Tinnitus Research Pioneer To Receive Campbell Callier Prize

The University of Texas at Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders has named Dr. Richard J. Salvi of the University of Central Florida (UCF) as the recipient of the 2026 Thomas F. Campbell Callier Prize in Communication Disorders.

The biennial prize recognizes individuals for their leadership in fostering scientific advances and significant developments in the diagnosis and treatment of communication disorders. It was renamed in 2022 to honor former Callier Center executive director Dr. Thomas Campbell, professor emeritus of behavioral and brain sciences.

Salvi, who was an associate professor at UT Dallas from 1980 to 1987, is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking research in auditory neuroscience, spanning a range of topics including tinnitus, hyperacusis and noise-induced hearing loss.

In the 1990s he challenged conventional wisdom that tinnitus originated in the inner ear. Through innovative neuroimaging studies, he found that changes in neural activity in the auditory cortex - and even nonauditory regions of the brain linked to emotion and memory - play a critical role in tinnitus perception.

Salvi's achievements will be celebrated April 28 in Dallas at the 2026 Campbell Callier Prize Conference - a continuing education event focused on "Bench to Bedside in Auditory Neuroscience: Investigating Suprathreshold Hearing Disorders."

"Richard Salvi stands as an inspiring force in auditory neuroscience," said Angela Shoup BS'89, MS'92, PhD'94, the Ludwig A. Michael, MD Callier Center Executive Director in UT Dallas' School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS). "Through his visionary, wide-ranging research that spans hearing loss and tinnitus to hyperacusis and auditory plasticity, he has profoundly advanced our understanding of the auditory system and transformed how we understand, treat and, ultimately, hope to prevent auditory disorders."

Salvi, a research professor of communication sciences and disorders at UCF, also has illuminated the neural mechanisms underlying hyperacusis, a condition in which everyday sounds are perceived as painfully loud. His studies showed that when the neural input from the inner ear is reduced because of sensorineural hearing loss, the brain compensates for the reduced input by turning up its internal "volume control," leading to hyperactivity in the central auditory pathway.

Salvi has published some 600 scientific papers on hearing loss, auditory plasticity, neuroprotection, brain imaging, hair cell regeneration, neuroinflammation, pain and memory. While on the faculty at UT Dallas and the Callier Center, he was awarded Outstanding Paper of the Year by the American Auditory Society for his publication in Ear and Hearing, "Neural Correlates of Sensorineural Hearing Loss." He has served on numerous national and international grant review panels and editorial boards, further shaping the field of auditory neuroscience.

Beyond basic science, Salvi has worked to translate research into clinical practice. He helped establish a tinnitus treatment program and support group at the University at Buffalo, where he served as director of the Center for Hearing and Deafness for 35 years and is currently the SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Communicative Disorders and Sciences.

"Being a college professor with the freedom to pursue clinically relevant research in communication disorders was for me the best job in the world," Salvi said. "To be awarded the prestigious Campbell Callier Prize for that work is a tremendous honor - one that left me speechless."

Salvi earned his PhD in experimental psychology from Syracuse University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in auditory neuroscience at State University of New York's (SUNY) Upstate Medical University.

Dr. Kelly Jahn, assistant professor and program head of the speech, language, and hearing sciences PhD program in BBS, is currently collaborating on research with Salvi. Their work, supported by a grant from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, is aimed at assessing the efficacy of a device to reduce sound hypersensitivity and treat hyperacusis in individuals with autism.

"Dr. Salvi's work has profound implications for patients with neurological conditions in which sound hypersensitivity is common, such as autism, fibromyalgia and migraine," Jahn said. "By showing that the brain's internal volume control for sound may be pathologically increased, his research laid the foundation for decades of basic science and clinical studies aimed at understanding sensory hypersensitivity and improving patient care."

Salvi and other leading experts will discuss advances in tinnitus, hyperacusis and related disorders at the 2026 Campbell Callier Prize Conference on April 28. To attend, register online, or contact Tiffani Kreybig at [email protected] or 972-883-3003.

Media Contact: Donna Wylie, UT Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders, 972-883-3086, [email protected], or the Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, [email protected].