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Speech Language & Hearing Sciences

Research focus

Research Focus ( Jan 2012 to Apr 2017)
Thrust area: 
  • Voice and voice disorders
  • Community based rehabilitation - Cleft lip & palate
  • Tele- audiology
  • New-born hearing screening,
  • Swallowing & swallowing disorders
  • Karthikeyan Child Development Unit (KCDU)

Projects [Jan- 2012 to till date]
Ongoing funded projects (Research, training and clinical services) :
Click here to View

Infrastructure and equipment for research [Jan- 2012 to till date]:
Equipment: 
Neurosoft Audio (DPOAE, PTA, ABR) loaner procured for school tele-health project and longitudinal follow up of preterm babies.
GSI Audera ABR, GSI Audio screener (2 Nos) loaner procured for the project titled “Newborn hearing screening using tele-audiological diagnostic follow up- A quasi experimental study”.
PATH Senteiro (Audiometry & Immittance) procured through the project “Comprehensive management of communication disorders in individuals with cleft lip and palate (Phase IV)”.
Entraview video otoscopes (3 Nos) procured through the project “Identification of middle ear in a community setting – A tele medicine approach”.
Mobile phones (9 Nos) with software application for data entry and monitoring through the project “E- technology for the management of persons with communication disorder in rural areas [E-MPOWER]”.
Video camera with Bluetooth mic procured through “Efficacy of video feedback on mother-child interaction in parents of children with language disorders”.

Infrastructure :
State of art research laboratories with the following infrastructure for conducting research
Stroboscopy and Voice Lab
Electrophysiology Lab
Speech Science lab
SREST- Sri Ramachandra DBT-Wellcome Trust India Alliance Lab
TF-Lab/Project office


Collaboration with other institutions [Jan-2012 to till date]: 
MOUs with 

1. National Institute of Speech and Hearing, Thiruvananthapuram
2. Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore
3. University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada 
4. Transforming Faces



AWARDS & LAURELS [Jan-2012 to till date]
Awards at scientific forums:


