The University of Cambridge
Charlotte Garcia is an RNID Research Fellow based in the Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge, where she conducts scientific research with cochlear implant users.
She has a background in biomedical engineering, music theory and cognition, and cognitive neuroscience, and worked as an engineer for a biomedical company prior to entering the field of hearing science. She is particularly interested in conducting research that has clinical relevance and has developed a technique for characterising the contact between the auditory nerve and the electrodes of a cochlear implant.
Personalised assessment and adjustment of cochlear implants to improve pitch perception
Read about Charlotte’s research projectCharlotte’s approaches to hearing research
My focus on cochlear implant users is driven both by a fascination with the technology and my desire to do work that can improve the lives of others. I also have numerous family members with significant hearing loss and have watched them recede from their social world as they aged – I want to be doing work that helps people maintain social connections to live meaningful, connected lives.
I have a deep interest in the intersection of technology, sound, and cognition that drives my interest in researching auditory perception. This is likely due to my varied background – having studied both biomedical engineering and music, I was constantly looking for a career where I could combine my two seemingly disparate interests.
I hope that my research will help bring us closer to developing (1) an objective measure of auditory perception in cochlear implant users and (2) improved understanding of how to enhance pitch perception in cochlear implant users to give them the best chance to maximise their hearing potential with their devices.
To me, RNID funding means that I finally have the means and the platform to pursue questions about how to improve pitch perception in cochlear implant users. This is a key step toward my ultimate research goal: to develop ways in which we can provide the clearest auditory cues to cochlear implant users that are key for perceiving not just speech (which has been the focus of the field for many decades now), but also for more complex sounds such as music.