New Investigators Research Grant Recipients

The New Investigators Research Grant supports research activities of new investigators who have earned their doctorate degree within the past five years.

2024

Awarded $10,000 each

Haley Dresang

Haley Dresang
Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Artificial Intelligence Advancement of Event Knowledge Measures for Clinical Aphasiology

Alexander Foote

Alexander Foote
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of California, San Diego
A Causal Link Between Laryngeal Sensorimotor Neuropathy in Post-Viral Influenza Infection

Nichole Houle

Nichole Houle
Assistant Professor
Binghamton University
Identifying the Relationship Between Vocal Effort and Vocal Gender Congruence in Transfeminine People

Heather Kabakoff

Heather Kabakoff
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
New York University
Voice in Motion: Predicting Changes in Voice and Speech Following Focused Ultrasound Surgery for Essential Tremor

Renee King

Renee King
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Novel Preclinical Mouse and Cell Culture Models of Laryngeal Papillomavirus-Associated Disease

Natalie Pak

Natalie Pak
Assistant Professor
University of South Florida
Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT) en Español Para Autismo Using a Rapid Coaching Approach
Support provided by Lois Bloom Language Development Research Fund

Erik Petersen

Erik Petersen
Postdoctoral Scholar Fellow
University of Washington
A Bayesian Adaptive Procedure for Efficient Auditory Brainstem Response Threshold Estimation

Willem van Boxtel

Willem van Boxtel
Assistant Professor
Louisiana State University
Predictive Processing in Aphasia: Assessment Implications from Online Eye Tracking and Memory Interference

Mary Claire Wofford

Mary Claire Wofford
Assistant Professor
Western Carolina University
En las Afueras: Early Childhood Speech and Language Services for Spanish-Speaking Families in Rural Spaces

2023

Awarded $10,000 each

Mariana Mendes Bahia

Mariana Mendes Bahia
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Northwestern University
Proposal: Cortical Activity and Respiratory-Swallowing Coordination in Post-Stroke Survivors With Dysphagia

Margaret Cychosz

Margaret Cychosz
Assistant Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
Proposal: The Impact of Cochlear Implant Device Limitations on Preschoolers’ Real-Time Phonological Processing Skills

Katelyn Kotlarek

Katelyn Kotlarek
Assistant Professor, University of Wyoming
Proposal: Perceptual and Acoustic Characteristics of Nasal Coupling in Children

Arianna LaCroix

Arianna LaCroix
Assistant Professor, Purdue University
Proposal: Investigating Music Listening as a Mechanism to Improve Attention and Language in Aphasia

Emily Morrow

Emily Morrow
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Proposal: Development of Ecological Momentary Intervention for Word Learning in Adults With Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury

Mona Oster

Mona Oster
Education and Research Director, Listen and Talk
Research Associate, Western Washington University
Proposal: Development of Voice Emotion Perception in 3- to 5-Year-Old Children With Hearing Loss

Danika Pfeiffer

Danika Pfeiffer
Assistant Professor, Old Dominion University
Proposal: Emergent Writing Profiles of Preschoolers With Developmental Language Disorder

Jessica Riccardi

Jessica Riccardi
Assistant Professor, University of Maine
Proposal: Fatigue, Social Communication and Participation After Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury

Juliana Ronderos

Juliana Ronderos
Postdoctoral Fellow, Boston University
Proposal: The Role of Parental Factors in Predicting Language Abilities Among Spanish-English Bilingual Children

Anumitha Venkatraman

Anumitha Venkatraman
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of WisconsinMadison
Proposal: Creating a Model to Redefine the Relationship Between Psychosocial Stress and Voice Physiology Through Microbiology and Molecular Biology Lenses
 
 

2022

Awarded $10,000 each

Tiana Cowan
Tiana Cowan
Postdoctoral Fellow
Boys Town National Research Hospital
Factors Influencing Adaptation to Unfamiliar Accented Speech for Bilingual and Monolingual Children
Hope Gerlach-Houck
Hope Gerlach-Houck
Assistant Professor
Western Michigan University
Real-time Assessment of Daily Discrimination Experiences and Mood States Among Adults Who Stutter
Teresa Girolamo
Teresa Girolamo
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Connecticut
Determining the Role of Social Determinants of Health in Young Adulthood Outcomes of Autistic Black, Indigenous, and People of Color With Language Impairment
Kelsey Klein
Kelsey Klein
Assistant Professor
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Children's Real-Time Spoken Word Recognition While Listening in Two-Talker Speech
Caroline Larson
Caroline Larson
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Connecticut
Language-Related Neural Function in Developmental Language Disorder
Lois Bloom Language Development Research Fund
Helen Long
Helen Long
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Prelinguistic Vocal Behaviors in Infants at Risk of Cerebral Palsy Under 24 Months
Alison Prahl
Alison Prahl
Assistant Professor
Baylor University
Treatment to Improve Language Outcomes for Young Adults With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Written Language Intervention for Functional Texts
Kaila Stipancic
Kaila Stipancic
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University at Buffalo
Effects of Speaker and Listener Characteristics on the Minimally Detectable Change of Speech Intelligibility: Dysarthria Etiology, Speech Severity, and Listener Experience
Laura Toles
Laura Toles
Assistant Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Defining Clinically Important Differences in Cepstral and Spectral Measures in Individuals With and Without Phonotrauma