1. First Prize for paper presentation ‘Development of a standard protocol for the Early Identification and Intervention for Middle Ear diseases in children with CLP at a tertiary care hospital: a pilot study’ in 19th Annual INDOCLEFTCON, 2020, to Varsha Sankar, Swetha Sridhar, Vidya Ramkumar, Subramaniyan B, Jeba Renita.
2. Second runner up for paper presentation ‘Profiling status of velopharyngeal port functioning in a series of patients with cleft lip and palate from a cleft care center’ in 19th Annual INDOCLEFTCON, 2020 to  Sriram M, Aishwarya R, Subramaniyan B, Jeba Renita.
3. cash prize of Rs. 10,000/- for best oral presentation ‘Adaptation and preliminary validation of the Intelligibility in Context Scale – Tamil (ICS-T) among children’ in International conference on Early Intervention conducted by AMAR SEVA SANGAM to  Swetha B.
4. First Prize for poster presentation ‘Phonological profile of Tamil – speaking  (preterm) children with and without language delay at 2 years of age’ in NICE CORE, 2019 Assessment in early intervention to  Roshini L, Lakshmi Venkatesh and Adhirai G.
5. Third Prize for poster presentation ‘Implementing a module for training caregivers on providing speech and language stimulation through tele-practice: A feasibility study’ in NICE CORE, 2019 Assessment in early intervention to R.S. Jayakumudha , Preethy S, Vipula R and Lakshmi Venkatesh
6. First Prize for oral presentation ‘Longitudinal follow-up of neuro developmental outcomes of preterm infants at 12 & 24 months’ in NEOCORE 2019 to Lakshmi Venkatesh, Binu Ninan, Roopa Nagarajan, Prakash Boominathan, Lalitha Subramanian and Udhayakumar N
7. First Prize for poster presentation ‘Perceptual evaluation of Nasality across three listening conditions  ’ in 18th INDOCLEFTCON 2019, Varanasi to Swetha Sridhar, Varsha Shankar, Subramaniyan B and Jeba Renita.
8. Third Prize for poster presentation ‘Current status of speech and hearing services offered to individuals with CLP across India: an e-survey’ in 18th INDOCLEFTCON 2019, Varanasi to Varsha Shankar, Swetha Sridhar, Subramaniyan B and Roopa Nagarajan.
9. First Prize for oral presentation ‘Do Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials reflect (CAEP) changes in programming Parameters?’ in CIGICON 2019, Mumbai to Muthu Selvi.T, Ravi kumar.A, Madhuri Gore, Ajith Kumar.U
10. 2018 AIC – International clinician recognition award from Asian Indian Caucus Meet & Greet at the ASHA Convention 2018, Boston to Vidya Ramkumar.
11. Second Prize for poster presentation ‘Evaluation of short training program for parents on providing speech language stimulation for their children with language delay’ in NICE conference 2018, Chennai to Lakshmi Venkatesh and Vipula
12. Second prize  poster ‘Nasality measurements: A comparative study of Online and Offline assessments’ in INDOCLEFTCON 2018, Kolkata to Subramaniyan. B.
13. ‘Bharath Award; for contribution to Indian Speech and Hearing Association to Prof. Roopa Nagarajan at 50th Indian Speech and Hearing Association Conference, Mysuru.
14. New Investigator Award- International awarded by Internet and audiology to Vidya Ramkumar at Kentucky, in July 2017 
15. Best oral presentation: ‘Identification & management of middle ear disorders in a Rural community – a telemedicine approach’ in Telemedicon held at Pune in Nov 2017 to Vidya Ramkumar.
16. Outstanding paper: ‘Brainstem evoked response audiometry among pre term infants’ in NeoCORE 2017 held at Chennai in March 2017 to Jayashree. S.
17. Second prize in poster (Audiology): ‘Do sound level measuring apps meet the mark?’ in 6th TAN-ISHA conference held at Puducherry, Nov 2016 to Shunmathi Babu and Deepak Sathyanarayanan
18. Second prize in poster (speech): ‘Profile of feeding difficulties in children in a hospital based high risk infant clinic’ in 6th TAN-ISHA conference held at Puducherry, Nov 2016 to Neethi J and Lakshmi Venkatesh.
19. First prize in Audiology (Oral): ‘Self-report on hearing and it’s conservation of traffic police personnel in Chennai: A preliminary survey’ in 6th TAN-ISHA conference held at Puducherry, Nov 2016 to Deepak Sathyanarayanan, Anitha C, Lavanya V & Lakshmi Venkatesh
20. First prize in Speech (Oral): ‘Speech sound acquisition in typically developing 2 to 2;5 years old children speaking Tamil’ in 6th TAN-ISHA conference held at Puducherry, Nov 2016 to R.C. Perumal, Vaidyanathan R, Prakash Boominathan, & Sreedevi, N
21. First prize in Language (Oral): ‘Pragmatic comprehension of referents and enrichment in Tamil speaking children’ in 6th TAN-ISHA conference held at Puducherry, Nov 2016 to Amudhu Sankar, Vaidyanathan. R, Prakash Boominathan & Usharani. A.
22. Second prize in Language (Oral): ‘Assessment of cognitive-linguistic function among elderly – A preliminary study.’ in 6th TAN-ISHA conference held at Puducherry, Nov 2016 to Hema Gunasagaran , Manami Shah, Lakshmi Venkatesh & K.V. Vijay Kumar
23. Third prize in Language (Oral): ‘Relationship between speech and language intervention and quality of communication life (Qocl) in individuals with expressive aphasia.’ in 6th TAN-ISHA conference held at Puducherry, Nov 2016 to U.Madhu Preetha and R.C.Perumal
