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School Updates

Grants

Dr. Jani Johnson received a Communities of Research Scholars Grant for 2022 for her project, “Exploring potential mediating/moderating effects of negative emotionality on outcomes with hearing aids for older adults”.

Dr. Miriam van Mersbergen is part of an interdisciplinary team lead by Dr. Leah Windsor that received a $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for their project, “Language Across Cultures: The Communication Styles of World Leaders”.

Dr. Deborah Moncrieff received a Communities of Research Scholars Grant for 2022 for her project, “Our team is breaking through invisible barriers to literacy”.

Awards

Dr. Gavin Bidelman received a University of Memphis, University Research Professorship. This prestigious award is a 3-year appointment that comes with an annual stipend.

Jane Brown received the CSD Dean’s Research Award to support her travel and presentation of her poster, “The Familiarity of Background Music Modulates the Cortical Tracking of Target Speech at the Cocktail Party,” at the Association for Research in Otolaryngology 45th Annual Midwinter Meeting in February 2022.

Dr. Megan Parsons and Justine Springs each received the Distinguished Early Career Professional Certificate from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). This certificate is awarded to exceptional AuDs and SLPs who are making a difference within the first few years of their careers through leadership, advocacy, and volunteer work.

Anna Peeples, 2nd Year Audiology student, received the 2021 TAASLP Foundation Scholarship for Audiology.

Extern Placements

Brian Decker – Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington D.C.

Mary Spencer Aldridge – MidSouth ENT, Memphis, TN

Morgan Rogers – Memphis VA Hospital, Memphis, TN

Kimberly Skubic – Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

Fallon Bernard – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, OH

Maddie Purdue Server – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, OH

Emily Cotton – Little Rock VA Hospital, Little Rock, AR

Hannah Rousse – University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX

Christine Sledge – The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH

Jamilee Sawicki – University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, MA

Brooke Wark Larson – ENT & Allergy Partners, Charleston, SC

Hannah Rae Vaden – Arkansas Otolaryngology Center, Little Rock, AR

Autumn Lewis Barron – Hearing & Balance Centers of West Tennessee, Memphis, TN

Publications

Burkhardt-Reed, M. M., Long, H. L., Bene, E. R., and Oller, D. K. (2021). The Relative Roles of Voice and Gesture in Early Communication Development. Infant Behavior and Development, 66, 101648.

Brown, J. A. & Bidelman, G. M. (in press). Song properties and familiarity affect speech recognition in musical noise. Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain.

Chung, W.-L. & Bidelman, G. M. (in press). Acoustic features of oral reading prosody and the relation with reading fluency and reading comprehension in Taiwanese children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

Shukla, B. & Bidelman, G.M. (2021). Enhanced brainstem phase-locking in low-level noise reveals stochastic resonance in the frequency-following response (FFR). Brain Research, 1771, 147643. [special issue "New frontiers in studying the neural substrates enabling speech in noise comprehension"]

Eichorn, N. & *Donnan, S. (2021). Word-final disfluencies in a school-age child: Beneath the tip of the iceberg. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00005

Griebel, U., & Oller, D. K. (2021). Animal signals and symbolism. In The evolution of complex communication systems. Oxford Handbook of Human Symbolic Evolution, edited by Natalie Gontier, Andy Lock, and Chris Sinha. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, UK.

Ha, S. and Oller, D. K. (2021). Longitudinal study of vocal development and language environments in infants with cleft palate. The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal. 1-13. DOI: 10.1177/10556656211042513

Oller, D. K., Ramsay, G., Bene, E. R., Long, H. L., and Griebel, U. (2021). Protophones, the precursors to speech, dominate the infant vocal landscape. Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. B. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 376: 20200255. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0255

Sita M. ter Haar, S. M., Fernandez, A. H., Gratier, M., Knörnschild, M., Levelt, C., Moore, R. K., Vellema, M., Wang, X., Oller, D. K. (2021). Cross-species parallels in babbling: animals and algorithms, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. B. 376: 20200239. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0239

Presentations

Dr. Jordan Alyse Coffelt was an invited panelist for a national seminar called “Powerful Connections” that was offered by Advanced Bionics in October 2021. Her panel discussed cochlear implants and aural rehabilitation for current recipients and people considering implantation.

