Assistant Professor
Lab Director

Dr. Stephanie Grasso completed her master’s and doctoral training in the department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at UT Austin. She is a bilingual speech-language pathologist by training and her research investigates neurologically-based communication disorders within the context of bilingualism. In addition, her research examines bilingualism as a contributor to cognitive reserve in neurodegenerative disorders affecting language and cognition.

Associate Professor
Lab Co-Director

Dr. Henry is a speech-language pathologist by training. Her clinical and research interests lie in the nature and treatment of aphasia and related neurogenic communication disorders, with a special focus on primary progressive aphasia.

Bilingual Research Speech-Language Pathologist

Camille works as a Bilingual Speech Language Pathology in the MADR Lab. She holds an M.S. in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from University of Texas Austin, and an M.A. in English Linguistics from the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras. Her long term goal is to be part of the group of professionals elevating the standard of care for patients with neurogenic communication and swallowing disorders in the culturally and linguistically diverse Caribbean.

Research Speech-Language Pathologist

Sonia is a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) from the Hospital Santa Creu i Sant Pau of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). She graduated as an SLT from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the KU Leuven University (Belgium, Erasmus Programme) after having completed her graduate thesis on the study of the efficacy of the VISTA and LRT treatments in PPA. She works as a bilingual SLT in the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research Lab (MADRlab) focusing on the evaluation and treatment of Catalan and Spanish-speaking patients. She also works closely with Dr. Miguel Ángel Santos-Santos, in the Memory Unit of the Sant Pau Hospital, Barcelona, currently developing an improved language battery to diagnose patients with PPA. As a multilingual herself, she is passionate about the study of language and neurodiversity research. Her main goal from participating in the MADRlab is to help patients maintain or improve their quality of life, with an optimistic and intensive practice approach.

Bilingual Research Speech-Language Pathologist

Núria has been a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) since 2004. She received her Bachelor's, Postgraduate, and Master's degrees at the Universitat Autonoma and Universitat Ramon Lull in Barcelona. Currently, Núria works in an inpatient setting with patients in the acute phase at the Neurology,  Neurosurgery, and Stroke Unit, as well as  in an outpatient setting where she works with individuals with movement disorders, dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases. She also collaborates with the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research Lab (MADRlab) focusing on Catalan and Spanish-speaking patients. Her thesis research focused on Speech and Language Therapy in Primary Progressive Aphasia. Núria is passionate about different treatment approaches for improving or maintaining language, speech, and swallowing abilities.

Clinical Research Assistant

Maria Fernanda works as a Clinical Research Assistant in the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research Lab. Her research interests include language transfer effects on bilingual treatment, bilingual language development, and disorders in the context of bilingualism. She is passionate about inclusivity and bridging cultural and linguistic divides in the field.

Bilingual Research Speech-Language Pathologist

Júlia is a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) from the Hospital Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain). She completed a master's degree in Oropharyngeal Dysphagia at the Clinical School of Neuropsychology and Language Pathology and in Nutrition and Health at the Open University of Catalonia. Her clinical work initially focused on Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems with individuals with cerebral palsy and neurodegenerative diseases. She continued her clinical practice in the hospital setting, predominantly treating dysphagia and aphasia. Currently, she works as a bilingual SLT in the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research Lab (MADRlab) focusing on the evaluation and treatment of Catalan and Spanish-speaking patients. She is passionate about language, communication and swallowing disorders and her main goal as a therapist is to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Bilingual Research Speech-Language Pathologist

Diana works as a Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist in the MADR Lab. She holds an M.A. in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin. She has a passion for developing new therapeutic approaches tailored to the needs of bilingual individuals with neurodegenerative disorders and implementing evidence-based practices in clinical settings, with a primary focus on elevating treatment outcomes and enriching the lives of those she serves.

Bilingual Research Speech-Language Pathologist

Speech therapist Estefanía García Hernández graduated from the Faculty of Health Sciences in Manresa (UAB). Afterwards, she completed a master's degree in Neurologopedia at the Clinical School of Neuropsychology and Language Pathology at the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.

Her clinical work initially focused on the rehabilitation of language, speech, and swallowing in patients with aphasia, dysarthria, and dysphagia. She continued her clinical practice, specializing in the treatment of communication disorders in the pediatric population with functional diversity and the use of Alternative and Augmentative Communication Systems.