24. Best Paper: ‘Development & validation of resource material on principles of speech therapy for individuals with cleft lip and palate’ in 15th Annual conference of Indian Society of Cleft Lip Palate & Craniofacial Anomalies held at Chandigarh in March 2016 to Roopa Nagarajan, B. Subramaniyan & Savitha V.H 
25. Second prize in e-poster: ‘Usage profile of cochlear implant processor  among young children’ in 14th Annual Conference of Cochlear Implant Group of India held at Cochin in Oct 2016 to Heramba Ganapathy, Amrita. S, Sakthi Priya. G & A. Ravikumar
26. Best poster award: ‘Phonological awareness skills in typically developing Tamil-English bi-lingual children’ in 5th TAN-ISHA conference held at Kanyakumari, Oct 2015 to Jolly,C; Perumal,R.C., & Krupa,M
27. Dayalan Samuel SSV Award: ‘Cut off criteria to classify children as having Auditory Processing Disorders’ in the, 47th ISHA Conference 2015 to, Yathiraj A, Vanaja C. S. &  Muthu Selvi, T.
28. First prize for the best oral presentation: ‘Development and implementation of e-tech for management of project for persons with communication disorders in rural areas’ in Sound Hearing 2015 Conference, New Delhi to Roopa Nagarajan, Vidya Ramkumar & Subramaniyan B.  
29. First prize poster: ‘Training village health workers to conduct OAE screening in rural villages in Tamil Nadu’ in Sound Hearing 2015 Conference to Vidya Ramkumar, Roopa Nagarajan, Selva Kumar, Vanaja C.S. & James  Hall.
30. Runner up oral presentation: ‘Tele- Audiology brainstem response for diagnostics testing in a community based hearing screening program in Sound Hearing 2015 Conference to Vidya Ramkumar, Roopa Nagarajan, Selva Kumar & Vanaja C.S.
31. Runner up oral: ‘Association of risk factors with hearing impairments in infants’ in Sound Hearing 2015 Conference to Heramba Ganapathy. S, Ravikumar. A, Rajasekar, B., Kalyani Mandke & Roopa Nagarajan.
32. First prize for oral presentation: ‘Evaluation of a training program for community based resource workers on correction of oral stop consonants in individuals with cleft lip and palate’ in 8th Annual Meeting of the Thai Cleft Lip Palate and Craniofacial Association: International Congress in KhonKaen, Thailand in November 2015 to Subramaniyan B.
33. Second prize for oral presentation: ‘Caregiver’s perception of speech and language status in children with cleft lip and palate’ in 8th Annual Meeting of the Thai Cleft Lip Palate and Craniofacial Association: International Congress in KhonKaen, Thailand in November 2015 to Subramaniyan B.
34. Second prize for poster presentation: ‘Development of an application for teaching phonetic placement in individuals with cleft lip and palate in Tamil Language – A pilot study’ in 5th TAN-ISHA conference held at Kanyakumari, Oct 2015 to Krishnaa M. & Subramaniyan B.
35. First prize in oral presentation: ‘I-SPEAK and alternative & augmentative for children with communication disorders’ in 5th TAN-ISHA conference held at Kanyakumari, Oct 2015 to Sai Aishwarya R. & Amudhu Sankar.
36. Third prize for poster presentation: ‘Prelinguistic indicators for language development -  A parental questionnaire’ in 5th TAN-ISHA conference held at Kanyakumari, Oct 2015 to Vaishnavi S. & Amudhu Sankar.
37. Best paper award: ‘Fo Characteristics of professional newsreaders in the context of varied emotional news items’ at the National Symposium on Acoustics in November 2014 at Mysore to Nishanthi G., Prakash Boominathan & Jayashree S.
38. Best paper award: ‘Implementation of E-technology for management of projects for persons with communication disorders in rural areas’ at the 10th International Telemedicine conference of Telemedicine society of India in November 2014 at Bhopal to Febi Dhas, Roopa Nagarajan, Subramaniyan B. & Vidya Ramkumar.
39. Best paper award: ‘Hearing assessment using tele-health technology in school aged children with and without disability’ at the 10th International Telemedicine conference of Telemedicine society of India in November 2014 at Bhopal to Vidya Ramkumar & Mark Krumm.
40. Best paper award: ‘Comparison of receptive and expressive language skills in pre term and term infants” at 4th TANISHACON in September 2014 at Yercaud, Salem to Anitha R., Nitya Raman, Gayathri Sundravadanan. 
41. Best paper: ‘A peek into home remedies (Patti vaidyam) used for voice problems’ at the Annual Laryngology and Voice Association in August 2013 at Chennai to Monica S., Prakash Boominathan & Aishwarya Nallamuthu.
42. Best paper: ‘Voice needs and demands in professional newsreaders’ at the Annual Laryngology and Voice Association in August 2013 at Chennai to Nishanthi G., Jayashree S., & Prakash Boominathan.
43. Dayalan Samuel SSV Award: ‘Association between high risk factors and initial screening results of newborn hearing screening’ at the 45th ISHACON in February 2013 at Chennai to Heramba Ganapathy S., Jayashree Seethapathy, Aishwarya Nallamuthu, Pravesh C. Sampath, & Roopa Nagarajan.
44. Muktesh Award for the Best Paper: ‘Newborn hearing screening outcomes: A one year review’ at the 45th ISHACON in February 2013 at Chennai to Heramba Ganapathy. S, Aishwarya Nallamuthu, Prakash K., & Roopa Nagarajan.
45. Dr. Raghunanthan Memorial Award: ‘Application of ICF in voice disorders’ at the 45th ISHACON in February 2013 at Chennai to Elizabeth Saju, Prakash Boominathan, & Shenbagavalli M.


