About
Dr. Kuk has been with Widex USA since December 1996. He earned both his Masters and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Iowa. Prior to joining Widex, Dr. Kuk held research and faculty positions at the University of Iowa and the University of Illinois-Chicago, respectively. Dr. Kuk has published extensively as well as been a speaker at numerous state, national and international conferences. He is also the editorial consultant for various professional journals. He was on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) and president-elect of the American Auditory Society (AAS).Â
Research Interests
Francis’s research interests cover two main areas. First is the profiling of individual hearing abilities so we may recommend the optimal hearing aid features and/or fitting parameters. One example of such effort is the development of a noise acceptance measure – the Tracking of Noise Tolerance (TNT) test. Second is the evaluation of outcome measures and the development (and integration) of outcome measures that may more appropriately document the realistic benefits of hearing aid features. An example of such effort is the development of the Repeat and Recall Test (RRT) that integrates cognitive measures of working memory and effort rating into measurements of speech in noise ability. The ultimate goal is to have a more comprehensive understanding of the hearing-impaired patients for planning the most optimal and efficient intervention strategies. Â