The objectives of the proposed Training Program are to provide advanced research training in the subdisciplines of Communication Sciences and Disorders to ten predoctoral and ten postdoctoral fellows (i.e., two new predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees will begin the program each year with the expectation that each will be supported for two years). This program is also intended to address the critical shortage of academic researchers in speech, language and hearing research, by drawing trainees from a very broad range of academic disciplines (i.e., including Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience, and Speech, Language, and Hearing). During the training period, trainees will complete a range of required courses, participate in a weekly research symposium, and will complete a lab rotation that complements their research focus area. These activities have been selected to broaden the trainees' understanding of the full continuum of health research (i.e., from basic research through implementation of clinical practice). Trainees will integrate broadly into the community of researchers at Boston University in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and will also participate actively in national scientific conferences. The Training Faculty supporting this Training Program includes a very broad range of NIH-supported academic researchers focused on speech, language and hearing research. Key outcomes include the full range of accomplishments anticipated for high-achieving pre- and postdoctoral scholars: contributions to peer-reviewed manuscripts, application for federal research (e.g., NIH NRSA mechanisms) and/or training support, active participation in national or international scientific conferences, and eventually, employment by research universities with high levels of research activity.

Public Health Relevance

This Training Program is designed to provide advanced research training in Communication Sciences and Disorders to ten predoctoral and ten postdoctoral fellows at Boston University. The Training Plan will provide trainees with a strong foundation in speech production and perception, language development, acquired language disorders, hearing, auditory disorders and related research across the entire continuum of health research (i.e., basic/preclinical, translational, clinical, and implementation phases). Mentoring of the Training Fellows will be provided by internationally recognized scholars in NIH-supported facilities at Boston University.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
1T32DC013017-01A1
Application #
9071792
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZDC1-SRB-Y (54))
Program Officer
Rivera-Rentas, Alberto L
Project Start
2016-07-01
Project End
2021-06-30
Budget Start
2016-07-01
Budget End
2017-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
$205,055
Indirect Cost
$12,819
Name
Boston University
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Schools of Allied Health Profes
DUNS #
049435266
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02215
Walsh, Bridget; Usler, Evan; Bostian, Anna et al. (2018) What Are Predictors for Persistence in Childhood Stuttering? Semin Speech Lang 39:299-312
Usler, Evan R; Walsh, Bridget (2018) The Effects of Syntactic Complexity and Sentence Length on the Speech Motor Control of School-Age Children Who Stutter. J Speech Lang Hear Res 61:2157-2167
McKenna, Victoria S; Stepp, Cara E (2018) The relationship between acoustical and perceptual measures of vocal effort. J Acoust Soc Am 144:1643