Team | Mysite

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

DR. VICTORIA S. MCKENNA, PH.D, CCC-SLP

Dr. McKenna is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and secondary faculty in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, at the University of Cincinnati. She received a Bachelors degree from Syracuse University, Masters degree from the University of New Hampshire, and Doctoral degree from Boston University in the area of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences. She completed her postdoctoral training at Purdue University and is now focusing on translational research for voice and swallowing.

CONTACT

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO OUR RECENT VSM LAB GRADUATES:
Tulsi Patel, Mariah Emery, and Courtney Kendall

ANNA BIRKEMEIER

First-year graduate student in the MA Speech-Language Pathology Program at UC. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green Status University where she completed a senior project in acoustics. Her areas of interest include acoustics, voice disorders, and neurologic language and speech disorders.

KELLY CARRARO

First-year graduate student in the MA Speech-Language Pathology program at UC. She hreceived her BS from UC and has been a lab member since her four year. Kelly received a UC Excellence Award for her Capstone Project in the VSM Lab. Her areas of interest include neurogenic communication disorders, voice disorders, and developmental language disorders.

HALEY DOERR

First-year graduate student in the MA Speech-Language Pathology Program at UC. She received bachelor’s degrees from Western Kentucky University, including B.S. Communication Sciences & Disorders & B.F.A. Performing Arts. Her areas of interest include voice disorders, dysphagia, & neurogenic communication disorders.

LAUREN HUMPERT

First-year graduate student in the MA Speech-Language Pathology Program at UC. She received her bachelor’s degree from UC, and has been a member of the VSM Lab since her fourth year. Lauren received a UC Excellence Award for her Capstone project in the VSM Lab. Her areas of interest include voice disorders, developmental language disorders, dysphagia, and speech-sound disorders.

NICK KELLIHER, M.M.

First-year doctoral student in Voice Performance and Pedagogy at UC's College-Conservatory of Music, where he also received his master's degree. His areas of interest are vocal health/wellness for the vocal athlete and operatic/commercial vocal production.

ELIZABETH MACKLEY

First-year master's student in the Speech-Language Pathology program at UC. She received her bachelor's degree from Baldwin Wallace University. Her areas of interest include dysphagia as well as voice disorders and injuries among professional voice users.

JACQUELINE MERIWETHER

Second-year graduate student in MA Speech-Language Pathology program at UC. She received her bachelor's degree from Miami University. Her areas of interest are voice disorders, dysphagia, and neurogenic communication disorders.

SAM WESLEY

First-year MA student in the Speech-Language Pathology program at UC. She received her bachelor's of science from UC. Her areas of interest include dysphagia, Parkinson's disease, voice disorders, and neurogenic cognitive disorders.

GRADUATE RESEARCHERS

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS

TARA DICKINSON

Fourth-year undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University. She is majoring in Communication Sciences and Psychology with a minor in Public Health. She completed a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at UC with a focus on gender affirming voice care. Her areas of interest include voice disorders, dysphagia, and neurogenic communication disorders

PAIGE DIXON

Fourth-year undergraduate student in the Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences program at UC. She hopes to attend graduate school in Fall of 2022 for Speech-Language Pathology. Her areas of interest include dysphagia, neurogenic cognitive disorders, and voice disorders.

RACHEL FIEDLER

Fourth-year undergraduate student with a major in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at UC. She hopes to attend graduate school for Speech-Language Pathology in the fall of 2022. Her areas of interest include aphasia, speech-sound disorders, and neurogenic communication disorders.

ALEKSANDAR GJUROVIKJ

Junior undergraduate student with a major in Aerospace Engineering and a minor in Computer Science at UC. He is proficient in data analysis and image processing, as well as has experience in software development (C++ and Python). His area of interests include robotics, emerging technologies, and UAV’s.

HANNAH NEWMAN

Third-year undergraduate engineering student with a major in Computer Engineering at UC. She is proficient in software development in languages including C#, Python, C++ and ASP.NET Core. Her areas of interest include artificial intelligence and applications development.

JULIE PANSTARES

Fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences at UC. She hopes to attend graduate school for Speech-Language Pathology in the fall of 2022. Her areas of interest include voice disorders, swallowing disorders, and language disorders in individuals on the Autism spectrum.

RACHEL ROBERTS

Fourth-year undergraduate student with a major in Speech-Language Hearing Sciences and a minor in Developmental Disabilities at UC. She aspires to attend a Speech-Language Pathology graduate program in the fall of 2022. Her areas of interest include developmental language disorders, dysphasia, neurogenic communication disorders, and voice disorders.

SAVANNAH SHANLEY

Fourth-year undergraduate student in the Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences program at UC. She hopes to attend graduate school in the fall of 2022 for Speech-Language Pathology. Her areas of interest include aphasia, dysphagia, and voice disorders.