Kathleen M. Cienkowski, Ph.D., is Dept Head of SLHS, an Associate Professor, and Program Director of Audiology at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Cienkowski studies comprehensive aural rehabilitation (AR) for individuals with acquired hearing loss with an emphasis on care across the lifespan.  She currently is investigating factors underlying successful hearing device use including the impact of health literacy and patient centered care. Her work has been funded by National Institutes of Health and the Veterans Administration as well as private industry. She has served as President of the Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology,  Coordinator for the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) Special Interest Group 7: Aural Rehabilitation and Its Instrumentation, and Associate Editor for Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research (JSLHR) Hearing Section. She is currently the audiology discipline coordinator for the UCONN LEND and director of the UCONN Pediatric LEND supplement.  Click here to follow on Research Gate.