Alejandro Lopez Valdes

Biographical Information

Background in Biomedical Engineering with a Master of Science in Bioengineering.Previous work experience in biomedical industry in the fields of technical service for ophthalmology and new product development of cardiovascular devices. Former research assistant of Dr. Jorge Cortes in the chapter of biomedical devices at ITESM in Monterrey, N.L, Mexico. Collaborated in the design group of Prof. Bart Verkerke at the University of Groningen in Groningen, The Netherlands. He also holds a postgraduate certificate in Statistics.

Research Interests

“Early predictors of Speech Perception Performance in Cochlear Implant Users”. Research focused on exploring electrophysiological correlates of cochlear implant user performance via single channel electroencephalography.

• Cochlear Implant Research Unit
• Investigating the applicability of single-channel electroencephalography in cochlear implant users

To find out about Alejandro’s research, watch the following short video.

Publications in International Reviewed Journals

[1] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe, F.G. Zeng and R.B. Reilly, Objective assessment of spectral ripple discrimination in cochlear implant listeners using cortical evoked responses to an oddball paradigm. PLoS One, 9(3):e90044. March 2014

[2] M. Mc Laughlin, A. Lopez Valdes, R.B. Reilly, and F.G. Zeng, Cochlear Implant Artifact Attenuation in Late Auditory Evoked Potentials: A Single Channel Approach. Hearing Research, 302:84-95. August 2013

Proceedings Papers for International Conferences

[1] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe, F.G. Zeng and R.B. Reilly. Auditory Mismatch Negativity in Cochlear Implant Users: A Window to Spectral Discrimination, In Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Proceedings of the 35th International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2013:3555-8. 2013

[2] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe, F.G. Zeng and R.B. Reilly. Electrophysiological Correlates of Spectral Discrimination for Cochlear Implant Users, 7th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering. 2015:671-4. 2015

[3] A.M. Leijsen, A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe and R.B. Reilly. An Approach to Develop an Objective Measure of Temporal Processing in Cochlear Implant Users Based on Schroeder-phase Harmonic Complexes. 7th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering. 2015:699-702. 2015

Podium Presentations at International Conferences

[1] M. Mc Laughlin, A. Lopez Valdes , R.B. Reilly, F.G. Zeng. Cochlear Implant Artifact Cancellation Using a High Bandwidth High Sample Rate Approach. 7th International Symposium on Objective Measures in Auditory Implants, Amsterdam. September 2012

[2] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe, F.G. Zeng and R.B. Reilly. Use of acoustic change complex to estimate spectral discrimination thresholds on cochlear implant users with a single channel EEG approach. 13th International Conference on Cochlear Implants and Other Implantable Auditory Technologies, Munich. June 2014

[3] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Flood, J. Smith, C. Simoes-Franklin, P. Walshe, L. Viani and R. Reilly. Longitudinal Evaluation of the Clinical Applicability of Non-linguistic Assessment for Cochlear Implant Performance. 22nd Bioengineering in Ireland Conference, Galway, January 2016.

[4] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Flood, J. Smith, C. Simoes-Franklin, P. Walshe, L. Viani and R. Reilly. Longitudinal Assessment of Spectral Ripple Discrimination and Speech Perception Evolution in Cochlear Implant Users: An Electrophysiological and Psychoacoustic Exploration. 14th International Conference on Cochlear Implants and Other Implantable Technologies, Toronto, May 2016.

