“This is a meaningful milestone for UT Dallas,” said Sanaz Okhovat, senior associate vice president for research and innovation and chief compliance officer. “AAHRPP accreditation signals that our human research programs, with the oversight of the Office of Human Subjects Protections (OHSP), meet exacting standards for protecting participants and upholding research integrity.”

Other academic institutions accredited in the state of Texas are UT Austin, Texas A&M University and seven medical schools.

Dr. Andrea Warner-Czyz, associate professor of speech, language, and hearing in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, is chair of UT Dallas’ Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects — the University’s Institutional Review Board, or IRB.

“The IRB’s mission is to ensure that scientists perform their research with every prudent safety measure,” Warner-Czyz said. “This recognition reflects the commitment of UT Dallas faculty and staff to meet these lofty benchmarks.”

The accreditation informs potential research participants, as well as collaborating researchers and sponsors, that UT Dallas is committed to a high standard, Okhovat said. She credited Amanda Boone, director of clinical trials and human subjects protections, for leading the accreditation effort.

“Building to these standards strengthens our operations and earns the confidence of our research partners,” Boone said.

Okhovat said: “Given how few institutions pursue and achieve this, it is an important distinction, particularly as our research portfolio continues to grow and a foundation for growth. As we expand our clinical and translational research and our partnerships with industry sponsors, accreditation is the standard those partners expect.”

The first accreditation renewal for UT Dallas will come in three years; reaccreditation is expected every five years after that.

“AAHRPP accreditation confirms our long-standing commitment to safeguarding the rights and well-being of research participants in our quest to transform lives with innovative discoveries,” said Dr. Joseph Pancrazio, UT Dallas vice president for research and innovation and professor of bioengineering. “This achievement is the product of the OHSP staff’s commitment, as well as the efforts of everyone involved in human research at UT Dallas.”

Speech Technology Researcher Wins Honor for Scientific Achievement

Dr. John H.L. Hansen, professor of electrical engineering and the Distinguished Chair in Telecommunications at The University of Texas at Dallas, has been selected to receive the 2026 International Speech Communication Association (ISCA) Medal for Scientific Achievement.

ISCA is the main research community for the fields of speech communication and processing, related speech and language technologies, phonetics, and language. Established in 1989, the annual award honors an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to the field of speech communication science and technology.

Hansen will be honored at Interspeech 2026, which will be held Sept. 27 through Oct. 1 in Sydney, Australia, where he will deliver the featured keynote speech.

Dr. John H.L. Hansen

The ISCA Medal has been awarded to pioneers who established the field of speech processing, including Swedish researcher Gunnar Fant, a founding father of modern speech communication science and acoustics who taught at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and received the first award. Recipients also have included Dr. Kenneth Stevens, professor emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology who made foundational contributions to the understanding of human speech, acoustic phonetics and speech perception; Dr. James Flanagan, a leading researcher at AT&T Bell Laboratories whose work paved the way for digital assistants; and Dr. Graeme Clark, laureate professor emeritus of The University of Melbourne and one of the three inventors of the cochlear implant.

“It is extremely humbling to be selected as the recipient of the ISCA Medal for Scientific Achievement. It’s truly an amazing honor to be included in this prestigious group of innovators and scientists in the field,” Hansen said. “I owe much of my success to the many students I’ve worked with and supervised over the years, as well as colleagues and collaborators.”

Hansen, a fellow of both ISCA and IEEE, is founder and director of the Center for Robust Speech Systems in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. He received the ISCA Service Medal in 2025, and the IEEE Signal Processing Society Leo Beranek Meritorious Service Award in 2022.

Dinesh Bhatia MS’87, PhD’90, professor and department head of electrical and computer engineering, said the newest achievement is “a fitting recognition for Dr. Hansen’s extraordinary career.”

“Through groundbreaking research, visionary leadership and unwavering dedication to advancing knowledge, Dr. Hansen has helped shape modern speech and language technologies,” Bhatia said. “This achievement brings great pride to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and further highlights the global impact of research conducted at UT Dallas.”

Accolades is an occasional News Center feature that highlights recent accomplishments of The University of Texas at Dallas faculty, students and staff. To submit items for consideration, contact your school’s communications manager.