Find out more about graduates of the program over the last few years. You can also read about past doctoral graduates from the department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders
2020 Alumni
Gregory J. Spray Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Dr. Gregory Spray is an Instructor in the Department of Communicative Sciences & Disorders at Michigan State University, as well as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Spartan Stuttering Laboratory. Clinically, he has worked in a number of clinical settings to assess and treat individuals across the lifespan (ages 2-103): acute care, outpatient rehab, private practice (peds/adult), home care, and skilled nursing facilities. His therapeutic expertise lies in the areas of dysphagia, motor speech disorders, and cognition. Dr. Spray is currently serving his second-term as President of the Michigan Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and has previously served as the Vice President of Membership and Student Affairs Chairperson. In spring 2017, he participated in the Erasmus+ Program where he studied at South West University in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, and also helped develop a medical speech-language pathology program with Prof. Dobrinka Georgieva, Ph.D. While completing his PhD program.
Dr. Spray enjoys serving on various committees throughout the university and state. In 2018-2019, he served on the MSU Presidential Search Committee, which led to the hiring of Michigan State University's 21st President, Dr. Samuel L. Stanley. In addition, he serves on various advisory boards, including the Western Michigan University Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences Alumni Guidance Committee.
Contact Info
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1545-6214
Email: spraygre@msu.edu
Twitter: @GregSprayV4MSU
Seth Tichenor PhD, CCC-SLP
Dr. Tichenor is a post-doctoral research associate at Michigan State University in the Developmental Speech Laboratory (PI: Dr. Bridget Walsh). His primary research interests include better understanding and predicting individual differences in the experience of stuttering (stammering), understanding how adverse impact related to the condition develops and determining how moments of stuttering occur in speech. Dr. Tichenor practices clinically and actively involved with various self-help/support and international stuttering organizations. He lives in Lansing, Michigan, with her wife (Allison), daughter (Lucy), and puppy (Charlie).
Contact Info
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9099-9684
Email: set@msu.edu
Hamzeh Ghasemzadeh, Ph.D.
Dr. Hamzeh Ghasemzadeh is a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Dr. Deliyski’s Voice and Speech Lab. He got his dual Ph.D. degree in “Communicative Sciences and Disorders” and “Computational Mathematics Science and Engineering” from MSU. Before joining MSU, he was an adjunct professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering at Islamic Azad University, Iran, where he was researching in the area of signal processing, statistical pattern recognition, and machine learning. During his Ph.D., Hamzeh has been working on the development of different methods for calibrated spatial measurements from high-speed videoendoscopy recordings. He intends to combine the outcome of his Ph.D. dissertation with his experience in machine learning and signal processing for the advancement of patient-specific modeling, precision medicine, and evidence-based practice in the field of laryngology and speech-language pathology. Dr. Ghasemzadeh is the recipient of the 2019 Sataloff Award for Young Investigators, and the 2019 Best Student Presentation Award from the voice foundation symposium.
Contact Info
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5395-1908
Email: ghasemza@msu.edu
Mark Berardi, Ph.D.
Dr. Mark Berardi started his academic and researcher career at Brigham Young University, where he studied acoustical physics. His research interests there were music, speech, and architectural acoustics. After BYU, he completed a Ph.D. at Michigan State University in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders. Dr. Berardi's research at MSU centered around vocal effort and vocal fatigue. Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher at the University Hospital in Bonn Germany (Universitätsklinikum Bonn) in the Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy (Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie). His research focuses on the neurobiological and psychological factors associated with vocal fatigue in primary school teachers: long-term research goal is to combine his diverse background in acoustics, computation, psychology, and neurobiology towards a better understanding of speech and voice disorders.
Contact Info
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0491-0952
Email: Mark.Berardi@ukbonn.de
2019 Alumni
Meisam Arjmandi, Ph.D
Dr. Meisam Arjmandi is currently a postdoctoral research associate in the E.A.R. lab at Massachusetts Eye and Ear-Harvard Medical School, working with Dr. Julie Arenberg. He received his Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a specialization in Cognitive Science at Michigan State University under the supervision of Dr. Laura Dilley who is the principal investigator of the MSU Speech Perception-Production lab. He obtained his M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering and his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering. In his Ph.D. dissertation, he studied the impact of environmental noise and reverberation on the quantity and quality of early language input and language outcomes in children with cochlear implants (CIs).
In the E.A.R. lab, Meisam uses various methods such as longitudinal data analysis, behavioral, psychophysical (e.g., PTCs), and electrophysiological (e.g., ECAP) methods, as well as signal processing to study the contributions of a wide variety of factors such as audiological factors, the electrode-neuron interface (ENI), and the quality of language environments on speech recognition and language development in pediatric and adult cochlear implants recipients. His research interests include the comprehension and production of speech and language in children and adults with CIs, translational auditory research, electrode-neuron interface, auditory psychophysics, and computational models of speech perception and production. Meisam’s overarching career goal is to better understand factors influencing speech and language development in children and adults with CIs and translate the findings into clinical practice.
Contact Info
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4368-9106
Email: meisam_arjmandi@meei.harvard.edu
Russell Banks, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Dr. Russell Banks is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Brain Recovery Lab (Dr. Teresa Kimberley) at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. He is currently using non-invasive brain stimulation and neuroimaging to assess and treat voice and motor speech disorders. Dr. Banks was awarded his PhD from Michigan State University in the Fall of 2019. He is currently studying the effect of non-invasive brain stimulation on voice production, motor control and the potential use of neuromodulation (TMS and tDCS) to rehabilitate speech, voice and language. Dr. Banks was awarded the ASHFoundation New Century Scholars Research Fellowship in 2019 to support his research in the area of sports related concussion and its effect on speech production. Additionally, he was awarded the Strosacker Fellowship in January 2016, 2017 and 2018. Dr. Banks completed his clinical Master’s Degree in 2015 under Dr. Hunter’s mentorship in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University and completed his CCC’s in 2016.
His research interest topics are: Voice disorders, non-invasive brain stimulation for motor rehabilitation, neuroimaging, concussion, survey analysis.
Contact Info
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1675-2584
Email: rbanks@mghihp.edu
2017 Alumni
Lisa Kopf, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Dr. Lisa Kopf is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Northern Iowa and the Corner Lab director. Her primary research interest is in applying user-centered design and serious game design principles to improve person-centered care in the prevention and treatment of voice disorders.
Contact Info
Email: lisa.kopf@uni.edu