Members of CSD’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Taskforce made a presentation to the Tennessee Association of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists (TAASLP) titled, “Opening Doors to Diversity and Inclusion in CSD” at their annual meeting on October 22, 2021.

Vicki Haddix and Justine Springs presented at the virtual Tennessee Association for Assistive Technology (TAAT) Conference, December 2, 2021. Their presentation was titled, “Building Sentences with Core Vocabulary”.

Vicki Haddix and Keaunna Hailey presented at the virtual Tennessee Association for Assistive Technology (TAAT) Conference, December 3, 2021. Their presentation was titled, “Supporting Intentionality of Emerging Communicators in the Classroom through AAC”. 

Dr. Jani Johnson guest lectured for a course on Biomedical Devices in early November 2021 at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Bioengineering students were able to learn the history of hearing assistive technologies, understand basics of how they work, and learn about real-life applications of these devices. Students were particularly interested in learning about the interdisciplinary partnership between bioengineers and research audiologists to develop new technologies that have a meaningful impact on hearing-related quality of life for individuals with hearing difficulties.

Mendez, K.G. & Jarmulowicz, L. (2021). Language Impairment: Why should defense attorneys care? Invited presentation by the Shelby County Public Defenders Office to practicing attorneys. December 2021, Memphis, TN.

ASHA Presentations for Fall 2021

Alanna Oliphant, Staci Hunter and Naomi Eichorn. Student Perspectives on Interprofessional Education. Poster (Virtual) 7090V. November 18, 2021.

Alyson Hoyt, Sidney Donnan and Naomi Eichorn. Valence Ratings of Stuttering-related and Neutral Words in School-age Children with and without Stuttering Disorders Poster (Virtual) 8254V. November 18, 2021. 

Naomi Eichorn. Verbal and Spatial Working Memory in Adults with and without Stuttering Disorders. Poster (Virtual) 8568V. November 19, 2021.

Lynda Feenaughty & Ingvalson, E. (2021). Examining the role of cognition in the perception and production of motor speech disorders. Invited platform seminar presented at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention. Washington, D.C.

Helen Long, Leigha Friener, Leslie Rhodes, Karen Romber, and D. Kimbrough Oller. Early Speech and Language Developmental Milestones in Children with Cerebral Palsy between 1-4 Years Poster (Virtual) 8736L. November 19, 2021. 

Hyunjoo Yoo, Lama Farran, Dale Bowman and D. Kimbrough Oller. Semantic Contents of Infant-Directed Speech: A Study of Caregiver Speech to Cries and Speech-like Vocalizations. Technical Research (Virtual) 4672V. November 15, 2021. 

Gary Gartling, Miriam van Mersbergen, Karen Crow, Ali Lewandowski, Libby Smith and Jacqueline Gartner Schmidt. The Relationship Between Vocal Handicap, Congruency, and Perceived Present Control Across Four Voice Disorders. 1-Hour Seminar (In-Person) 1359. November 19, 2021. 

Mark DeRuiter, Wayne Foster, Danielle Keeton, Cara Lindsay Knobelauch and Marilyn Wark. MC16: Supervision and Precepting: Back to Basics. 2-Hour Master Class (In-Person) MC16. November 19, 2021.

Sarah E. Warren, Marian Levy, Mayar Desouki, Kara Sander and Christine Sledge. Public Health and Audiology Education: Introducing the Dual AuD/MPH Track. 1-Hour Seminar (Virtual) 2253V. November 15, 2021. 

Mandy Adams, Linda Jarmulowicz, and Sara Smith. Language Disorders and juvenile justice attorneys: Are we speaking the same language? Virtual poster (7361L). November 18, 2021.

In the Media

Dr. D. Kimbrough Oller was recently quoted in an article published in Science News.

John Sandidge was interviewed about his transgender voice development program for Focus

Dr. Lipika Sarangi (PhD, Fall ’21) was the Graduate Student Spotlight recipient for the November edition of the Research + Innovation Magazine of the University. She has conducted amazing research related to hearing loss and hearing aid success. You can read about her accomplishments here