Ph.D. Thesis :
Completed :

1. Acoustic analysis of singing voice of trained singers (Carnatic), untrained singers (light music) and non singers: A comparison (2002-2008)
Candidate: Prakash Boominathan; Guide: Prof.B. Rajashekhar; Co-guide: Prof.Lt.Col.A. Ravikumar
2. Association of high risk factors and hearing impairment in infants: A hospital based study (2007-2015)
Candidate: S. Heramba Ganapathy; Guide: Prof. Lt.Col A. Ravikumar; Co-guide: Prof. B. Rajashekar
3. Efficacy of a tele-audiological diagnostic follow-up in a community based hearing screening program for infants and young children- a quasi-experimental study (2010-2016)
Candidate: Vidya Ramkumar; Guide: Prof. K. Selva Kumar; Co-guide: Prof.C.S. Vanaja
4. Title: Early speech and language development in children with cleft lip and palate: A longitudinal study (2010- 2018) 
Candidate: V.H. Savitha; Guide: Prof. R. Vaidyanathan
5. Title: Consonant acquisition and phonological processes in typically developing Tamil speaking children (2010- 2018)
Candidate: R.C. Perumal; Guide: Prof. R. Vaidyanathan
6. Title: Comprehension of pragmatics of interrogatives in typically developing Tamil speaking children (2010- 2018)
Candidate: Amudhu Sankar; Guide: Prof. R. Vaidyanathan
7. Title: Effectiveness of community based worker implemented speech correction program for children with repaired cleft lip and palate in rural districts of Tamil Nadu (2010- 2018)
Candidate: B. Subramaniyan; Guide: Prof. R. Vaidyanathan
8. Title: Caregiver child interaction in typically developing children and children with autism: A comparative study (2012-2019, Submitted)
Candidate: Krupa M.; Guide: Prof. Prakash Boominathan
9.   Title: Auditory developmental responses in full term, late preterm (including moderately preterm) and very preterm infants: A comparative study (2012-2021)
Candidate: Jayashree S.; Guide: Prof. Prakash Boominathan; Co-guide: Dr. Binu Ninan


Ongoing :

