Hearing and Balance Center

About the Healthcare Professionals

David Eisenman, M.D.
Director, Otology and Neurotology Program

Dr. Eisenman became director of the Otology and Neurotology Program in July, 2005. Prior to coming to UMMC, he spent two years as the Chief of Otology & Neurotology at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, and three years in private practice in Washington, DC. At Walter Reed he was instrumental in creation of a cochlear implant program, and a multidisciplinary, integrated balance disorder center. He has delivered numerous invited lectures on topics in the field of hearing, balance and facial nerve disorders to students, residents and health care practitioners.

Dr. Eisenman received his MD from the Yale University School of Medicine in 1992. While at Yale, he was awarded the Logan-Clendening Traveling Fellowship for research in the History of Medicine. He also spent an additional year at Yale working in the Laboratory of Developmental Respiratory Neurophysiology. Dr. Eisenman then completed 2 years of General Surgery training at the New York Hospital Cornell University Medical Center, and four years in Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. From there he went to the University of Michigan for fellowship training in Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery, where he also performed and published his research in recovery from inner ear and vestibular injuries, and in cochlear implantation.

Dr. Eisenman specializes in diseases of the ear and lateral skull base. These include evaluation and treatment — both medical and surgical — of hearing loss, balance and vestibular disorders, facial nerve paralysis, chronic ear infections, and skull base tumors. Some specific disorders included in these are acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma), otosclerosis, eardrum perforation, cholesteatoma, ear and temporal bone trauma, Bell's palsy and facial nerve tumors, Meniere's disease and other forms of endolymphatic hydrops, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and migraine-associated vertigo.

Ronna P. Hertzano, M.D., Ph.D.
Instructor of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

Dr. Hertzano is an instructor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Hertzano's clinical practice is focused on diseases of the ear and lateral skull base, with a particular interest in hearing restoration and genetic hearing loss. As part of her clinical practice, she is developing a comprehensive interdisciplinary genetic hearing loss service at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on genetic hearing and balance impairment, and molecular cascades essential for inner ear development.

Dr. Hertzano received her medical and Ph.D. degrees from Tel Aviv University, where she studied the molecular basis of hearing impairment and was the recipient of a Foulkes Foundation Fellowship physician-scientist award. She completed her internship and residency in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. During residency training she established a collaborative research group that focuses on the molecular basis of hearing loss, and she obtained funding for her research from the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery CORE grants and the Deafness Research Foundation. In 2011 she received the prestigious Triologic Society Career Development Grant.

LaGuinn Sherlock, Au.D., FAAA/CCC-A
Director of Clinical Audiology

Dr. Sherlock has been a clinician at the University of Maryland Medical Center since 1994 and was named Director of Clinical Audiology in 2005. Dr. Sherlock earned her doctorate in Audiology from the University of Florida and her masters in Audiology from the University of Maryland-College Park. Dr. Sherlock's clinical experience includes basic and advanced diagnostic audiology and amplification for all age groups. She currently specializes in the evaluation and management of patients with tinnitus and hyperacusis.

As an individual with hearing loss, Dr. Sherlock has personal experience with the effects of hearing loss on daily communication and the advantages of hearing aid use. In addition to providing patient care, Dr. Sherlock is co-investigator of a sound tolerance study and has been involved in a number of research projects since 1992. She is an adjunct instructor in the University of Maryland Hearing and Speech Sciences Department, where she enjoys teaching graduate students about hearing aids. She has served as a member-at-large and as president (2002) on the executive board of the Maryland Academy of Audiology (1994-2005, 2007-2009). She is a fellow of the American Academy of Audiology, a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the American Auditory Society and the Maryland Academy of Audiology.

Mavie Betancourt, CCC-A, FAAA

Dr. Betancourt received her Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) from the University of South Florida in 2010, and she received her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Miami in 2006. She completed her clinical residency at the University of Washington Medical Center in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Betancourt is a Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology and is licensed to practice audiology in the states of Maryland and Florida. She also holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology from the American Speech, Language Association. She joined the Hearing and Balance Center in 2011.

Dr. Betancourt's professional career focuses on diagnosing and treating hearing loss in adults and children as well as evaluating patients with balance disorders. She has extensive experience working with the latest digital hearing aid technology of several different manufacturers and styles. Dr. Betancourt aims to improve hearing in quiet and difficult listening situations for patients of all ages.

Nicole Nguyen, Au.D., CCC-A
Cochlear Implant Program Coordinator

Dr. Craver received her Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) degree from the University of Maryland-College Park. She completed her clinical residency in the University of Maryland Department of Otorhinolaryngology-HNS and joined the staff in 2009. Her clinical experience includes diagnostic audiometric testing, amplification for pediatric and adult populations, cochlear implants, vestibular assessment, and tinnitus/hyperacusis evaluation and management. Her doctoral research focused on hearing aid use and features for individuals with severe-to-profound hearing loss. She is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the American Academy of Audiology, and the Maryland Academy of Audiology.

If you would like to make an appointment or talk to an Audiologist, please call the Hearing and Balance Center at 410-328-5947.