Name: Nicole Campbell
Earned Degree(s): B.A. in Biology from UC Berkeley; M.S. in Medical Speech from the Language Pathology from the University of Washington
Program of study/Year in program: Class of 2021/current Clinical Fellow at VA Puget Sound
Mentor/Advisor: Most influential professor: Dr. Kristie Spencer
Most influential clinical supervisor: Leslie Kot
ANCDS Fellowship Mentor: Dr. Mary Purdy
Area(s) of research, teaching, and/or clinical interests: Clinical interests: Compensatory supports for cognition, multimodal communication, communication partner training, dx and tx of dysarthria(s)

1. Why were you interested in the ANCDS conference fellow program?
Our field is so broad; I wanted a space to engage with other SLPs who are passionate about the same areas of the field — neurogenic communication disorders.

2. What did you enjoy about the ANCDS conference fellow program?
I loved connecting with other ANCDS fellows with similar career goals who shared their personal journeys. As the parent of a toddler myself, it was heartening to hear from Ph.D. students with young children who could speak to pursuing their career paths while balancing personal life and parenthood. Similarly, my ANCDS mentor connected with me on a personal level, offered advice, and shared her own career and life journey, which has helped me visualize my own path forward.

3. Why would you recommend the ANCDS conference fellow program to future students?
The ANCDS fellowship program offered me a trifecta of opportunities — registration to attend the Annual Scientific Meeting, connection to other fellows with similar research interests, AND connection to a wonderful experienced mentor in the field. My mentor and I spent over 2 hours connecting during our first meeting; she made me feel important and was interested in me both as a professional and a person. Mentorship opportunities can be more sparse after graduation; I love having an expert mentor who is not tied to me by my employment.

4. Based on this first introduction to ANCDS, what are the benefits to students, clinicians, and/or researchers?
ANCDS does amazing work! It is a community of professionals that are focused on researching and practicing at the top of their field in the area of neurogenetics. The access to research, best practices, and community is extremely valuable.

5. Describe your current clinical work.
I am currently a Clinical Fellow at the VA Puget Sound, where I am rotating through acute care, inpatient rehab, long-term care, and outpatient settings. I have seen the relevance of ANCDS to my current clinical work as I’ve found myself clinically applying concepts from the recent ANCDS Scientific Meeting on motor speech disorders. Most notably this conference deepened my understanding of articulator-specific impairments (e.g. varying contributions of the tongue, lips, and jaw) in dysarthria presentation, and the measured acoustic changes elicited by various cues commonly used in dysarthria treatments (e.g. loud, slow, clear). It was valuable to have this space to connect to research to inform my daily practice.

6. Why were you interested in the above location to expand your clinical skills?
Completing a fellowship at the VA is such a unique opportunity as I get to do a little bit of everything! I see patients for eval and treatment across the scope of our field, from outpatient gender-affirming voice treatment to acute care AAC implementation. I am constantly learning, and there is a need to continually add to my knowledge to become a better practitioner; ANCDS has been a valuable resource on my ongoing journey to serve my patients with best practice in our field.