Dr Demi Gao, Senior Research Scientist
Dr Demi Gao is a Senior Research Scientist at the Bionics Institute and MRFF REDI Research Fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne.
Demi’s research program spans the fields of neural engineering, biomedical engineering, information theory and machine learning to understanding human hearing system, including developing analysis techniques for hearing loss diagnosis, modelling hearing performance with cochlear implants and optimising the performance of next-generation cochlear implants.
Demi completed her PhD in Information Technology at University of South Australia, where she developed a mathematical model that simulates hearing performance with cochlear implants and quantifies inter-subject hearing variability using information theory.
In 2019, Demi was awarded a prestigious McKenzie Research Fellowship from the University of Melbourne to develop strategies to personalise cochlear implant configurations.
In 2022, Demi was awarded a Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry (REDI) Fellowship, where she joined Cochlear Ltd. to grow her skills in research translation, clinical development, and commercialisation.
At Bionics Institute, Demi joined the Translation Hearing Research team led by Professor Colette McKay.
She is part of the EarGenie ® team to develop diagnostic tools for accurate and comprehensive assessment of a baby’s hearing based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measurement.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/demi-gao-a2333067/
ORCID: 0000-0002-7059-5594
Google Scholar: Dr Demi Xiao Gao
Selected publications
- E. R. Zoneff, D. X. Gao, D. R. Nisbet, D. B. Grayden, and G. M. Clark. “Restoration of the senses and human communication: Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 9.” International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (2022): 1-6.
- P. A. Robinson, X. Gao, Y. Han “Relationships between lognormal distributions of neural properties, activity, criticality, and connectivity”, Biological Cybernetics 115, 121-130, 2021.
- X. Gao, D. B. Grayden and M. D. McDonnell “Unifying information theory and machine learning in a model of electrode discrimination in cochlear implants”, PloS ONE 16, e0257568, 2021.
- X. Gao and P. A. Robinson “Importance of self-connections for brain connectivity and spectral connectomics”, Biological Cybernetics, Vol. 114, 643–651, 2020.
- X. Gao, D. B. Grayden and M. D. McDonnell “Modeling electrode place discrimination in cochlear implant stimulation,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 64, 2219-2229, 2016.
