Margo Lanier
After graduating in May, Margo will pursue a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She is a research assistant in the Hearing Research Lab and was a personal assistant with the Beckwith Residential Support Services program. A Dean’s List honoree and James Scholar, Margo interned with The Autism Program and worked at a camp for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Dylan Matsumoto
Dylan will go on for a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology after graduating next year. He has worked with children with autism spectrum disorder as an inclusion aide at a summer camp and is active in the campus chapter of Best Buddies. A Dean’s List honoree, Dylan is tutoring the child of an immigrant family through the University YMCA.

Isabella Castro
After graduating next year, Isabella hopes to pursue a career as a Speech-Language Pathologist in elementary schools. An avid volunteer, she has been active with BabyTalk daycare in Decatur, IL, which provides free services so that young parents can get their GEDs. A James Scholar, Isabella is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society.

Grace Rochford
This fall, Grace begins master’s degree studies in Speech-Language Pathology at Rush University. She was a Student Aging Researchers in Training (START) program fellow and a research assistant in the Aging and Neurocognition Lab, and presented her research at the University’s Undergraduate Research Symposium twice. She serves as vice president of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association.

Melissa Bruce
Melissa will graduate next year and pursue a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She is a research assistant in the Intellectual Disabilities Communication Lab. She also oversees the development of ADA-compliant material for a course on contemporary nutrition. A Dean’s List honoree and James Scholar, Melissa is a literacy tutor for individuals with Down syndrome through GiGi’s Playhouse.

Hannah Lynch
Hannah will pursue a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology after graduating next year. She assists graduate students with their research on voice and speech production disorders. A Dean’s List honoree and James Scholar, she visits nursing home residents and tutors middle school students through Volunteer Illini Projects. Hannah also received the Peter J. and Ella Montaleone Scholarship this year.

Chloe Maghinang
Chloe graduates next year and plans a career in Speech-Language Pathology. She is a member of the Binaural Hearing Lab and the Aging and Neurocognition Lab, and has presented at the University’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. A Dean’s List honoree, she serves as Pre-Health Coordinator and Pre-SLP Ambassador for The Career Center. Chloe also received an AHS Dean’s Scholarship this year.

Nadia Hernandez
Nadia graduates next year and plans to become an early intervention speech-language pathologist. A Dean’s List honoree, she is a member of the Intellectual Disabilities Communication Lab. With an interest in helping members of the Deaf community who choose to pursue spoken language, she is studying American Sign Language.

Johana Machuca
Johana begins studies toward a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology at Rush University this fall. She is a research assistant in the Child Language Lab, works at the Illinois Leadership Center, and volunteers with Communication Health, Advocacy, and Therapy (CHAT). A Dean’s List honoree and James Scholar, Johana received Rising Star and Emerging Leader awards from Illinois Promise.

Rebecca DeAcetis
Rebecca will pursue a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology after graduating in May. She was a research assistant in the Child Language Lab and the Department of Psychology’s Infant Cognition Lab, and an ASL tutor for the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. A Dean’s List honoree and James Scholar, Rebecca is a board member of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association.

Paige Valente
Paige completes degrees in SHS and Psychology in May and plans to become a bilingual speech-language pathologist. A Dean’s List honoree and James Scholar, she shadowed clinicians at the Bastian Voice Institute and in a private otolaryngology office, and is a research assistant in the Auditory Neuro Experience Lab and Child Language Lab.

Allison Wells
Allison graduated in December and is pursuing her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She was a research assistant in the Child Language Lab and presented her work at the University’s Undergraduate Research Symposium. She volunteered at the Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club and Dovetail Speech Consultants. A Dean’s List honoree and James Scholar, Allison graduated magna cum laude.

Hannah Lynch
Hannah will pursue a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology after graduating next year. She assists graduate students with their research on voice and speech production disorders. A Dean’s List honoree and James Scholar, she visits nursing home residents and tutors middle school students through Volunteer Illini Projects. Hannah also received a Sylvia Wacker Herzog Scholarship this year.

Gillian Bowman
Gillian plans to become a speech-language pathologist after graduating in 2023. She provides captioning services to students and campus units working for Accessible Media Services in the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services. To gain valuable experience working with children in K-12 schools, Gillian recently obtained a short-term substitute teaching license.

Rafay Ali Khan
Rafay will complete his PhD in Neuroscience in 2022. He is using three novel neuroimaging techniques to increase understanding of tinnitus, with the goal of developing treatments. This summer, he will take part in the NIH-funded fMRI training course at the University of Michigan. He is a member of the Neuroscience Student Organization.

Ali Marquess
Ali will complete her Doctor of Audiology degree next year. She studies otoacoustic emissions and their clinical uses and is a teaching assistant for an undergraduate class on the language and culture of Deaf communities. For her fourth-year externship, she has been accepted into the pediatric track at the University of Chicago.

