Who Can You Trust in Albuquerque to Help You With Your Hearing?
Imagine a world without sound, or only garbled sounds. You’d miss a lot! Imagine what you’d miss hanging out with friends, having dinner with your family, playing with your kids or grandkids—even hearing the birds in your yard.
Which is why we are committed to helping you improve your hearing and get more out of life.
Hearing plays such a crucial role in your overall health and well-being – from helping to prevent dementia to keeping you connected to your family. We are dedicated to restoring your ability to hear. Meet Presbyterian Ear Institute’s team.
Our Mission
Presbyterian Ear Institute exists to assist people with hearing loss to better listen and speak and integrate into mainstream society. The Institute offers hope in breaking the silence for children and adults, and provides a comprehensive approach to the early diagnosis, intervention, education and rehabilitation of deafness. In fulfilling its mission and through the programs and services offered, Presbyterian Ear Institute works daily to mitigate the lifelong effects that hearing loss has on literacy, educational achievement, and vocational opportunities.
Our History
Presbyterian Ear Institute (PEI), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, was founded in 1987 to establish a pediatric cochlear implant program. After participating as one of the initial trial sites in the FDA research of pediatric multi-channel cochlear implants, it became apparent that, although the cochlear implant is truly a modern medical miracle, the device is only part of the solution for teaching deaf children to talk. Recognizing as well that the children who participated in the study needed to receive appropriate habilitation services, and having been unsuccessful in convincing either the Public Schools or the State School for the Deaf to provide an oral program, oral options across the country were researched to find the best curriculum for teaching deaf children in New Mexico to use their voices as their means of communicating.
Presbyterian Ear Institute Oral School (PEIOS) was founded in 1990 as one of the first of a new generation of oral schools formed in the United States in the past twenty years. Until then, the deaf educational options in New Mexico had emphasized the use of sign language rather than spoken language.
Meet the Team
Seema K. LaGree, Au.D., FAAA, CCC-A
Doctor of Audiology
Executive Director
Seema LaGree is the Executive Director for the Presbyterian Ear Institute (PEI), where she oversees the organization including administrative, operational, and risk management functions.
She is a Doctor of Audiology with 18 years of experience spanning evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of hearing loss. Seema focuses much of her attention on program development and growth by assisting with fund-raising initiatives and serving as public spokeswomen to the community.
Prior to joining PEI, Seema lived in Santa Monica, CA and served as a clinical sales expert in cochlear implants for Cochlear Americas. Seema abandoned the ocean for the mountains when she moved to Albuquerque to join the wonderful team at PEI in May 2012. She and her husband are proud parents of three beautiful children and their Schnauzer.
Christine Epstein, Au.D., CCC-A
Doctor of Audiology
CI Program Coordinator
Dr. Epstein is head of the audiology program at PEI. She has been at PEI since 1998. Dr. Epstein specializes in cochlear implants for children and adults.
She also sees a variety of clinic patients including adults and pediatric evaluations as well as bone anchored hearing devices (BAHD). She is member of New Mexico’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) stakeholders committee as well as the New Mexico EHDI Audiology committee.
Dr. Epstein received a Bachelor’s of Science in Deaf Education from Stephen F Austin State University, a Master’s of Science in Oral Deaf Education from Incarnate Word University, A Master’s of Arts in Audiology at the University of Connecticut and a Doctorate of Audiology from Central Michigan University.
In her free time she loves mountain biking and spending time with her husband and two children.
Courtney Kasin-Mann, Au.D., CCC-A
Doctor of Audiology
Courtney is an audiologist at Presbyterian Ear Institute. She received her bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Redlands in southern California and her Doctorate of Audiology from Utah State University.
She has completed specialized training working with pediatrics (ages 0-6) and with individuals with neurodevelopmental differences, including SPEAK OUT!® & LOUD Crowd® certification through the Parkinson’s Voice Project. Before coming to PEI, Dr. Kasin-Mann completed her residency year at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. She is delighted to be a part of PEI’s team, providing services to children and adults throughout their hearing healthcare journeys.
In her free time, she and her husband love traveling and spending time outdoors. They’ve visited 49/50 states and over 40 national parks!
Danee Bustos, Au.D., CCC-A
Doctor of Audiology
Danee received her bachelor’s degree from Eastern New Mexico University and competed on the track and field team there. Danee received All-American Honors for her athletic achievements during her time there.
Danee received her Doctor of Audiology degree from Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Prior to joining PEI, Danee completed her final year of training at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN.
Danee is originally from Belen, NM, and is thrilled to be returning to NM to serve this state’s pediatric and adult populations! When she is not working you will find her running, hiking, biking, rock climbing, or training her dog.
Michelle Carreon
Assistant to the Audiologist
Michelle is PEI’s Assistant to The Audiologist and has been at Presbyterian Ear Institute since 2016. Michelle is bilingual, English and Spanish and loves to help patients.
Her favorite part of working at PEI is the ability to be part of our patients hearing journeys. She was born and raised in Albuquerque, NM. In Michelle’s free time, she loves to hang out with family, taking photographs and trying new coffee shops.
