Science Student Spotlight: Daria Collins

Daria Collins, a fourth-year clinical doctoral student and soon-to-be graduate of the Graduate Center’s Audiology doctoral program (Au.D.), has been invited to attend the prestigious Eriksholm Summer Camp in August in Copenhagen, Denmark. She will join other distinguished young audiologists representing over 20 countries. For over 25 years, the Eriksholm Research Centre has hosted this program for rising audiologists to facilitate narratives on groundbreaking research, hearing instrument technology, and hearing care.

Collins began her audiology journey after earning a B.S. in cognitive science from the University of Delaware in 2018, with a concentration in speech-language pathology and a minor in Japanese Language Studies. She discovered her passion for audiology while in an undergraduate introductory audiology course. The ability to combine her interests in language, communication, technology, and advocacy drew her to the field, and she decided to pursue an Au.D. to serve individuals with hearing disorders.

Learn more about the Doctoral Program in Audiology

Since joining the Graduate Center's Audiology doctoral program in 2019, she has made significant strides in her studies and in the field. 

She completed her second-year clinical rotations at the CUNY Graduate Center, Brooklyn College Speech and Hearing Center, and Hunter College Center for Communication Disorders. She then completed her third-year clinical rotations at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital, focusing on evidenced-based hearing aid, cochlear implant, and vestibular evaluations and fittings, as well as the bilingual evaluation and treatment of pediatric and adult patients in English and Spanish. She completed her fourth-year externship at ENT and Allergy Associates, where she further refined her skills in evaluating and treating adult and pediatric hearing and balance disorders. During her busy clinical journey, she conducted newborn infant hearing screenings at New York Presbyterian Hospital as well as adult hearing screenings at ENT and Allergy Associates.

Outside of the clinic, she pursued opportunities to teach, which she also enjoys. This past spring semester, she served as an adjunct professor in the Department of Linguistics and Communication Disorders at Queens College, teaching LCD 330: Audiology I. In the fall of 2021, she served as a diagnostic audiology teaching assistant at the Graduate Center. 

She also served as the secretary on the executive board of the CUNY branch of the Student Academy of Audiology, from 2021 to 2022, and the year before, she was a student representative on the Audiology program’s Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Committee. She received a fellowship to serve as a research assistant in the Audiology and Auditory Evoked Potentials Laboratory from 2019 to 2020.

Collins' dedication to clinical excellence earned her the American Academy of Audiology Foundation’s Empowering Students Scholarship in 2022, which is awarded to students who show exceptional promise as clinical audiologists. She also won the AudiologyOnline Emerging Leaders Scholarship in 2021. She later received the AuDacity Student Scholarship and was invited to attend AuDacity 2021: Audiology Unleashed in Portland, Oregon, where she was recognized for her achievements.

After graduation, she is excited to remain with ENT and Allergy Associates as an audiologist within the Central New Jersey region, focusing on diagnosing and managing hearing disorders across life span. She looks forward to a lifelong career of serving those within her community by improving their quality of life through hearing heath care.