EVENT PREVIEW
Dr. Keith Darrow Brings Leading Tinnitus Scientists and Clinicians to Boston for the 2026 Tinnitus Summit
The October 23 and 24 program at Suffolk University connects auditory neuroscience, patient priorities and practical clinical treatment in one focused professional event.
Dates
October 23 and 24, 2026. Tinnitus Marketing Day is October 22.
Location
Sargent Hall, Suffolk University, 120 Tremont Street, Boston.
CE Credits
Up to eight continuing education credits for hearing care professionals.
Tinnitus care is moving beyond the outdated message that patients must simply learn to live with the sound. This October, Dr. Keith Darrow is bringing an unusually broad group of auditory scientists, clinical audiologists, physicians, patient advocates and treatment innovators to Boston for the 2026 Tinnitus Summit.
The two day event will be held October 23 and 24 at Suffolk University’s Sargent Hall, 120 Tremont Street, Boston. Designed for audiologists and hearing care specialists, the program offers up to eight continuing education credits and centers on a seven step, neuroscience based tinnitus treatment framework. A separate Tinnitus Marketing Day is scheduled for October 22.
THE AGENDA
Science, process and the patient experience
The agenda is built around a practical idea: excellent tinnitus care requires more than one tool. Clinicians need to understand the auditory system and the brain, identify red flags, measure impact, explain findings clearly, select appropriate primary and secondary treatments, monitor progress and support the patient after treatment begins.
Day One focuses on building an evidence informed protocol. Sessions address mechanisms and consequences of tinnitus, meaningful measurement, primary and secondary treatment, treatment monitoring and decisions about when a patient needs more. Day Two brings the science to life through presentations on cognition, hidden hearing loss, bisensory stimulation, patient experience, bone conduction, research priorities and advanced treatment options.
What distinguishes this summit is the range of voices Dr. Darrow has assembled. The program does not rely on a single theory or commercial modality. It connects established laboratory research with clinical systems, lived experience and emerging treatment pathways.
WHO IS PRESENTING
The voices behind the program
Susan Shore, PhD: pioneering bisensory tinnitus science
One of the summit’s most prominent scientific presenters is Dr. Susan E. Shore, Professor Emerita of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Molecular and Integrative Physiology, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. Her career has focused on neural plasticity, multisensory integration and the brain circuits associated with tinnitus.
Dr. Shore’s featured session, “Mechanisms Underlying Bisensory Stimulation to Treat Tinnitus,” examines precisely timed auditory and somatosensory input as a way of targeting tinnitus related neural activity. Her research team’s controlled clinical work, published in JAMA Network Open, has helped move this approach from mechanistic neuroscience toward a potential treatment pathway. For clinicians, the value is not simply hearing about a new device. It is understanding the neural rationale, the evidence, appropriate patient selection and the limits of what the data currently support.
Stéphane Maison, PhD, CCC-A: hidden hearing loss and cochlear synaptopathy
Dr. Stéphane Maison brings deep expertise in peripheral auditory neuroscience. He is a principal investigator at the Eaton Peabody Laboratories at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Mass Eye and Ear describes him as an auditory physiologist with more than 45 peer reviewed publications.
His summit presentation, “From Silence to Signal: Hidden Hearing Loss and Its Impact on Tinnitus Therapy,” explores cochlear synaptopathy and auditory nerve damage that may not appear on a conventional audiogram. Dr. Maison’s research asks whether hidden hearing loss can be identified in patients with apparently normal thresholds, whether tinnitus may result from cochlear synaptopathy, and how speech understanding in difficult environments might be restored. This is highly relevant to clinicians who meet patients whose real world listening complaints seem inconsistent with their test results.
Douglas L. Beck, AuD: tinnitus and cognitive processing
Dr. Douglas L. Beck is a widely published audiologist, educator and author whose work has long encouraged clinicians to consider listening, cognition and central auditory processing alongside the audiogram. At the summit, his session on tinnitus and cognitive processing will review the relationships among hearing loss, tinnitus, listening effort, cognitive load and dementia risk.
The clinical importance lies in careful communication. Research can identify associations and plausible mechanisms, but clinicians must avoid turning risk into certainty. Dr. Beck’s perspective can help attendees explain why hearing and tinnitus assessment belongs within a broader brain health conversation while keeping recommendations individualized, evidence aware and responsible.
Hazel Goedhart: making patient priorities part of research
Scientific progress is strongest when researchers understand what patients most need science to solve. Hazel Goedhart, a founder and board member of Tinnitus Quest, will present “Listening to Patients: Priorities for the Next Generation of Tinnitus Research.” Tinnitus Quest is a patient driven nonprofit that funds research, connects patients and scientists, and advocates for better treatment.
