CSD Students and Faculty To Present at Virtual Research Conference

Sue Behrens, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD), and her student research team will present their research virtually at the 9th Annual Westchester Undergraduate Conference.

The research team includes Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology juniors Laura Morini ’21 and Mel Braccia ’21, as well as Tony Burger, a senior at Bergen County Academies in New Jersey, who is completing his senior internship year with Dr. Behrens and Denise Cruz, MMC’s Director of Clinical Services, at the College’s Ruth Smadbeck Communication and Learning Center.

Their presentation is entitled Building a More Integrated Team: Linguistics and Interprofessionalism. The team has researched ways that the field of Speech-Language Pathology can benefit from more linguistic courses in the higher education curriculum and through continuing educational training for practitioners. They surveyed both linguists and speech language pathologists, gathering workplace examples of the need for more interprofessionalism and an enhanced treatment team for patients. Their outreach is combined with a thorough literature review of innovative ways that linguistic thinking has improved diagnosis and treatment.  

The conference, which moved to a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will feature poster and platform presentations hosted and delivered through a conference webpage. In addition, dozens of student authors will present their research virtually during the conference on April 17. Interaction and discussion related to the presentations will continue online from April 17-19.

Published: April 08, 2020