Advisors

Speech treatment for intelligibility in children with dysarthria due to cerebral palsy; characteristics and treatment of dysarthria due to cerebral palsy and Parkinson Disease across languages; cross-language and second-language speech perception and learning; accent and intelligibility in speech-language pathology.

Cultural and environmental influences on children’s language and literacy development with an emphasis on bilingual children; development of valid and reliable assessments of bilingual children’s language development; development and testing of home- and classroom-based interventions to promote children’s school readiness.

Improving health outcomes and quality of life associated with disorders of airway protection (specifically cough and swallowing dysfunction), particularly in neurodegenerative disease; basic science research goals focus on developing a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying airway protection and its disorders; clinical research goals are the development of novel and robust evaluation and treatment techniques for dystussia, dysphagia, and adult disorders of motor speech production.

Improving voice, communication, and social connectedness in people with Parkinson’s disease within an inclusive framework with the ultimate goal of enhancing the quality of life in this population; developing new technologies, through the use of automatic speech recognition, to foster independence in people with Parkinson’s disease; training next-generation speech-language therapists in linguistically and culturally responsive rehabilitation methods.

Improving the effectiveness of behavioral treatment approaches for people with aphasia; Quantifying existing gaps in representation, and advocating for equitable racial, ethnic, and cultural-linguistic representation in research; Exploring ableism in the context of aphasia; Training the next generation of speech-language therapists in linguistically, culturally-responsive and disability-affirming rehabilitation methods.