence for addressing health literacy issues.
To date, he has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles, over 50 non-refereed articles, three textbooks, 25 invited book chapters, two book reviews and a letter to the editor (in the coveted Science journal). Currently, he has two textbook contracts with Thieme Medical Publishers (the second edition of Auditory Electrophysiology: A Clinical Guide and the third edition of Audiology: Diagnosis). He has given, or contributed to, over 250 presentations, posters and panels (including six keynote presentations) and has been awarded over $477,000 in grant funding for both intramural and extramural projects. He currently sits on the Editorial Board Committee for the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, and is a Distinguished Scholar Fellow of the National Academies of Practice.