Bio
Gerald R. Popelka obtained a PhD degree with an emphasis in neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin and completed a two year post doctoral research fellowship in Otolaryngology at UCLA. Prior to this he earned a masters degree in Audiology from Kent State University. He was a full professor at Washington University in St. Louis when in 2004 he came to Stanford as a faculty member in Otolaryngology and as Chief of Audiology. As PI for his research lab in Otolaryngology he initiated and completed successful collaborative research projects among diverse academic divisions including Otolaryngology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Radiology, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. Popelka’s research covers both animal and human studies and has been funded continuously with grants from NIH and a wide variety of other agencies and philanthropic gifts.
Popelka is a co-inventor of the world’s first all digital hearing aid. The resulting patent forms the basis for virtually all hearing aids currently produced worldwide. He conceived and lead the development of JARO, the peer-reviewed Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology that launched in 2000 and now is recognized as the premier, high impact international auditory scientific research journal.
With over 130 publications, including peer-reviewed research articles, review articles, two college textbooks and a recently published book on hearing aid research, along with many research presentations and various achievement awards, he has an international reputation for creating and using leading-edge technology that addresses both basic science and clinical applications. He remains in the forefront of creating and developing innovative biomedical approaches focussed on several basic neuroscience issues. Currently his efforts are centered on creating and developing effective invasive and non-invasive radiologic imaging and neuromodulation intervention using acoustic, electrical and ultrasound stimuli for several chronic neurologic conditions including auditory disorders.
Popelka teaches in the Departments of Anatomy and Electrical Engineering. He also has other responsibilities within the medical school including the multidisciplinary Stanford Balance Center that he co-founded. His campus-wide responsibilities include pre-major undergraduate advising, membership on PhD Dissertation Committees and as a faculty member of the Advisory Council for the Stanford Center on Longevity.
Current Role at Stanford
Senior Scientist, Stanford Radiological Sciences Lab
Faculty Member Stanford Center on Longevity, Advisory Council
Faculty Affiliate, Stanford Bio-X
Faculty Affiliate, Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences
Faculty Affiliate, Stanford Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
Faculty Member, Stanford Balance Center
Faculty Member, Stanford eWear Initiative
Faculty Member, PhD Dissertation Committees (three total, two current)
Faculty Member, Stanford Newcomer Guide (undergraduate advisor, currently advising eight students)
Honors & Awards
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Certificate of Appreciation for Founding JARO, Association for Research in Otolaryngology (2007)
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Fellow, American Academy of Audiology (2004)
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Special Citation, Association for Research in Otolaryngology (2000)
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Silver Certificate, Acoustical Society of America (1997)
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Knud Terkildsen Research Fellowship, University of Copenhagen (1992)
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Fellow, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (1987)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Fellow, American Academy of Audiology (2004 - Present)
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Member, American Auditory Society (1999 - Present)
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Member, Association for Research in Otolaryngology (1978 - Present)
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Member, Acoustical Society of America (1968 - Present)
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Member, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (1968 - Present)
Professional Education
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PostDoc, UCLA, Otolaryngology (1978)
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PhD, University of Wisconsin, Communication Sciences (Neuroscience emphasis) (1974)
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MA, Kent State University, Audiology (1970)
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BA, Kent State University, Experimental Psychology (1968)
Service, Volunteer and Community Work
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Board Member, Baker Institute for Hearing Impaired Children (9/1/2009 - Present)
Location
Palo Alto, CA
Patents
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A Maynard Engebretson, Robert Morley, Gerald Popelka. "United States Patent 4,548,082 Hearing aids, signal supplying apparatus, systems for compensating hearing deficiencies, and methods", Washington University, Oct 22, 1985
Personal Interests
I have an interest in optimizing scientific oral and poster presentations and writing, especially peer-reviewed research articles. I believe the proliferation of newer open access research journals is detrimental to the scientific method largely because the long term viability of the entities that start these is unknown and the peer-review process has little oversight. One model I proposed is that scientific societies become the holder of the copyright and the monitor of the quality of the peer-review process. Under this model I conceived of and developed JARO, the peer-reviewed journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology that launched in 2000 and has since become the highest impact scientific journal in auditory neuroscience. Because of this history, I am interested in helping other societies consider this model.