Interdisciplinary Research Training in Speech-Language Disorders

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is a critical shortage of new PhD's in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). This training grant is designed to address this shortage by preparing researcher-scholars in the field of speech-language disorders in children and adults at one of the top-ranked departments in the country. This competing continuation requests support for five predoctoral students and one postdoctoral student to participate in an interdisciplinary training program that draws on faculty and resources in the departments of Communicative Disorders, Educational Psychology, Linguistics, Psychology, Second Language Acquisition, Neurology, and Otolaryngology. UW-Madison is perhaps unique in the high level of collaboration among faculty in these different programs, interactions that are facilitated by the existence of the Waisman Center, an inter-disciplinary center that supports research on human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, UW-Madison is ideally suited for training students for careers in speech and language disorders, given that research and practice in this field must draw on expertise from a variety of fields. The purpose of the proposed training grant is to prepare students for academic careers in the field of speech and language disorders within an inter-disciplinary training program. Students in the program will be required to complete at least two lab rotations. Trainees will be able to select rotations from a number of research programs, including ones in language development, language disorders, language and literacy, adult language processing, speech perception and production in children and adults, and neurogenic speech disorders. Experimental methodologies that are available to trainees include acoustic speech analysis, X-ray microbeam, ERP's, fMRI, eye-tracking, as well as many other behavioral measures. Training activities also include formal coursework both inside and outside the department; participation in weekly lab meetings, departmental proseminars, and journal clubs; the completion of a first year research project; and participation in program evaluation. It is estimated that 1 in 10 people in the US have some type of communication disorder (speech, language, or hearing difficulty). This training grant will prepare researchers and educators in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders to address this significant public health concern.