#3: Hear all about Learning and Memory with Dr. Claire McSweeney, Naureen Sohail and Anna Ishchuk

In the third episode of season 5, we take a detour from hearing devices to look at the relationship between hearing, learning and memory. Hosts Annika Gasee, Nimrat Chani chat with Dr. Karen Gordon and three amazing guests! Our first guest is Dr. Claire McSweeney, who is a general surgery resident in the US and previously completed a MSc with the Archie’s Cochlear Implant Lab. Our second guest is Naureen Sohail, an Auditory-Verbal Therapist with the Cochlear Implant Program at The Hospital for Sick Children. Our third guest is Anna Ishchuk, a medical student at the University of Toronto, completed a MSc with the Archie’s Cochlear Implant Lab. Her research focused on sound localization in children with cochlear implants and how audiovisual training could improve localization.   

Nimrat, a Public Health student at the University of Waterloo and bilateral cochlear implant user and Annika, a Health Science student at Wilfrid Laurier University, whose brother has cochlear implants, bring their own experiences of hearing loss to the discussion. This episode looks at the relationship between education, language development, and hearing loss as well as how children can be supported in these environments.   

Transcript of S5E3   

Recorded on Dec 7, 2025 

Produced by Maria Khan 

Music composed and performed by Dr. Blake Papsin, Otolaryngologist-in-Chief, Department of Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery) at the Hospital for Sick Children