1. Title: A study on effects of vocal hygiene therapy and vocal training in individuals with hyperfunctional voice disorders (2012- )
Candidate: Shenbagavalli M.; Guide: Prof. Lt. Col. Ravikumar; Co-guide: Prof. Prakash Boominathan
2. Title: Auditory developmental responses in full term, late preterm (including moderately preterm) and very preterm infants: A comparative study (2012- )
Candidate: Jayashree S.; Guide: Prof. Prakash Boominathan; Co-guide: Dr. Binu Ninan
3. Title: Speech perception in Tamil speaking children with cochlear implants: A prospective study (2014- )
Candidate: Dawson Gladys Prathiba; Guide: Prof. Lt. Col. Ravikumar; Co-guide: Prof. Prakash Boominathan
4. Title: A study to measure outcome of voice therapy in facilitating vocal health in teachers with voice problems (2013- )
Candidate: Aishwarya Nallamuthu; Guide: Prof. Prakash Boominathan
5. Title: Correlation of electrophysiological responses with behavioural responses and programming parameter in children with cochlear implant (2015- )
Candidate:  Muthuselvi T; Guide: Prof. Lt. Col. Ravikumar; Co-guide: Dr. Madhuri Gore
6. Title: Early identification of conductive hearing impairment and middle ear pathology in 1-2 year old children: A longitudinal study (2015- )
Candidate: Sathya H.; Guide: Dr. Sanjeev Mohanty; Co-guide: Dr. Sandeep M.
7. Title: Speech,language and literacy outcome among children using cochlear implants (2016-)
Candidate: Jeena Mary Joy; Guide: Dr.Lakshmi Venkatesh; Co-guide: Dr. Samuel Mathew.
8. Title: Effect of an oral-motor intervention protocol on short- and long-term feeding among very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm infants (2017-)
Candidate: Jayapradha G; Guide: Dr.Lakshmi Venkatesh; Co-guide: Dr. Binu Ninan
9. Title: Speech-language development in preterm Tamil speaking children (2017-)
Candidate: Adhirai G; Guide: Dr.Lakshmi Venkatesh
10. Title: New born hearing screening- An operational research for efficiency monitoring in Kerala scenario to reach bench marks (2017-)
Candidate: Praveena; Guide: Dr Heramba Ganapathy
11. Title: Auditory Listening Difficulties Among Mainstreamed Children with Hearing Impairment using bilateral hearing aids, cochlear implant and cochlear implant with  hearing aid (2018-)
Candidate: Ms.Sowmya; Guide: Dr Heramba Ganapathy
12. Title: Effect of music training on auditory processing and cognitive skills in older adults with normal cognitive function (2018-)
Candidate: Vaishnavi Ramadas; Guide: Dr.V. Ramya
13. Title: Qualitative and quantitative tele practice planning assessment for ASLP services in Tamil Nadu in the public sector (2018-)
Candidate: Neethi J; Guide: Dr. Vidya Ramkumar
14. Title: Listening effort for speech in degraded condition – a comparison between musicians and non-musicians (2019-)
Candidate: Lavanya V; Guide: Dr. Heramba Ganapathy
15. Title: Electrophysiological measurement of listening effort under different listening conditions (2019-)
Candidate: Narendra Kumar M; Guide: Dr.V. Ramya
16. Title: Dysphagia in Head and Neck Cancer (2020-)
Candidate: Jasmine Lydia; Guide: Dr.Lakshmi Venkatesh



Fellowship : (Jan-2012 to December 2018)

1. The Fulbright Nehru Doctoral Fellowship (2013-‘14) to pursue a part of doctoral research at Kent University, Ohio, USA to Vidya Ramkumar.
2. Sri Ramachandra University Founder-Chancellor Shri. N. P.V. Ramasamy Udayar Research fellowship (2017) to pursue PhD at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher education and Research to Ms Jayapradha G 
3. Sri Ramachandra University Founder-Chancellor Shri. N. P.V. Ramasamy Udayar Research fellowship (2018) to pursue PhD at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher education and Research to Ms Vaishnavi Ramadas
4. Ramachandra University Founder-Chancellor Shri. N. P.V. Ramasamy Udayar Research fellowship (2019) to pursue PhD at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher education and Research to Ms Lavanya V

Research Papers Published by Faculty & Staff :