2021

Awarded $10,000 each

Nichol Castro
Nichol Castro
Assistant Professor
University at Buffalo
Determining the Distance of Spreading Activation in the Phonological Network of Persons With Aphasia to Inform Selection of Treatment Generalization Probes
Mackenzie E. Fama
Mackenzie E. Fama
Assistant Professor
The George Washington University
Inner Speech and Executive Function Ability in Aphasia
Annalise Fletcher
Annalise Fletcher
Assistant Professor
Utah State University
Assessing Speaker Implementation of Communication-Based Treatment Strategies
Jessica Gormley
Jessica Gormley
Assistant Professor
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Teaching Acute Care Providers to Use Visual Supports and Create Communication Opportunities in Healthcare Routines: Effects of a Just-in-Time Augmentative and Alternative Communication Training
Christopher C. Heffner
Christopher C. Heffner
Assistant Professor
University at Buffalo
Speech Perception in Parkinson’s Disease: Loudness and Rate
Thea Knowles
Thea Knowles
Assistant Professor
University at Buffalo
Prominence and Communicative Intent in Dysarthria
Marion C. Leaman
Marion C. Leaman
Assistant Professor
University of Kansas Medical Center
Therapeutic Use of Everyday Communication to Improve Conversation in Aphasia
Kelsey Mandak
Kelsey Mandak
Assistant Professor
Carlow University
Development and Evaluation of the Family-Centered Augmentative and Alternative Communication Scale
Jessica Obermeyer
Jessica Obermeyer
Assistant Professor
University of North Carolina Greensboro
Treatment to Improve Multi-Modality Discourse Production in Mild Aphasia: An Extension of Findings From Attentive Reading With Constrained Summarization-Written
Pumpki Lei Su
Pumpki Lei Su
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Delaware
Word Learning from Infant-Directed Speech in Bilingual Children
Supported by the Lois Bloom Language Development Research Fund

2020

Awarded $10,000 each

Carlos Benítez-Barrera
Carlos Benítez-Barrera
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Texas at Dallas
Quality of Auditory Environments: Impact on Neural and Behavioral Outcomes of Children From Low Socioeconomic Homes
Meghan M. Davidson
Meghan M. Davidson
Assistant Professor
University of Kansas
The Role of Social Communication Child and Text Factors in Comprehension for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Typically Developing Peers
Eileen Haebig
Eileen Haebig
Assistant Professor
Louisiana State University
Retrieval-Based Word Learning in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Kelly Nicole Jahn
Kelly Nicole Jahn
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Massachusetts Eye and Ear; Harvard Medical School
Physiological Markers of Sound Intolerance in Individuals With Hyperacusis
Brittany N. Krekeler
Brittany N. Krekeler
Postdoctoral Fellow
Northwestern University
Device Facilitated Lingual Strength and Skill: Comparison of Devices in Healthy Adults and Individuals With Stroke
Matthew Masapollo
Matthew Masapollo
Assistant Professor
University of Florida
Mechanisms of Speech Motor Sequence Learning
Jena McDaniel
Jena McDaniel
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Kansas
Increasing Child Vocalizations to Facilitate Language Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Supported by the Lois Bloom Language Development Research Fund
Victoria Sue McKenna
Victoria Sue McKenna
Assistant Professor
University of Cincinnati
Sensorimotor Reflexes in Hyperfunctional Voice Disorders
Ileana Ratiu
Ileana Ratiu
Assistant Professor
Midwestern University
The Impact of Auditory Distraction on Executive Function and Reading Comprehension in Individuals With and Without Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: An Eye-Tracking Study
Naomi Rodgers
Naomi Rodgers
Assistant Professor
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Visual Social Attention Among Adolescents Who Stutter

View New Investigators Research Grant recipients before 2020 [PDF].