The Reach for the Stars awards highlight their academic contributions and underscore UCF’s commitment to fostering groundbreaking research.  Awardees receive a $10,000 annual research grant for three years.  We are proud to announce that Lauren Bislick, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, CBIS, was a recipient of the award.  Lauren spoke on this achievement, "I was honored with this award because of my research efforts aimed at diagnosing, treating, and improving the quality of life of those living with communication disorders, such as aphasia and apraxia of speech. The big projects that helped make me competitive for this award included:

• My NIH grant – “The National Institutes of Health recently funded Bislick’s latest research to explore the efficacy of a home practice protocol for patients with apraxia of speech and aphasia.  The data gained from this study will support future funding to extend the home-practice motor imagery protocol to even more patients with acquired communication impairments resulting from stroke and other neurological injury, she says.”

• Grant info: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) – Early Career Research (ECR) Award (R21) 2023 - 2026. 

• Motor Imagery for Treatment Enhancement and Efficacy (MI-TEE) in Persons with Apraxia of Speech. 

• The proposed research focuses on developing an alternative method to optimize treatment response and provide more economical and accessible practice opportunities for persons with post-stroke apraxia of speech.  The results of the proposed study will help establish new methods for clinical care and shift the way speech therapy is offered to people with apraxia of speech and other neurogenic communication disorders. 

• Role: PI 

• Amount: $375,000.00 (Direct) 

• Amount: $570,000.00 (Indirect) 

• A grant offered through Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital which will support my endeavors to create a specialized motor speech center to provide specialized training to speech-language pathologists and help patients with apraxia of speech and other acquired motor speech disorders.  An educational and research arm will be a crucial part of the center and will support the next generation of clinical speech-language pathologists.

• Grant info: Brooks Rehabilitation Foundation - 2024 

• Eric Sorensen Motor Speech Program 

• This program focuses on the creation of an interdisciplinary motor speech center for clinical care, community education, and research development.  My expertise in acquired apraxia of speech and neurogenic communication disorders launched this endeavor to provide care and serves for an underserved clinical population.  Now, with the external funding we can scale efforts to broaden access to clinical services, professional education, and the development of improved assessments and treatment.  This collaboration, and funding, will be regranted on a year-by-year basis. 

• Role: PI 

• Amount: $50,352.00 

• A Community Grant, offered through Orlando Health, supports the development and growth of a community yoga program, accessible to acquired brain injury survivors with communication and physical impairments.

• GRANT INFO: Orlando Health Community Grant Program 2023-2024 

• Building Community and Resilience Through an Adapted, Aphasia-Friendly, Chair Yoga Therapy Program for People with Acquired Brain Injury and Their Care-Partners 

• The purpose of this program is to build an accessible yoga program for people with acquired brain injury and their care partners, as well as provide training for professionals in the community.  The overarching goals are to address disparities in health care by creating an accessible, subsidized, community program for individuals with chronic disease and their care-partners, improve factors that influence mental illness (e.g., stress, pain, isolation, resilience, sleep quality) by building community though a gentle yoga practice with a focus on mindfulness, breathwork, and movement, and to educate professionals and students in SLP and PT and provide them with resources/tools to incorporate key ingredients into their practice. 

• Role: PI 

• Amount: $21,613.88  

Tell us about this award and the work you were recognized for:

• The UCF Reach for the Stars Award honors and rewards highly successful research and creative activity accomplished by early-career university professionals.

• Award recipient(s) will receive a $10,000 annual research grant for three years; and the right to be called a UCF Reach for the Stars award recipient.

• To be eligible for a UCF Reach for the Stars Award, an applicant must hold the rank of assistant professor; and achieve notable research and/or creative activity of national impact.

What do you enjoy about being an ANCDS member?

• The wonderful resources ANCDS provides and meeting and networking with the amazing members who are passionate about helping others.

What project are you working on now that you are excited about?

• The three projects mentioned above.