Dr. Venker’s research program focuses on language development in children with autism spectrum disorder, with an emphasis on how these children integrate auditory and visual information to learn the meanings of words.
John D. Wiley Seminar Series
Seminar – Allison Ebert, PhD – Topic: Using Stem Cells to Model Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration
Dr. Ebert’s research interests include understanding the contribution of astrocytes and microglia to motor neuron loss in both spinal muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the mechanisms of sensory neuron sensitization in sickle cell disease, and the impact of herpesvirus infection on neurodevelopment and Alzheimer’s disease pathology.
Seminar – Robert Krencik, PhD – “Neuromodulation of Bioengineered Organoids with Reactive Human Astrocytes”
Dr. Krencik’s specific research goals are to uncover the mechanisms by which human astrocytes modulate neuronal activity during healthy and diseased states.
Seminar – Timothy LaVaute, PhD – Topic: NIH Somatic Cell Genome Editing Program
Dr. LaVaute oversees the NINDS P30 Neuroscience Cores Grant Program, is the NINDS point of contact for the NIH’s Regenerative Medicine Innovation Project, and the NIH Common Fund’s Somatic Cell Genome Editing Program.
Seminar – Lizbeth Finestack, PhD – Topic: Identifying Effective And Efficient Language Interventions For Children With Significant Language Impairments
Dr. Finestack’s research focuses on identifying effective and efficient language interventions for children with significant language impairments.
Seminar – Viridiana Benitez, PhD – Topic: Understanding How Cognition and Language Experience Support Word Learning Across Development
Dr. Benitez’s research is in the area of cognitive development, with a focus on understanding how cognition and language experience support word learning across development.
Seminar – Matthew Winn, AuD, PhD – Topic: Listening Effort in Cochlear Implant Users
Dr. Winn’s work focuses on the ways in which hearing impairment affects speech communication, especially the ways that are not captured by conventional clinical testing.
Seminar – Patrick Lao, PhD – Topic: A Multiple Biomarker Approach to Alzheimer’s Disease for Underrepresented and Underserved Groups
Dr. Lao’s research focuses on a multiple biomarker approach to Alzheimer’s disease (i.e., amyloid-β, hyperphosphorylated tau, cerebrovascular disease, and neurodegeneration), informed by contextual factors (i.e., genetic, biological, social, environmental) for underrepresented and underserved groups, will provide the most reliable understanding of the complex disease course.
Seminar – Tina Grieco-Calub, PhD, CCC-A – “Impact of Hearing Experience on Language Processing and Learning in Children”
Dr. Grieco-Calub’s current research program sits at the intersection of hearing and language and reflects her multidisciplinary training that she received at the Waisman Center during her postdoctoral fellowship.
WARF Therapeutics Seminar – Cary Harding, MD – “Phenylketonuria: Insights into Pathophysiology and Novel Therapeutics”
Harding’s basic and clinical research programs are focused upon the development of novel therapies, including gene and cell therapies, for inborn errors of metabolism.