Dr. Yael Arbel, PhD, CCC-SLP, Professor and Co-Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Group in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences has been named the next Director of the PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences Program. A highly respected clinician, health professions educator, and scholar, Dr. Arbel has over 25 years of experience leading and working within healthcare and higher education. 

Dr Arbel’s vision for the PhD program is “to continue to grow our interprofessional research and expand support and funding opportunities for mentored research at the IHP.”

Prior to joining the Institute in 2013, Dr. Arbel served as an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Florida where she taught courses in the area of language development and disorders. Since joining the IHP she has been integral in the development of the Cognitive Neuroscience Group and teaches in the PhD program. At the Institute Dr. Arbel has demonstrated her effectiveness as a leader and her passion for mentorship and development of future scholars.

Her research focuses on understanding typical and atypical executive functions and optimizing outcomes for children with development language disorder by identifying factors that affect their learning. She has published numerous papers and presented widely on her research and is working to translate this knowledge into effective intervention approaches for children with language learning challenges. She was the recipient of the IHP’s New Investigator Award in 2018 and the IHP’s Excellence in Research Award in 2021 and has obtained over $5 million in federal grants to fund her research. 

Dr. Arbel has a Bachelor of Arts in speech language pathology and audiology from Tel-Aviv University, and Master of Science in communication sciences and disorders and a Doctor of Philosophy in human development and communication sciences from the University of Texas at Dallas. She completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Florida and is currently a research associate at Harvard Medical School in addition to her appointment at the Institute.

As Director of the PhD program, she will implement a dynamic vision and strategic plan to continue to grow the program, close the gap between research and practice, and advance research and scholarship to improve the lives of people. I know the program will benefit from her passion and innovation.