Communicative Disorders

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is for a continuing institutional grant designed to provide research training in the area of communication disorders and sciences for four predoctoral students and two postdoctoral trainees per year. Hands-on apprenticeship training is provided in three interrelated areas: (1) Speech Production, Development, and Disorders; (2) Language Structure, Development, and Disorders; and (3) Auditory Perception, Neural Plasticity, and Sensory Aids. Two additional areas will be offered as "feeder" specialties for predoctoral students and postdoctoral trainees working in one of the three areas: (4) Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches to Hearing, Language Processing, and Communication Disorders; and (5) Linguistics Applied to Communication Science and Disorders. Twelve active researchers in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences will serve as the participating faculty. These individuals routinely collaborate on projects that cut across these research areas. Advanced coursework is available in communication disorders, experimental design, statistics, neurosciences, biology, engineering, and linguistics. However, the main purpose of the training program is to provide intensive interactive research experience leading toward the establishment of successful independent clinical investigators. The proposed program focuses especially on the training of individuals with a basic science background who wish to pursue research careers in communication disorders, and individuals with a primarily clinical background whose prior research training was minimal. Predoctoral students are selected from those admitted by the Graduate Program in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, the Neurosciences Program, or the Linguistics Program. Postdoctoral trainees are recruited nationally by advertisements and electronic posting. Both groups are supported by training funds for two years. Predoctoral students can be expected to be funded for at least two additional years through individual grants, fellowships, or departmental funding. The structure and emphases of the proposed program should help to address the critical (and growing) shortage of active researchers in the field of communication disorders.