Currently, she works as a bilingual SLP in the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research Lab (MADRlab) focusing on the evaluation and treatment of Catalan and Spanish-speaking patients. She is passionate about language and neurology. Her main goal as a therapist is to improve the quality of life of patients with Neurodegenerative diseases and their families.

Andrew is a postdoctoral fellow working in the MADR Lab. He completed his master’s and doctoral training in the Linguistics department at the University of Kansas. His research investigates the psycholinguistic properties and neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie morphosyntactic processing in linguistically diverse populations (i.e., healthy native speakers, native speakers with neurogenic communication disorders, and second language learners).

Rylee is a PhD student in the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research Lab. She completed a master’s degree in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language at the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL) in San Sebastián, Spain. She also earned an M.Phil in Linguistics from Trinity College Dublin. Primarily, her research focuses on language disorders in bilingual speakers and treatments for aphasia resulting from stroke or neurodegenerative disease

Lokesh earned a B.S. from UT Austin and started working with UT's Aphasia Lab in early 2021. They are currently a PhD student studying Neuroengineering at Rice University. In 2021, they used their background in Natural Language Processing (NLP) to construct an automated pipeline that takes in an English audio/written sample and outputs linguistic and acoustic variables relevant to diagnosis of dementia/aphasia. In 2022, they used Machine Learning (ML) to build diagnostics that uses these variables to predict a English speaker's clinical status. They're working with the MADRLab to recreate a similar pipeline and diagnostic for Spanish and Catalan Speakers. One of their main future academic interests is using NLP and ML to build diagnostics for non-English speakers.

Whendy Motta is a graduate research assistant in the MADR Lab and a first year MSSLHS student at UT Austin. She holds a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Chapman University and a BA in ESL Education from Universidad Surcolombiana (Neiva, Colombia). In Colombia, Whendy spent several years as an English teacher for both children and adults and as a bilingual representative for a telecommunications company. Her research interests include bilingual speech pathology, bilingual language development, neurogenic speech disorders, and swallowing disorders. In her free time, she likes to go to the movies, relax by the pool, dance salsa, and spend time with her friends and family.

Katie is a graduate student studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) with a Bilingual Certificate (emphasis on Spanish/English populations) at the University of Texas at Austin. She graduated from UT Austin with her Bachelor of Science in SLHS with a Certificate in Spanish for Medical Professions. She volunteered in the MADR Lab as an undergraduate RA during her 4th year. During the summer after graduation, she completed an internship for Women in Neuroscience, where she worked in the MADR Lab, learned from various experts in the field of neuroscience, and collaborated with her cohort. Katie is a bilingual, Mexican- American, first-generation college student and is dedicated to providing culturally informed speech-language pathology services and hopes to continue contributing to diversity focused research as an SLP

Sant Pau Memory Unit
See Dr. Santos-Santos' profile at Sant Pau

Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco
Albalab

Department of Neurology of the Hospital Clinico San Carlos
See Dr. Matias-Guiu's research profile

UCSF Memory and Aging Center
See Dr. Deleon's profile at UCSF

Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía
See Dr. Sosa-Ortiz's research profile

University of Houston
See Dr. Dial's profile at UH

Clinical Collaborator,
Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences, UT Health Austin
See Lindsey's profile at UT Health Austin

Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
See Bonakdarpour's profile at Northwestern Medicine

Dementia Research Centre,
University College London

Assistant Professor at the UAB Department of Medicine

Assistant Professor at the UAB Department of Medicine
See Faixa's research profile at

Medical doctor with clinical and research specialization in psychiatry, geriatrics and dementia

Linguistics from the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro and Masters of Science from University of Texas, at Austin

Giselle is a third-year Moody Honors student pursuing a B.S. in Speech, Laguage, and Hearing Sciences with a minor in Educational Psychology. Under the guidance of Dr. Stephanie Grasso and Camille Wagner Rodriguez, Giselle volunteers as an undergraduate research assistant in the MADR-Lab. Giselle is also currently involved in the National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association as well as the Lang Stuttering Institute Student Leadership Organization. She is passionate about helping others especially those in underserved communities and hopes to use her career in speech pathology to make these services and resources accessible to all.

Lucian is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin. He is pursuing a B.S. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and a B.A. in Linguistics with a Japanese certification. He joined the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research Lab in 2023. He hopes to be able to integrate his linguistics major knowledge into his work at the lab and his future career as a speech language pathologist. He is interested in contributing to the academic research of underserved communities in speech language pathology.