Poster Presentations at International Conferences

[1] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, F.G. Zeng, and R.B. Reilly, Using Cortical Evoked Potentials to Estimate Speech Perception in Cochlear Implant Users, in 7th International Symposium on Objective Measures in Auditory Implants, Amsterdam. September 2012

[2] M. Mc Laughlin, A. Lopez Valdes, L. Viani, P. Walshe, J. Smith, R.B. Reilly and F.G. Zeng, A Spectrally Rippled Noise Mismatch Negativity Paradigm for Objectively Assessing Speech Perception in Cochlear Implant Users, MidWinter Meeting – Association for Research in Otolaryngology. Baltimore. February 2013

[3] M. Mc Laughlin, A. Lopez Valdes, R.B. Reilly, F.G. Zeng. Expanding Cochlear Implant Neural Response Measurement Capabilities to Cortical Potentials. Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses. Lake Tahoe. July 2013

[4] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe, F.G. Zeng and R.B. Reilly. Auditory Mismatch Negativity in Cochlear Implant Users: A Window to Spectral Discrimination, 35th International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology, Osaka. July 2013

[5] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe, F.G. Zeng and R.B. Reilly. Use of acoustic change complex to estimate spectral discrimination thresholds on cochlear implant users with a single channel EEG approach. 13th International Conference on Cochlear Implants and Other Implantable Auditory Technologies, Munich. June 2014

[6] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe and R.B. Reilly. A longitudinal assessment of spectral ripple discrimination and speech perception in new cochlear implant users. 8th International Symposium on Objective Measures in Auditory Implants, Toronto. October 2014

[7] A.M. Leijsen, A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe and R.B. Reilly. Using Schroeder-phase Harmonic Complexes to Develop an Objective Measure of Temporal Processing in Cochlear Implant Listeners. 8th International Symposium on Objective Measures in Auditory Implants, Toronto. October 2014

[8] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe, F.G. Zeng and R.B. Reilly. Electrophysiological Correlates of Spectral Discrimination for Cochlear Implant Users, 7th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, Montpellier. April 2015

[9] A.M. Leijsen, A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Viani, J. Smith, P. Walshe and R. B. Reilly. An Approach to Develop an Objective Measure of Temporal Processing in Cochlear Implant Users Based on Schroeder-phase Harmonic Complexes. 7th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, Montpellier. April 2015

[10] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Flood, J. Smith, C. Simoes-Franklin, P. Walshe, L. Viani and R. Reilly. Longitudinal Assessment of Spectral Ripple Discrimination and Speech Perception Evolution in Cochlear Implant Users. 8th Speech in Noise Workshop, Groningen, January 2016.

[11] S. Waechter, A. Lopez Valdes, C. Simoes-Franklin, L. Viani and R. Reilly.Do speech-in-noise scores in normal-hearing humans correlate with amplitude modulation depth detection abilities? 8th Speech in Noise Workshop, Groningen, January 2016.

[12] A. Lopez Valdes, M. Mc Laughlin, L. Flood, J. Smith, C. Simoes-Franklin, P. Walshe, L. Viani and R. Reilly. Longitudinal Assessment of Spectral Ripple Discrimination and Speech Perception Evolution in Cochlear Implant Users. MidWinter Meeting – Association for Research in Otolaryngology, San Diego, February 2016.

[13] S. Waechter, A. Lopez Valdes, C. Simoes-Franklin, L. Viani and R. Reilly. Evaluation of the mismatch waveform elicited by amplitude modulated auditory stimuli as an objective measure for temporal discrimination abilities to aid future cochlear implant fitting. MidWinter Meeting – Association for Research in Otolaryngology, San Diego, February 2016.

Awards

[1] Engineers Ireland Biomedical Research Medal Finalist at the 22nd Bioengineering in Ireland Conference, 2016

[2] Collin Cherry Award for best research poster at the 8th Speech in Noise Workshop, 2016

[3] Research Travel Grant Award at the 36th ARO Midwinter Meeting, 2016

[4] 3rd Prize ‘Thesis-in-3’ presentation at the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering Winter Symposium, 2015

[5] Studentship Research Award at the 8th International Symposium on Objective Measures in Auditory Implants, 2014

Funding & Grants

[1] Graduate Research in Education Programme Scholarship under the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions and co-funded under the European Regional Development fund.

[2] Erasmus Mundus Scholarship by the European Commission under The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency