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New Member Spotlight: Bridget Xia, M.S., CCC-SLP

1. What sparked your interest in joining ANCDS?

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Member Spotlight: Amy Kemp, Ph.D. CCC-SLP

1. What is your ANCDS role?  Why were you interested in this role?  What are you excited about related to this role?

I am the Social Media Lead for the Communication Committee.  I was excited to learn about this role because I am interested in, and research, implementation science.  The dissemination of research and making communication and community resources effective and efficient is a passion of mine.  ANCDS is a small, special community, and to be part of creating the online version of that was exciting.  I hope to meet member and committee needs by using social media to support, celebrate, and educate!


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ANCDS Student Fellow Spotlight: Lilly Dennison

Name: Lilly Dennison (M.S. Candidate)
Program of study/Year in program: M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology candidate at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.  I have now attended the program for over a year with expectations to graduate in May 2024.
University: University of Tennessee Health Science Center
ANCDS Fellow Mentor: Mary H. Purdy, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BC-ANCDS
Area(s) of research, teaching, and/or clinical interest: The relationship between cognition and language in persons with aphasia



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ANCDS Student Fellow Spotlight: Courtney Jewell

Name: Courtney Jewell
Program of study/Year in program: Ph.D. Candidate, The Ohio State University, 4 years
University: Ohio State University
ANCDS Fellow Mentor: Sarah Wallace, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Area(s) of research, teaching, and/or clinical interest: Impact of psychosocial factors on post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation outcomes



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ANCDS Student Fellow Spotlight: Melissa Ugianskis, MPH

Name: Melissa Ugianskis, MPH
Program of Study/Year in Program: second-year graduate student at Portland State University working on a master's degree in the Speech and Hearing Sciences
University: Portland State University
ANCDS Fellow Mentor: Jose Centeno, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Area(s) of research, teaching, and/or clinical interest: neuroplasticity and language recovery in aphasia



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Audrey Holland Tribute From Pelagie Beeson, Ph.D., BC-ANCDS

Audrey came to the University of Arizona in the Fall of 1991 as a Professor and Department Head of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences.  Our department had just received NIH funding for the National Center for Neurogenic Communication Disorders, and Audrey was one of the Principal Investigators.  I had completed my Ph.D. at Arizona the year before and was working as a Research Scientist for the Department of Neurology.  Good fortune came when Audrey called me before she arrived in town to ask if I would be interested in joining the Center research team — and that began our collaboration. 

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Audrey Holland Tribute from Janet Patterson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

I believe, as I am sure many of you do as well, that in our careers, work, and lives, we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, who built strong foundations that allow us to create new and exciting pathways, which in turn, will encourage the next generation of individuals — clinicians, researchers, persons with aphasia, family, and friends — to venture in even more unique and fulfilling directions.  Despite her diminutive stature, Audrey Holland had very broad and strong shoulders on which we all stand.  Everyone here today, and many people who could not be here, have been touched in one way or another by Audrey, as students, colleagues, mentees, clients, and most importantly, as humans.  We owe Audrey a debt of gratitude for the guiding light she has been to people living with aphasia and investigating aphasia.

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ANCDS Student Fellow Spotlight: Kathryn-Anne Pertab

Name: Kathryn-Anne Pertab
Earned Degree(s): B.S. in Communication Disorders
Program of study/Year in program: M.S. in Communication Disorders, second year
Mentor/Advisor: Dr. Tyson Harmon
University: Brigham Young University
ANCDS Fellowship Mentor: Dr. Kimberly Smith
Area(s) of research, teaching, and/or clinical interest: counseling role of speech-language pathologists, the psychosocial impact of communication disorders on individuals and their families





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ANCDS Student Fellow Spotlight: Hasini Weerathunge

Name: Hasini Weerathunge
Earned Degree(s): Bachelor of Science in Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka; Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, USA
Program of study/Year in program: Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 5th year
Mentor/Advisor: Dr. Cara Stepp
University: Boston University
ANCDS Fellowship Mentor: Dr. Lynda Feenaughty
Area(s) of research, teaching, and/or clinical interest: Motor Speech Disorders, Fluency Disorders, Voice disorders





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Member Spotlight: Dr. Mary Purdy

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The EBCR Committee: Hard at Work!

JoAnn Silkes, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

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ANCDS Clinical Spotlight: Michael Biel, CScD, CCC-SLP, BC-ANCDS

By Michael Biel, CScD, CCC-SLP, BC-ANCDS

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In Memoriam: Dr. Marilyn E. Newhoff

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Syracuse University Aphasia Lab

At the Syracuse University (SU) Aphasia Lab, we use behavioral and physiological measures to study the effects of biopsychosocial factors on speech and language treatment outcomes to improve recovery and quality of life for persons with aphasia.  Dr. Ellyn Riley, an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, is the Principal Investigator and director of the lab.  Current lab members include two part-time speech-language pathologists (Eve Mercer, M.S., CCC-SLP, and Danielle Kealy, M.S., CCC-SLP), a first-year doctoral student (Hannah Rembrandt, M.S., CCC-SLP), three clinical SLP Master’s students (Juliet Kibbe, Gabrielle Weinstein, and Nicole Vieyto), and two undergraduate students (Christina Piera and Mitchell Mazza).  

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ANCDS Student Fellow Spotlight: Amy Kemp

Name:  Amy M. Kemp
Earned Degree(s): M.A. in Communication Sciences and Disorders, B.A. in Intrapersonal Communications
Program of study/Year in program: Ph.D. Candidate in Communication Sciences and Disorders
Mentor/Advisor: Katy O’Brien
University:  University of Georgia
ANCDS Fellowship Mentor:  Melissa Duff
Area(s) of research, teaching, and/or clinical interest: Cognitive rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury, older adults/cognitive aging, and implementation science





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Reflections on the 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting

Written By: Kimberly A. Eichhorn, M.S., CCC-SLP; BC-ANCDS; ATP

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IARC 2022: An “Effervescent” Review

Ellen Bernstein-Ellis, M.A.
Aphasia Treatment Program
Cal State East Bay

What do Krakow, Florence, Edinburgh, Zurich, Aalborg, Sheffield, Slovenia, Montreal, and Boston all have in common?  They’ve all hosted the biennial International Aphasia Rehabilitation Conference (IARC) at some point in its esteemed 38-year history.  Philadelphia now joins this storied group of locations.  It may never be the same given the #RockingAphasia campaign, but more on that later.


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2022 Clinical Aphasiology Conference

I have attended the Clinical Aphasiology Conference almost every year since entering my doctoral program in 2010.  Each year I look forward to attending CAC to learn about new research findings, gain new perspectives from the invited speaker presentations, meet up with collaborators to discuss new and ongoing projects, meet newcomers in Aphasiology, and spend time with colleagues and friends. 
This year was unique for multiple reasons.  It was our first in-person CAC since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and it was also the very first hybrid CAC, with both in-person and virtual attendees and speakers.  We were fortunate to hear from a panel of experts, Drs. Anne Charity Hudley, Charles Ellis, Davetrina Seles Gadson, on Inclusion in the Language Sciences.  This session was both powerful and informative and provided attendees with resources and tools to help address health disparities and inequity within their academic programs, clinical settings, and research.  There was also a session dedicated to wellness in aphasia, within which I had the opportunity to share recent research on the benefits of a yoga practice for stroke survivors with aphasia (my first CAC platform presentation!). There were other important topics, including a talk on individual-level predictors of post-traumatic growth and depreciation in aphasia, led by Dr. Tami Brancamp, and adapting acceptance and commitment therapy for stroke survivors with aphasia, led by Dr. Will Evans.  These talks, along with many other great presentations, remind us that the consequences of aphasia extend beyond word-finding difficulties and highlight the importance of social and psychological wellbeing to one’s ability to live well with aphasia. 
The student representation at the 2022 CAC was phenomenal.  There were more students in attendance than ever before, many of whom were first authors on conference presentations.  There were five National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders (NIDCD) presentations, a Research Symposium in Clinical Aphasiology (RSCA) presentation, Fellow platform presentations, and eleven poster presentations.  I believe this is a terrific sign for the future of CAC and the field of aphasiology!
A big thank you to Drs. Will Hula and Mike Dickey, Conference Chair and Program Chair, respectively, and all those involved, for organizing an excellent and thought-provoking conference that covered a variety of topics in Aphasiology with options for in-person and virtual attendance for attendees and presenters. 
Lauren Bislick, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, CBIS
Assistant Professor
Interim Director, Aphasia House 
University of Central Florida

New Member Benefit!

ANCDS is pleased to announce a new benefit of membership!  ANCDS will now accept requests to post members’ research study recruitment on verified social media accounts (i.e., ANCDS, @TheANCDS, and official.ancds).  This benefit will apply to social media platforms only.  Recruitment information will not be listed on the ANCDS website or in the newsletter.  

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ANCDS Board Certification Interview with Rene Utianski

Name: Rene L. Utianski, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BC-ANCDS
University(s) attended: The George Washington University (BA), Arizona State University (MS, Ph.D.)
Workplace: Mayo Clinic- Rochester, MN
Area(s) of clinical or research interest: Functional neurological disorders and progressive apraxia of speech


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