The MGH Institute was quite visible at the 2025 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention, which took place in Washington, DC from November 20-22. In addition to the 56 presentations and posters by Institute faculty, alumni, and students, there were several award winners from the Institute. 

Dr. Carla Tierney-Hendricks, a lecturer in CSD program and a researcher at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, earned a $75,000 Clinical Research Grant for her proposal on, “Using Intervention Mapping to Co-Design a Transitional Care Intervention for Aphasia Rehabilitation.” Dr. Jennifer Zuk, who did the speech-language pathology portion of Harvard’s Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology program at the MGH Institute, earned a New Century Research grant to study, “Early Motor Function in Infancy as a Predictor of Emerging Language Skills.” Dr. Marc Maffei, a graduate of the MS-SLP and PhD program received a $10,000 ASHA Foundation New Investigator Award for a study on, “Speech Kinematics and Language Skills in Late Talkers,” and Assistant Professor Julia Yi, received the same award to work on “Exploring the Shift in Individualized Education Program Classifications from Speech/Language Impairment to Specific Learning Disability in Mid-Elementary School: A Mixed Methods Study.”

“I’m grateful to have been awarded the New Investigators Research Grant,” said Yi. “This study explores why students are often re- or de-classified out of Speech/Language Impairment services around age nine — a shift that has important implications for equitable access to supports for students with a developmental language disorder. I’m fortunate to be doing this work at the IHP where the research resources are exceptional and where I can contribute to the rich legacy of language and literacy research.  As I build my line of research focused on adolescent language and literacy, this first-of-its-kind study will play a foundational role in informing my broader work.”

Professor Andrea Pittman, who is director of the Audiology program, received an ASHA Editor’s Award for her article on Spatial Hearing in Children With and Without Hearing Loss: Where and What the Speech Is Matters for Local Speech Intelligibility. Several students and alumni were Research Mentoring-Pair Travel Award recipients including Jennifer Julca MS-SLP '25 and Yobella Cook '25 with their mentor Dr. Sofia Vallila-Rohter; Jessica Schwartz '25 with Dr. Megan Schliep and Dr. Tierney-Hendricks; alums Allison Aaron with Dr. Kathryn Connaghan, and Rana Alrebdi with Dr. Schliep, and with fellow alums Shalom Henderson, Marissa Russell and Charles Nudelman.

Haylie Santos, Dabirichi Chukwuezi, and Anastasia Yang went to ASHA as part of the student leadership program, MSLP, designed to give students the opportunity to learn how ASHA functions, sit in on board and committee meetings, and network with leaders in the field

“Going to ASHA through their Student Leadership Program MSLP was a transformative experience for me,” said Chukwuezi. “I grew close to other professionals from across the country and the world, networked, and gained mentors, and learned about ways that I can make a change in this field through ASHA and state organizations. It is an experience that I am so grateful to have done alongside fellow classmates and even alumni of the program!" 

It was the second ASHA Convention for Santos, who attended in 2022 as an invited student presenter of a 30-minute technical talk. “Although the week was short, I learned so much about myself and how to be a better leader,” explained Santos. “The greatest gift this program gave me was the connections I made with the 39 other students who make up the MSLP Class of 2025. I know already that these are connections I will hold close to my heart and carry into my career. I am so grateful to have met them and for this incredible experience and opportunity.”