Silvia Murgia
Silvia will complete her PhD in 2023. Her research has examined many aspects of speech intelligibility in classrooms, including background noise, reverberation time, teacher speech disorders, and the impact of masks. She has presented her work at the Acoustical Society of America Conference.Silvia also received the Ehud and Janie Yairi International Graduate Student Award this year.

Emily Harrington
Emily will complete her PhD in 2024. Her research explores how foundational knowledge of child communication development influences a caregiver’s ability to respond to early communication attempts. She was a speech-language pathologist for a school district, pediatric clinic, and home-based pediatric company. Emily also received an Elaine Paden Award this year.

Elizabeth Lydon
Elizabeth will complete her PhD in 2023. She uses neurophysiological and behavioral techniques to elucidate the relationship between cognitive control and higher order semantic processing in older adults with various forms of cognitive impairment. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she was a clinician working with older adults in long-term care and short-term rehabilitation settings.

Rachael Lo
Rachael will complete her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology in August. She has gained experience with speech, language, and fluency disorders, gender-affirming voice therapy, and AAC devices. She currently has a full-time clinical placement with the Arcola school district and will begin a medical placement with an inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Rockford in June.

Hannah Smith
Hannah will complete her Doctor of Audiology degree next year. She will complete her fourth-year externship with the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, WA. Her clinical interests include diagnostic evaluations, hearing aid fittings, auditory brainstem response testing, and tinnitus management and treatment. She is a research assistant in the Auditory Neuro Experience Lab.

Hannah Staisloff
Hannah will join the cochlear implant industry after completing her PhD in August. In the Binaural Hearing Lab, she has been investigating the limitations that bilateral cochlear implant users face in complex listening environments. She completed an internship in clinical product research at Advanced Bionics, and developed treatment options for residents of Clark-Lindsey Village.

Audrey Jahns
Audrey completes her MA in Speech-Language Pathology in May. She is interested in the roles that home environments and family support play in a child’s speech and language development, and how to provide families with tools and resources to create a rich learning environment. She is a research assistant in the Applied Psycholinguistics Lab.

Danielle Pacholski
Danielle will complete her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology next year. She has researched the effect of stuttering-like dysfluencies on implicit memory in adults, comparing recall accuracy from sentences containing part-word repetitions, sound prolongations, and blocks, and found that stuttering-like dysfluencies did not impact recall accuracy. She hopes to work with people who stutter as a clinician.

Ashley Wadsworth
Ashley will complete her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology in August. She recently developed a passion for working with infants in neonatal intensive care units who have feeding or swallowing difficulties, as she believes feeding time is an important and rewarding time for babies and new parents. She also has been honing her skills in telehealth practice.

Nina Iraci
Nina graduates in May with a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She worked with children as a speech-language pathology assistant in a private practice for two years, and was a research and clinical intern in the Speech and Audiology Section of the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX.

Alaina Arthurs
Alaina will complete her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology next year. She has conducted research on the effect of phonological form on perception and investigated ways of enhancing diagnostic tools for more effective detection of language disorders among bilingual children. She also contributed to research on multilingual language acquisition and processing.

Emily Harrington
Emily will complete her PhD in 2024. Her research explores how foundational knowledge of child communication development influences a caregiver’s ability to respond to early communication attempts. She was a speech-language pathologist for a school district, pediatric clinic, and home-based pediatric company. Emily also received a Phyllis Ariens Burkhead Memorial Fellowship this year.

Mallory Cooper
Mallory will complete her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology next year. She has been working with children since the age of 15, when she volunteered at a preschool. She has done research on children’s language acquisition and how clinicians can teach parents of children with autism spectrum disorder to facilitate communication more effectively.

Elena Frizzell
Elena will complete her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology next year. As an inclusion assistant with Champaign-Urbana Special Recreation, Elena worked one-on-one with children with communication disorders. She assisted with research on code switching among bilingual adults with autism spectrum disorder. She currently is a graduate assistant with the Eating Disorders Outreach Team of the Counseling Center.

Callie Brennan
Callie will complete her Doctor of Audiology degree in 2023. She is a research assistant in the Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, where she investigates the dynamics and prevalence of misophonia. She helped organize one of the first international, interdisciplinary virtual conferences on tinnitus and brain imaging. She serves as vice president of the Student Academy of Audiology.

Brianna Legner
Brianna will complete her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology next year. She is a member of the National Speakers Bureau of the Children’s Craniofacial Association and founded Friendship Fridays to connect children with facial differences during the pandemic through social media. She assisted with research on the Lombard Effect, the increase of vocal effort in the presence of noise.

Silvia Murgia
Silvia will complete her PhD in 2023. Her research has examined many aspects of speech intelligibility in classrooms, including background noise, reverberation time, teacher speech disorders, and the impact of masks. She has presented her work at the Acoustical Society of America Conference.Silvia also received the Bob Bilger Graduate Student Award this year.