Sunday, May 11, 2025
5/11/2025
Neurocognitive Approaches to Communication Disorders - PROJECT SUMMARY We propose a renewal of our long-standing training program in Neurocognitive Approaches to Communication Disorders (now in its 15th year), which currently supports 5 pre-doctoral trainees. This training program is designed to educate clinically sophisticated scientists who will apply their research skills to the study of language and communicative disorders, and who will, likewise, apply their clinical acumen to their research endeavors. The program takes advantage of the rich intellectual resources available in the San Diego region, and in particular, the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders (JDP- LCD). San Diego has an active research community in this field, with 25 faculty members from SDSU and UCSD participating in this training program, including 6 new faculty members since the last renewal. Our interdisciplinary training program, for the next five years, will be headed by our Training Grant Executive Committee of senior investigators. Our mentor team, drawn from faculty in SLHS, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Linguistics, Psychiatry and Neuroscience across both universities, has conducted impactful research on clinically relevant topics, with expertise in a wide range of research methodologies and clinical populations. The faculty mentors, including rising stars and distinguished leaders in the field, have the requisite research backgrounds and mentoring skills to support a rich training environment. The training program will continue to be focused on research with or directly applicable to clinical populations, while at the same time appreciating basic science underpinnings. To this end, trainees are required to work with mentors who investigate clinical populations and are required to conduct such research. Further, trainees are required to get direct experience with two different clinical populations, through laboratory rotations with their mentors and other faculty. Importantly, for those trainees who chose to become clinically certified speech-language pathologists, a special clinical track is available. In support of the growing enrollment in the JDP-LCD, we request 6 pre-doctoral trainees per year for two-year appointments in this renewal. This would bring us to the original number of trainees provided in years 1-10 of our program. Our training program has already provided predoctoral training to a substantial number of highly qualified, diverse scientists. Adding to our existing training program (optional clinic track, pathway to funding), we propose novel value-added activities to train the Whole Academic. These activities include professional development seminars and roundtables to encourage clinical and research trainings that facilitate vertical interactions among students from different years in the program and greater collaboration amongst researchers with overlapping interest. With rich existing resources and broad commitments from the program faculty and other university stakeholders to providing advanced training in clinically relevant research, this training program offers a springboard for future leaders in communication disorders.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).