Ana Elisa is originally from Chihuahua, Mexico and was raised in New Braunfels, Texas. She is studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Science and minoring in Educational Psychology. She is interested in how culturally responsive practices can be better implemented in the field of speech-language pathology. Her research interests include bilingual communication disorders and the effects of bilingualism on neurodegenerative disorders.

Ana Paula is from Brownsville, Texas, and is a second-year Moody student. She is studying Speech-language and Hearing Sciences and minoring in Health Communication. She is an undergraduate research assistant for the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research lab and is an active member of the National Student Speech Language and  Hearing Association. She is interested in bilingual communication development and disorders.

Shayla is an undergraduate research assistant majoring in Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences. She is from Houston, TX, and is an active member of the Lang Stuttering Institute Student Leadership Organization. She has worked as a medical assistant but aspires to be a bilingual SLP who focuses on providing services and resources to marginalized communities.

Hallel is a fourth-year Neuroscience student at the University of Texas at Austin. She is pursuing a certificate in Forensic Science and the Pre-Health Professions Certificate. As an undergraduate research assistant in the MADR Lab, she is excited to contribute to the research on language and neurodegenerative disorders. Hallel is interested in helping underserved populations and hopes to improve her Spanish speaking ability to better serve the community around her.

Arely is from Eagle Pass, Texas, and is a freshman studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Texas. She currently volunteers at the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research Lab. She is excited about this opportunity and hopes to continue working to improve her skills in the world of healthcare.

Carmen is a third year Speech Language Pathology Major with a minor in Education Psychology. This is her first semester in the MADR Lab and she is excited to join because of its emphasize on multilingualism. She is a fluent Spanish speaker and hopes to improve her Spanish in a clinical setting. She is also a member of LSI SLO and UT SEAL. She is interested in how bilingualism plays a role in disorders.

Alexa is an undergraduate research assistant majoring in Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences with a minor in healthcare innovation. She is from Managua, Nicaragua, and is a National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association member. She is passionate about aiding others and interested in bilingual communication and disorders.

Alejandra Galindo is an undergraduate senior pursuing a B.S in Speech Pathology. She has experience working in the Stuttering and Linguistic Processing Lab analyzing how stuttering is connected to sociolinguistic factors, bilingualism, and working memory. She is excited to implement what she learned into the MADR Lab to learn about how bilingualism and neurodegenerative disorders manifest in speech production and comprehension. She plans to attend graduate school for a master's in speech pathology, with a focus on bilingual certification to work with Spanish-speaking populations.

Jada Li is an undergraduate research assistant for the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research lab from Katy, Texas. She is a second-year majoring in Linguistics and Plan II Honors. She is currently working towards the Elements of Computing certificate and is interested in the roles of linguistics and CS in the speech pathology field. In her free time, Jada likes to draw, write, and play guzheng.

My name is Ana Camila, and I am a third-year student at the University of Texas at Austin. I am from a border city, El Paso, Texas. I am pursuing a B.S. degree in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences with my specific route being Speech Pathology. My interests include how bilingualism affects certain areas of the brain, and if there are benefits when it comes to treating those who have undergone brain damage and are bilingual. I hope to become a bilingual speech therapist who’s main focus is working with children.

Abigail is an undergraduate Moody Honors student studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. Born and raised in Waco, Texas she hopes to contribute her time to advance multilingual research and improve speech services. Her interests include tele-therapy and bilingual treatment.

Nandhini is a junior studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She is currently volunteering at the Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia Research lab, where she is excited to learn more about neurodegenerative disorders and how they can affect bilingual speakers. She is passionate about accessibility and equity in healthcare, especially for marginalized communities, and hopes her time in the lab will better prepare her for a career as a physician.

Gianna Cisneros

Reagan Price 

Adrianna White

David Carillo-Moran

Ariana Figueroa

Amy Perez

Maylina Hudock

Renata Aldrete

Ximena Zarate

Angela Guerrero

Adrian Martinez

Kaprianna Lopez

Leslie Brown

Kyleigh McAlister

Anna Su

Victoria Gandara

Paulina Guijarro

Liz Chinchilla

Alejandra Guzman Buitrago

Jo-Ali Acosta

Andrea Mota

Jan Holst

Gary Robinaugh