Our Scientists

Mark Stephenson, Ph.D. – Owner & Principal Consultant

Dr. Mark Stephenson has a broad range of expertise gained from 20 years of service in the USAF followed by 22 years at CDC/NIOSH. His experience includes program management, clinical audiology, university teaching, and research on issues related to bioacoustics, hearing conservation, hearing protector performance, noise exposure, and hearing damage risk criteria.

At the time of his retirement from the USAF, he was serving as an Associate Chief of the USAF Biomedical Sciences Corps. In this capacity, he had worldwide staff management responsibility for all USAF audiologists, speech pathologists, toxicologists, and biomedical specialists. When he retired from CDC/NIOSH, he was serving as the Coordinator for all NIOSH hearing loss prevention research.

Dr. Stephenson has authored/co-authored 5 book chapters and 62 peer-reviewed publications. He has received numerous professional honors, including recognition as the USAF Outstanding Audiologist (1990), and the National Hearing Conservation Association’s Outstanding Hearing Conservationist award (2010).

In 2013, he was the co-recipient of the Bullard-Sherwood Award, which is presented annually by CDC/NIOSH to recognize the most outstanding applied research in occupational Safety and health.

In 2014 he received the Distinguished Career Scientist Award which is presented annually by the Director of NIOSH to recognize extraordinary lifetime achievement in occupational safety and health research.

In 2021 he was the co-recipient of the Alice Hamilton Award which is presented annually by CDC/NIOSH to recognize the most influential scientific publication in the occupational safety & health fields of epidemiology and medical surveillance.

Carol Merry Stephenson, Ph.D. – CEO

Before co-founding SASRAC, Dr. Carol Stephenson had 30 years experience conducting and managing research at CDC/NIOSH. Her work included studies of intervention effectiveness for a variety of OSH hazards, survey development, improvement of hearing conservation programs, effective use of health communication, and novel approaches to OSH education and training.

Each year CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health presents the Bullard-Sherwood Award to recognize the most outstanding applied research in occupational safety and health. Dr. Stephenson was honored to receive this award twice…

In 2010, she received the award for research to develop educational outreach programs for the agricultural community.

In 2015, she received this award for health communication research which led to the nationwide adoption of occupational health and safety curricula for New and/or young workers.

Gregory A Flamme, Ph.D. – COO

Dr. Flamme’s graduate training focused on audiology, hearing science, epidemiology, and biostatistics. Coupled with extensive experience conducting and managing field- and lab-based research, Dr. Flamme has a strong foundation for planning and prioritizing SASRAC research as well as overseeing day-to-day research operations.

He is the lead scientist in SASRAC impulse noise exposure research.

In recognition of his lifetime contributions to the fields of noise exposure and hearing loss prevention, Dr. Flamme received the 2023 NHCA Outstanding Hearing Conservationist Award.

Kristy Deiters, Au.D. – Senior Scientist

Dr. Kristy Deiters is a research audiologist and consultant with a doctorate in Audiology (Au.D) from Western Michigan University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing and Economics from Alma College.

Dr. Deiters’ research interests include changes in hearing over time, reliability of hearing thresholds, the action of middle ear muscle contractions associated with exposure to loud sounds, and the epidemiology of and risk factors for hearing loss.

In 2021, Dr. Deiters and her co-workers received the NIOSH Alice Hamilton Award for Excellence in Occupational Safety and Health (Epidemiology and Surveillance category) for their leadership through science and publishing their work on population-based age adjustment tables for occupational hearing conservation programs.

She is a fellow of the American Academy of Audiology and a member of the National Hearing Conservation Association and American Auditory Society.

Deanna Meinke, Ph.D. – Senior Scientist

Dr. Meinke is widely recognized for her research in Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions as well as her multiple scientific contributions to the field of auditory hearing loss prevention. 

In 2022 the American Academy of Audiology presented Dr. Meinke with the Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology, noting that, “Her research has been innovative and influential, and she is known for her seminal contributions to the field of hearing loss prevention. 

From 2004-2023 she taught Audiology and Hearing Science at Northern Colorado University where she was the Winchester Distinguished Professor.

She has held leadership roles in numerous professional societies, including serving as President of the National Hearing Conservation Association.

William J. Murphy, Ph.D. – Senior Scientist

Dr. William Murphy retired as a Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in 2022. His research is focused on measurement and evaluation of impulse noise, hearing protector performance, fit testing of hearing protectors to assess real world performance, and development of audiometric test methods to evaluate hearing in occupational settings.

He is an active member of the National Hearing Conservation Association and a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America. He is currently the chair for the ASA’s American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committee S3 for Bioacoustics and vice-chair for the ASA Committee on Standards.

Dr. Murphy has received numerous awards for his scientific achievements. In 2022, the U.S. Public Health Service deemed Dr. Murphy’s research to have had a major impact on national health. As such, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, which is the highest decoration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Stephen Tasko, Ph.D. – Senior Scientist

Dr. Tasko’s educational background is in the areas of basic hearing and speech sciences, speech language pathology, speech motor control, and communication neurosciences, which supported a wide range of laboratory and field research experiences.

He joined the faculty at Western Michigan University in 2002 where he taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses in Speech Pathology, Speech Science, and Hearing Science until he retired in 2020, at which time he was honored to be appointed as an Associate Professor Emeritus.

Dr. Tasko’s early research focused on the coordination and control of speech motor processes in typical speakers as well as those who stutter.

Recent research efforts have included assessment of auditory hazard associated with firearm noise exposure, measurement of firearm noise mitigation using hearing protection and firearm suppressors, and assessing the role of middle ear muscle contraction effects in damage-risk criteria for impulses.

Alice Suter, Ph.D. – Senior Scientific Advisor

Dr. Suter is widely recognized as one of our nation’s leading authorities on environmental and occupational noise exposure, particularly with respect to the development and promulgation of guidelines and standards for preventing noise-induced hearing loss.

For her efforts she has received numerous awards including the Alice Hamilton Award presented by the American Industrial Hygiene Association to recognize women who have made a definitive and lasting achievement in the field of occupational and environmental health.

Dr. Suter has also received the CDC/NIOSH James P. Keogh Award for Outstanding Service, and the Acoustical Society of America Distinguished Service Citation.

She is one of only four recipients (to date) who have been honored to receive the NHCA Lifetime Achievement Award.