Lab Director
Dr. JoAnn Silkes
Dr. JoAnn Silkes earned her B.A. in Speech and Hearing Sciences from Indiana University and her M.S. in Communicative Disorders from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. After working as a clinical speech-language pathologist with adults in medical settings for 10 years, she earned her Ph.D. in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Washington. Her research focuses on understanding the underlying mechanisms of aphasia and devising ways to improve treatment for the word retrieval problems that are typical of aphasia.
Doctoral Students
Christina Sen
Christina is a fifth-year Joint Doctoral Program student at SDSU and UCSD. She received her BA in Speech Sciences from the University of British Columbia. Her current research explores the mechanisms of cognitive and linguistic processing in people with aphasia. She uses a combination of eye-tracking, pupillometry, and behavioral methods in her research. She is also in the process of obtaining her clinical certification in speech pathology, in hopes of expanding the research on aphasia treatment.
Master’s Students
Katelyn Krogfoss
Katelyn Krogfoss is a first year masters student. She received her B.S. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from The University of Texas at Austin. She is interested in working in the medical setting but hasn’t decided which population yet. Outside of school, she loves reading, hiking, skiing and pilates!
Faith Moore-Thomas
Faith Moore-Thomas is a first-year graduate student at SDSU studying Speech Language and Hearing Science. She graduated with her BS in Speech-Language Pathology with a minor in Psychology. She is currently interested in working with the adult population in a medical setting. She is looking forward to working with everyone in CLAL and being involved in the lab! Outside of school, Faith enjoys reading, spending time with loved ones, and exploring!
Khanh Nguyen
Khanh is a second-year graduate student at SDSU studying Speech Language and Hearing Science. She earned her B.A. in Linguistics and B.S. in Psychology at University of California, San Diego. Her career goal is to work with adults or children in a medical setting.
Cora Neisen
Cora Neisen is a first-year M.A. student at SDSU studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and is part of the Bilingual Certificate Program. Cora received her B.A. in Journalism from the University of Minnesota. She taught English to adult immigrants and refugees for 8 years in a variety of settings before doing a post-baccalaureate program in Speech Language Pathology. In her future clinical practice, she hopes to work with adults in a medical setting. Outside of her professional life, Cora loves cooking, running and spending time with her cat Debbie.
Kimi Purcell
Kimi is a second-year graduate student at SDSU studying Speech Language and Hearing Sciences. She earned her undergraduate degree in Communications and Philosophy from Arizona State University. Her special interests include aphasia and dysphagia. She hopes to work with adults in the acute care setting after graduation. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading nonfiction, exploring San Diego, and baking.
Ame Tariq
Ame Tariq is a second-year graduate student studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Science. She is interested in working with adult populations in a medical setting and enjoys engaging in research to better understand the knowledge that informs clinical practice.
Isabella Vasiliadis
Isabella (Izzie) Vasiliadis is a first-year graduate student at SDSU Speech, Language, and Hearing Science. Izzie received her B.A. in speech-language pathology at California State University, Long Beach. She hopes to work in the medical setting but is still deciding on a population. Outside of school, Izzie loves pilates, going to the beach, and spending time with friends!
Undergraduates
Ava Guerra
Ava Guerra is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences program at San Diego State University! She is interested in working with the adult and geriatric population and hopes to be an SLP in the clinical setting after she graduates. She is also looking forward to expanding her knowledge on Aphasia from research opportunities within CLAL. Outside of her studies, Ava is involved in campus ministry and enjoys spending time outdoors!
Bella Linz
Caden Sainog
Caden Sajnog is a third year undergraduate student in the SLHS program at SDSU and is also planning on minoring in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience. He is a member of SDSU Best Buddies and a member of SDSU Club Men’s Volleyball. In the future he would like to work in the clinical setting helping people with communication disorders. He is excited to learn more about aphasia through this research opportunity.
Past Lab Members
- Julie Abitbol
- Kathryn Avila
- Alize Ayton
- Ellie Brownlee
- Marlene Chavez Corona
- Jesse Marie Di Carlo-Wagner
- Lauren Edh
- Claire Falkus
- Hanna Hartzler
- Lindsay Hill, M.A., CCC-SLP
- Harper Kim
- Michelle Lew
- Brittany Moreno
- Anna Mucher
- Serena Mueller, M.A., CF-SLP
- Natalie Nguyen
- Jessica Pablo
- Ashlie Pankonin
- Anna Pero
- Savannah Ricciardulli
- Danielle Rosoff
- Emily Simon, M.A., CCC-SLP
- Jillian Sorenson
- Rana Tabrizi, M.A., CCC-SLP, M.M.T., MT-BC
- Aryanna Talamantes
- Rachel Wagner
- Stephanie Wan, M.A., CF-SLP
- Breanna Williams
- Alison Wong