Goedhart’s contribution adds an essential counterweight to a purely clinician led program. Large scale surveys, patient advocacy and lived experience can reveal outcomes that traditional research may underweight: sleep, distress, unpredictability, social withdrawal, treatment burden and the need for credible hope. Her presence reinforces that the future of tinnitus science should be shaped with patients, not merely delivered to them.
From clinical empathy to advanced treatment options
Dr. Nashlea Brogan’s session, “Tinnitus: Listening for a Mile in Your Patient’s Head,” brings together her perspective as a doctor of audiology, practice owner, treatment provider and patient advocate. Her emphasis is the emotional and personal weight of tinnitus, the part of the condition that may be missed when a consultation focuses only on loudness, pitch or technology. Trust, empathy and realistic expectations are not soft additions to treatment. They are part of effective care.
Frank McGrath, FISHAA, founder of Tinnitus Clinic Ireland, will introduce the QNAS protocol and discuss bone conduction based auditory stimulation. The program also includes a multidisciplinary panel on secondary tinnitus tools featuring Dr. Layne Garrett, Dr. Edmund Farrar, Dr. Ryan Hill and Trista Ramsey. Their discussion spans cognitive behavioral therapy, digital therapeutics, bimodal stimulation, sound therapy and strategies for patients who need additional support beyond primary treatment.
Together, these sessions make an important distinction. Evidence informed tinnitus care is not the same as offering every intervention to every patient. The clinician’s task is to assess carefully, establish candidacy, explain the strength of evidence, identify realistic goals and coordinate care when medical or mental health referral is indicated.
THE CLINICAL PROCESS
Dr. Darrow’s seven step framework
As host and program architect, Dr. Keith Darrow connects these expert contributions through a structured clinical process. A Harvard Medical School and MIT trained neuroscientist, clinical audiologist, professor and author, Dr. Darrow has spent his career translating auditory science into patient education and repeatable treatment systems.
01
Education
Set the foundation so patients understand what tinnitus is and what treatment can realistically do.
02
Qualification
Take the right history and identify the red flags that call for a medical referral.
03
Quantification
Use validated measures to document the real burden the patient is carrying.
04
Confirmation
Explain the findings clearly and align on shared expectations before treatment starts.
05
Primary Treatment
Match the primary treatment to the patient rather than to a product.
06
Secondary Treatment
Layer in additional support when the primary approach is not enough on its own.
07
Post Treatment Tracking
Follow up and document whether the burden is actually changing over time.
That sequence reflects a central truth: tinnitus treatment is not a single appointment or product. It is a clinical journey requiring the right history, validated measures, shared expectations, treatment matched to the patient and follow up that documents whether the burden is actually changing.
This process orientation is especially valuable for practices that want to build a true tinnitus center of excellence. It gives teams a common language, reduces inconsistent care and helps patients understand what happens next.
WHAT TO EXPECT
A practical two day agenda
Friday begins with check in and continuing education registration before three hours devoted to tinnitus mechanisms, consequences and measurement. After lunch, the program turns to primary and secondary treatments, monitoring success and knowing when to expand care. Saturday’s presenter led sessions run from cognitive processing and hidden hearing loss through bisensory stimulation, patient experience, bone conduction, research priorities and the secondary treatment panel.
The continuing education structure adds practical accountability. The agenda states that Excellence in Audiology is approved to offer the course through the International Hearing Society for up to eight credits and through the American Academy of Audiology for a maximum of 0.8 CEUs. Those approvals concern the educational activity and do not constitute endorsement of particular products, procedures or presenter views, an important distinction for a program that evaluates multiple treatment approaches.
The final afternoon includes a session from Dr. Darrow and Jared Brader, MBA, on communicating and marketing tinnitus care responsibly, followed by closing remarks and CE instructions. For practices that elect to attend the October 22 marketing program, the focus expands to education, lead generation, the patient journey and post fitting systems.
THE TAKEAWAY
Why this gathering matters
Tinnitus is heterogeneous. Two patients can describe a similar sound yet have very different auditory histories, emotional responses, sleep disruption, medical considerations and treatment needs. That complexity is exactly why a summit spanning neuroscience, clinical audiology, patient advocacy and multiple treatment disciplines matters.
Dr. Darrow has brought together presenters who can help attendees understand both what is known and what remains uncertain. Dr. Shore brings decades of neural circuit research. Dr. Maison brings expertise in cochlear synaptopathy and hidden hearing loss. Dr. Beck connects tinnitus with cognition and listening effort. Goedhart makes the patient voice part of the research agenda. Brogan and the clinical panel translate evidence and empathy into day to day care.
Join us in Boston this October
The 2026 Tinnitus Summit takes place October 23 and 24 at Suffolk University in Boston. Registration and program information are available at NeuroscienceOfTinnitus.com. For hearing care professionals ready to replace fragmented advice with a clearer, evidence informed process, and to learn directly from some of tinnitus science’s most recognized voices, Boston offers a rare opportunity to bring the field’s laboratory, clinic and patient perspectives into the same room.
REFERENCES