Our Team
Our Research Team, led by Dr. Malandraki, includes a Research Associate, two doctoral students, two co-mentored doctoral students, two graduate students, and multiple research collaborators. Several undergraduate students per semester are also involved in our research projects through Undergraduate Research credit hours (learn more here).
Research Associate
Barbara Brown, MS, CCC-SLP
Research Associate
Short Bio:
Barbara Brown is a certified speech-language pathologist with extensive clinical experience in addition to serving as the project coordinator for NIH-funded grants awarded to Purdue faculty in the areas of the physiology of stuttering, motor speech development, and grammatical morphology in children with specific language impairment. Barbara currently co-teaches the Stuttering course and her interests include evidence-based practice and treatment outcomes in patients with communication and swallowing disorders.
Research Assistants
Rachel Arkenberg, MS, CCC-SLP
Doctoral Student
Research interests:
- Investigating and documenting normal central and peripheral neurophysiology of pediatric swallowing and speech
- Developing evidence-based evaluation and treatment techniques for pediatric dysphagia
- Using a dynamic systems approach to study the development of feeding and swallowing in context of speech, culture, and general motor development
Carey Smith, MS, CCC-SLP
Doctoral Student
Research interests:
- Investigating the interaction of the laryngeal subsystems: voice, swallowing, and respiration
- Examining the sensorimotor aspects of swallowing
- Exploring experimental swallow imaging methods
Shie Kantor, MM, MA, CCC-SLP
Doctoral Student (Major Advisor: Dr. Sivasankar)
Research/clinical interests
- Investigating and documenting age-related laryngeal changes affecting voice and swallowing function
Anny Alvar, BS
Doctoral Student (Major Advisor: Dr. Huber)
Research/clinical interests
- The use of resting state fMRI and structural MRIs to investigate neurophysiology and neuroplasticity of speech and swallowing in health and disease (i.e. Parkinson's disease and Cerebral Palsy)
- The interaction between subsystems that support speech and swallowing during dual tasks with a particular focus on respiratory kinematics
Samantha Mitchell, BS
Graduate Student
Involved in lab projects including:
- Investigating swallowing and motor speech functions and efficiency in children with cerebral palsy and typically developing children
- Identifying electromyographic correlates of swallowing and speech in children with cerebral palsy and typically developing children
- Providing advanced technological and media support for various lab projects
Jennine Bryan
Graduate Student
Involved in lab projects including:
- Investigating mealtime behaviors and eating efficiency of children with cerebral palsy and typically developing children
- Exploring the speech intelligibility of children with cerebral palsy for adult listeners
- Providing media support for various lab projects
Interested in Joining our Dream Team?
If you are a graduate student or a prospective doctoral student and you have an interest in joining our team, please send an email and your CV directly to Dr. Malandraki at malandraki@purdue.edu.
If you are an undergraduate student and are interested in learning more about research and how to participate in our lab, please complete this application (google doc). If we have a vacancy in the lab and you qualify, we will contact you! Thank you for your interest.
Alumni
- Cagla Kantarcigil, MS, PhD
- PhD student (2014-2019)
- Cagla is now a post-doctoral research fellow at Northwestern University in Chicago.
- Anumitha Venkatraman, MS
- Graduate research assistant (2018-2019)
- Anumitha is now completing her clinical fellowship at the University of Cincinnati Voice and Swallowing Center.
- Paige Cornille, MS, CFY-SLP
- Graduate research assistant (2018-2019)
- Paige is now completing her clinical fellowship at Children's Therapy Corner in Michigan.
- Robert B. Fujiki, PhD
- Graduate research assistant (2016-2017)
- Robert is now completing clinical fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Voice and Swallowing Clinic.
- Valerie Steinhauser, MS, CCC-SLP
- Graduate research assistant (2016-2017)
- Val is now an SLP at the Jewish Child and Family Services in Chicago, IL.
- Natalie Tomerlin, MS, CCC-SLP
- Graduate research assistant (2016-2017)
- Natalie is now an SLP at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.
- Abby Oliver, MS, CFY-SLP
- Undergraduate research assistant (2014-2017)
- Abby is now completing her clinical fellowship in a medical setting.
- Naomi (Mia) Dreyer, MS, CCC-SLP
- Graduate research assistant (2014-2016)
- Mia is now an SLP in California.
- Lucia Figueiredo-Mourao, PhD
- Post-Doctoral Researcher (2014-2016)
- Lucia is a Professor at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Brazil.
- Pratik Kashyap, BS
- Graduate research assistant (2015-2016)
- Pratik is a PhD student at the school of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue.
- Kausar Abbas, PhD
- Graduate research assistant (2015)
- Kausar is now a faculty member at the University of Management and Technology in his home country, Pakistan.
