Faculty and students associated with Hofstra’s Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences are engaged in a number of high profile research projects. In addition to the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, located in the Joan and Arnold Saltzman Community Services Center, the department houses several state-of-the-art research laboratories.
Undergraduate students have an opportunity to work with faculty on a variety of research projects in the department’s laboratories. Individual student research projects are often completed by enrolling in SPCH 150 (Independent Study). Students with a GPA of 3.5 or better in their senior year of study may be invited to participate in the departmental honors program (SPCH 100). Under the guidance of a faculty mentor, students design and implement an original research project. Honors projects require a written paper and an oral defense before a panel of faculty members. Undergraduate research projects completed in the department have been presented at conferences including the New York State Speech-Language Hearing Association, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and Colonial Academic Alliance Conference.
Graduate students have the opportunity to work with faculty on research. Students have assisted faculty in various aspects of research including data collection, testing, and data analysis. All graduate students are introduced to the principles of research design in SPCH 207 (Research Seminar in Speech), a course which serves as a catalyst for the development of student research projects. The department hosts an annual research seminar where outstanding student research is featured alongside professional guest speakers. In addition, projects initiated in this class have been presented at conferences given by the New York State Speech-Language Hearing Association and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Examples of faculty research interests include:
Professor Julie Case studies speech production and speech motor control in children with speech sound disorders with a specialization in childhood apraxia of speech. Her research program also includes the study factors related to the clinical management and treatment efficacy for childhood apraxia of speech.
Professor Jason H. Davidow studies speech production changes during fluency-inducing conditions. Dr. Davidow is also interested in, and has begun to research, treatment outcomes and the neurophysiology of stuttering.
Professor Susan M. DeMetropolis' research focuses on assessment of acquired language and cognitive disorders for treatment implications using objective measurements such as eye-tracking and EEG. Her goal is to detect the sensitivity of behavioral measurements (i.e., standardized tests used in the field) using objective measurements.
Professor Aniruddha Deshpande's research interests include tinnitus, amplification, cochlear implants, and neuroimaging. His current research focuses on investigating the effectiveness of physiological and psycho-acoustic approaches for the assessment and management of tinnitus in different populations. His research has been supported through intramural and extramural funding.
Professor Akshay Maggu examines sound processing in the brain. Trained as an auditory neuroscientist and audiologist, Dr. Maggu in his research program investigates the (1) Subcortical and cortical auditory neuroplasticity induced due to long-term auditory experiences (e.g., speech, language, music, disorders); (2) Establishment of auditory electrophysiological markers for detection of communication disorders; (3) Neural underpinnings of auditory processing disorders as assessed via auditory electrophysiology; and (4) Auditory electroencephalography-driven development of auditory training paradigms. At Hofstra University, Dr. Maggu directs the Auditory Brain and Cognition lab, where basic and clinical research is conducted with a broad aim of benefitting the individuals with communication disorders.
Professor Jenny Roberts' research focus is on the early identification and treatment of children at risk for oral language and reading impairments. She is also interested in the language development of internationally-adopted children.
Professor Scott R. Schroeder’s research examines language processing and the relationship between language processing and non-linguistic cognition, with a focus on bilinguals.