A.U. Bankaitis, Ph.D.

A.U. Bankaitis is Vice President & General Manager of Oaktree Products, Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri. She is also the founder and president of Auban, Inc., a company dedicated to publishing practical-application text books for the fields of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. 

Dr. Bankaitis received her doctorate in Audiology from the University of Cincinnati in 1995, receiving the University’s Distinguished Dissertation Award for her research in the area of HIV and its effects on the auditory system. She was also the recipient of the American Academy of Audiology’s Student Research Forum Award that same year. Her expertise in HIV quickly encompassed the area of infection control, resulting in a niche expertise in the area. She is the primary author of numerous infection control publications, including the popular text books Infection Control in the Hearing Aid Clinic, Infection Control in the Audiology Clinic, and Infection Control for Speech-Language Pathology. Dr. Bankaitis continues to consult in and lecture extensively on infection control as well as in the areas of cerumen management and hearing assistance technology. As an audiologist, she has held clinical, academic, and administrative positions including Director of Audiology at St. Louis University Medical Center.

She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Audiology Foundation and a member of the Audiology Today editorial advisory board. Dr. Bankaitis also served as Chairperson of the AAA Professional Document Committee, AAA task force member on infection control, member of the AAA Government Affairs Committee, and member of the AAA Publication Committee.