Director

Zoi Gkalitsiou, PhD, CCC-SLP
Zoi Gkalitsiou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin and the Director of the Stuttering and Linguistic Processing lab. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Greece, her Master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on linguistic and cognitive factors that contribute to stuttered speech using eye-tracking measures as well as on the manifestation of stuttering in bilingual speakers. She is a certified speech-language pathologist with over 15 years of experience in various clinical settings.
Graduate Students

Nick Arreguy, BS
Nick Arreguy is a 1st year graduate student in the department of Speech, Language and Hearing Science at UT and is a graduate research assistant in the Stuttering and Linguistic Processing lab. His interests lie in how bilingualism, communicative disorders, and how playing musical instruments plays a role in brain function.

Olivia Helm, BS
Olivia Helm is a 1st year graduate student in the SLH Department at UT and a graduate research assistant in the Stuttering and Linguistic Processing lab. She is interested in learning more about the effects of bilingualism on language development and executive processing abilities.
Undergraduate Students

Hannah Fountain
Hannah Fountain is a 4th-year undergraduate student majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Her interests include children's language development and the effects of bilingualism on language production. She plans on pursuing a master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology.

Emily Rangel
Emily Rangel is a third year undergraduate SHLS major at the University of Texas at Austin. She is passionate about stuttering advocacy and contributing to evidence-based-practices to transform the lives of people who stutter. Emily is also interested in learning more about dysphagia, as well as advancing research and treatment. She plans on attending graduate school to become a speech-language pathologist and work in a medical setting.

Jasmin Serna
Hello! My name is Jasmine Serna and I am an undergraduate senior in the Speech Language and Hearing Sciences program from Dallas, Texas. I currently work as a Teaching Assistant at Capitol School of Austin, and plan to continue working with children in the future. I am graduating in December and plan to work as an SLPA for a while and then attending graduate school the following fall to become a bilingual SLP for children

Sophie Culembourg
Sophie Culembourg is a senior undergraduate student majoring in Psychology and minoring in Evolutionary and Functional Anatomy. She plans on attending graduate school for the Speech Language and Hearing Sciences, and she eventually wants to become a Speech Language Pathologist.

Rachelle Hayek
Rachelle Hayek is a 4th year undergraduate student majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and minoring in business. She is interested in children's language development as well as the causes and effects of fluency disorders. She is also fluent in both Arabic and English and is passionate about incorporating her bilingual skills into her practice. She plans on attending graduate school to become a Speech-Language Pathologist.