Current Appointments
Senior Research Career Scientist, NCRAR
Deputy Director for Research, NCRAR
Professor, Department of Otolaryngology Head&Neck Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University

Research Interests
focus on auditory perception of complex sounds and speech by normal-hearing and hearing-impaired individuals; speech recognition in noise; modeling of the auditory system; auditory attentional mechanisms; comparative auditory processes across species

Dr. Leek received her Ph.D. in 1980 in hearing science from the University of Kansas. Following graduation, she completed a Clinical Fellowship Year in Audiology, and subsequently, a postdoctoral research fellowship at Boys Town National Research Hospital (1980-1982). Before joining the NCRAR, she held academic appointments at Arizona State University (1982-1986) and the University of Minnesota (1986-1988), and served as Senior Researcher at the Army Audiology & Speech Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center (1989-2005). She has received continuous extramural funding of her laboratory through the National Institutes of Health (NIH RO1, "Hearing Loss and the Perception of Complex Sounds," 1989-2014), and holds two VA Merit Review grants.

Current Research

• Improving Vowel Perception by Hearing-Impaired Listeners, Michelle Molis, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 2/1/08 – 1/31/12
• A Portable Audiometric Monitoring Device (the OtoID), Stephen Fausti, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 7/1/08 – 6/30/11
• Centralized Tinnitus Management for TBI Patients, James Henry, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 7/1/08 – 12/31/09
• Supplementing Hearing Aids with Computerized Auditory Training, Gabrielle Saunders, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 7/1/08 – 8/31/11
• Development of a Biological Interface for the Cochlear Implant, Allen Ryan, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 10/1/08 – 9/30/11
• The Ability to Make Multiple Auditory Judgments about Non-Speech Stimuli, Erick Gallun, Ph.D., NIH-NIDCD, R03, 2/1/07-1/31/10
• Prevention of Cisplatin Ototoxicity with the Antioxidant a-Lipoic Acid, Debra Wilmington, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 1/1/07-12/31/09
• Development of an Automated Test to Assess the Presence of Tinnitus, James Henry, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 1/1/07-12/31/09
• Effect of Training on Central Auditory Function in Multiple Sclerosis, Dennis Bourdette, M.D., Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 1/1/07-12/31/09  
• Clinical Applications for Time-Compressed Speech Tests, Marjorie Leek, Ph.D.
  Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 10/1/06-6/30/10
• Progressive Intervention Program for Tinnitus Management, James Henry, Ph.D.
  Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 10/1/06-9/30/09
• Frequency Tuning and Word Recognition Speed in Older Adults, Dawn Konrad-Martin, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 7/1/06-6/30/11
• Temporal Resolution of Cochlear and Auditory Nerve Responses in Older Adults, Dawn Konrad-Martin, Ph.D., NIH-NIDCD, RO3, 5/1/06-4/30/09
• Individualized Objective Measures for the Early Detection of Ototoxicity, Stephen Fausti, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, 4/1/06-3/31/09
  

Publications

Lauer AM, Dooling RJ, Leek MR: Psychophysical evidence of damaged active processing mechanisms in Belgian waterslager canaries. Journal of Comparative Physiology 195:193-202, 2009.
Lauer AM, Molis MR, Leek MR: Discrimination of time-reversed harmonic complexes by normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners, J. Assoc. Res. Otol. (in press).
Leek MR, Molis MR: Beyond audibility: Hearing loss and the perception of speech. ASHA Leader (in press).