Amanda Ortiz-Alvarez
Amanda Ortiz-Alvarez is a Spanish-English bilingual speech-language pathologist and PhD student currently working alongside her mentor, Dr. Courtney Byrd, at the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research. Amanda received her BA in Foreign Languages and Linguistics, as well as her MS in Speech-Language Pathology, at the University of New Mexico. Amanda's research presently strives toward exploring the lived experiences of people who stutter/stutterers and their families/relevant others to elucidate facilitators of support, adaptive change, and empowerment for individuals to communicate authentically and live life on their terms.
Sajana Aryal
Sajana Aryal is a doctoral student currently working as a Graduate Research Assistant under the mentorship of Dr. Srikanta Mishra. She earned her undergraduate degree in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology from the Institute of Medicine at Maharajgunj Medical Campus in Kathmandu, Nepal. Following that, she pursued a master's degree in Audiology at the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, affiliated with Mysore University in India. She has accumulated three years of professional experience as a clinical Audiologist in private hospitals and clinics in Nepal. Her research interests encompass a variety of topics within the field, including tinnitus, hyperacusis, misophonia, cochlear synaptopathy, and extended high-frequency hearing loss. Sajana is originally from the beautiful country Nepal.
Yao Chen
Yao Chen (M.S., CCC-SLP) is a doctoral student under the mentorship of Dr. Chang Liu in Speech Psychophysics Lab. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Tsinghua University, China and her master’s degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from UT Austin, United States. Her research interests include speech perception in noise and treatment efficacy of parent training among children with autism. She is from China.
Cissy Cheng
Cissy Cheng is a doctoral student studying under the mentorship of Dr. Rajinder Koul. Cissy earned her BA in Linguistics from Fudan University and her MS in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from Boston University. She has experience working with clients with aphasia, autism, and voice disorders. Her research interests include speech production training using visual support, and treatment efficacy of AAC devices for people with aphasia. During her spare time, Cissy enjoys watching tennis and running.
Nayanika Ghosh
Nayanika Ghosh is a doctoral student in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She completed her undergraduate and Master’s degrees in speech-language pathology at the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore. She also completed hospital internships in speech-language pathology and worked as a clinical speech-language pathologist in India before beginning the Ph.D. program at UT. Her research interests include neurological voice disorders and evidence-based treatment of voice.
Carrie Hutchins
Carrie Hutchins received both her B.S. and M.S. degrees in CSD from Western Kentucky University. She has nearly 15 years of experience as a public school-based Speech Language Pathologist and is passionate about developmental language disorders and school-based issues. Carrie is currently enrolled in the PhD program at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work in the Children's Language, Literacy, and Learning (CL3) Lab addresses school-based professional issues and effective practices for children with DLD in schools.
Garret Kurteff
Garret Kurteff is a doctoral student studying under the mentorship of Dr. Liberty Hamilton. Their background is in psychology, linguistics, and neurosurgery and research interests include describing the neurobiology of speech production via electrophysiological methods, as well as development of treatment techniques for people with neurobiological impairment of language via brain-computer interfaces. They are also pursuing a Masters in Speech Language Pathology.
Jilliane Lagus
Jilliane Marai Lagus, MS, CCC-SLP, is a pre-candidacy doctorate student under the mentorship of Dr. Corinne Jones at the Swallow Modulation Laboratory. She completed a BS in Speech Pathology at the University of the Philippines Manila and an MS in Communication Disorders at the University of Texas at Dallas. Jilliane is interested in the thoughtful examination of the neuroscience of the aging swallow using data science techniques to unearth development patterns otherwise undetectable by manual or traditional analysis. A deeper understanding of how healthy humans eat and drink safely well into vulnerable older age will help clinicians determine better interventions that can help prevent or mitigate swallowing disorders and their effects (malnutrition, dehydration, death). Off-duty, Jilliane's goals include walking 10,000 steps a day, listening to audiobooks at x2 speed, watersports, and learning about new languages and food.
Mimi LaValley
Mimi LaValley is a certified speech-language pathologist studying under the mentorship of Dr. Rajinder Koul. Her area of interest is improving access to AAC and assistive technology for bilingual individuals with neurodevelopmental and acquired language disorders in a variety of settings including acute care.
Lauren Ralston
Lauren Ralston completed her Bachelor’s Degree (B.S.) and Doctorate of Audiology (Au.D.) at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a clinical audiologist and Ph.D. student under the mentorship of Julia Campbell. Her research in the Central Sensory Processes Laboratory examines how the brain reorganizes when individuals have tinnitus and/or hearing loss.
Enjoli Richardson
Enjoli Richardson is a doctoral student at The University of Texas at Austin under the mentorship of Dr. Courtney T. Byrd. She is a licensed and certified Speech-Language Pathologist with the American Speech-Language- Hearing Association. Her current research interests include exploring the intersections of Race, Gender, and Disability within culturally and linguistically diverse populations who stutter.
JoLynn Riojas
JoLynn Riojas completed her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist and a doctoral student under the mentorship of Dr. Courtney T. Byrd. Her research interests include empowering the voices of school-age children who stutter and inspiring change in school-based speech therapy with an approach focused of communication, advocacy, resiliency, and education.
Gary Robinaugh
Gary Robinaugh is a licensed speech-language pathologist and a doctoral student in the Aphasia Research and Treatment Lab. He is interested in researching effective treatment for aphasia and related disorders.
Keerthana (Keerthi) Stanley
Keerthi is a doctoral student under the mentorship of Dr. Jun Wang, and works as a graduate research assistant in the Speech Disorders and Technology Lab. She received her bachelor's degree in Neuroscience from UT Dallas in 2023. Her research interests include better understanding the cognitive processes underlying speech planning and production as well as speech kinematics, both typical and disordered.
Rachel Tessmer
Rachel Tessmer is a doctoral student in the SoundBrain Lab. Her research interests include the neurocognitive processes contributing to speech perception, psycholinguistics, and neurorehabilitation.
Lisa Wauters
Lisa is a doctoral student under the mentorship of Dr. Maya Henry and works as a research speech-language pathologist at the Aphasia Research and Treatment Lab. She earned her MA in Speech-Language Pathology from UT Austin in 2016. Her primary areas of research include assessment and treatment of aphasia and cognitive-communication disorders associated with stroke, neurodegenerative disease and traumatic brain injury.
Mengxuan Wu
Maxine Wu is a doctoral student studying under the mentorship of Dr. Rajinder Koul. Maxine has a background in Human Systems Engineering and Applied Psychology. Her area of interest is assistive technology for people with communication impairment.
Megan Young
Megan Young is a doctoral student and certified speech-language pathologist studying under the mentorship of Dr. Courtney Byrd. She also serves as a clinical supervisor and research associate in the Michael and Tami Lang Stuttering Institute. Her research interests include the cognitive and affective components of stuttering evaluation and treatment, stigma, multilingualism, and counseling approaches in speech-language pathology.