NIDCD Training Grant

Neurocognitive Approaches to Communication Disorders

Grant Type: Institutional Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA)

Funding Agency: National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Grant Title: Neurocognitive Approaches to Communication Disorders
NIH Grant Number: T32 DC007361

Contact PI and Director: Tracy Love, Ph.D., [email protected]

Our program is designed to train future scientists in methods that will help us better understand the nature of language and communicative disorders. These disorders include those that affect young children through older adults (for example, problems with speaking to be understood, with producing and understanding sentences, and with memory and attention).

Prospective students, click here for more information about how to apply for this funding opportunity. Note that this supplemental information should be included with your application to the doctoral program.

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 proposed program takes advantage of the rich intellectual resources available in the San Diego, and in particular, the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders (the JDP-LCD). Our interdisciplinary training program, for the next five years, will be headed by our Training Grant Executive Committee of senior investigators. The faculty responsible for training our Fellows include 21 mostly senior-level investigators with strong research and mentoring backgrounds. The program plan is organized around three areas of emphasis: Child Language, Adult Language, and Multilingualism. Trainees chose one or more of these emphasis areas, and also chose a `methods minor’ from the following: Behavioral Dynamics, for students who want to specialize in computer-controlled methods, including reaction time and eye-tracking; Neural Imaging, for students who want to complement behavioral studies with neuroanatomical and neurophysiological techniques, including event-related brain potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging; or Neural Modeling, for students who are interested in the simulation of normal and disordered language and cognition using artificial neural networks. 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. Furthermore, 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.

For additional information, see here.

Trainees

Who is appointed to the NIDCD T32 Training Grant?

The current training grant provides training support for five predoctoral students. Trainees are typically in the first three years of their doctoral training; as such, prospective students interested in research with clinical populations may request consideration for this funding opportunity as part of their application to the JDP-LCD. Prospective students, click here for more information about how to apply for this funding opportunity

Faculty

Publications

For a current list of publications supported by this training award, see here.

Support

Summary of Trainee Support

Trainees receive a monthly stipend, as well as funds for tuition and university fees, health insurance, and/or additional research support (e.g., conference travel). Appointments last 12 months, with most trainees receiving one re-appointment. Appointments are full-time, and trainees are required to make progress on research relevant to clinical populations. Please note that as of Fall 2021, SDSU requires graduate students to show proof of health insurance.

Apply

For prospective students interested in this funding opportunity, follow the instructions listed here. Questions about this process may be directed to the Associate Director of the Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders:

Irina Potapova, PhD, CCC-SLP
[email protected]