Melissa D. Stockbridge, Ph.D.

My work focuses on improving outcomes for adults with cognitive-communication disorders through the evaluation and development of assessments and the investigation of means to augment traditional speech language therapy informed by a greater understanding of how personality, affect, and mental health impact communication.

I am a post-doctoral fellow and certified speech-language pathologist exploring facets of this research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (P.I., Argye Hillis).

Previously, I have had experience exploring language and cognition children and adults following concussion, utilizing functional neuroimaging and behavioral phenotyping techniques to examine underlying bases of anxious temperament, writing and advising medication safety policy for the Food and Drug Administration, and studying conservation phylogenomics of South American monotremes.

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Curriculum Vitæ

Download Here (Updated October 2021).
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Research

2018 - present
Stroke Cognitive Outcomes and REcovery Lab
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Investigator: Argye Hillis

2018 - 2019
Computational Linguistics and Information Processing Lab
Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, Investigator: Philip Resnik

2013 - 2018
Language Development & Perception Laboratories
University of Maryland, Advisor: Rochelle Newman
Affective and Translational Neuroscience Laboratory
University of Maryland, Advisor: Alexander Shackman

Education

Ph. D., Hearing and Speech Sciences, 2018
M.A., Speech-Language Pathology, 2018
University of Maryland, College Park, MD

M.Sc., Cognitive Neuroscience, 2010 (awarded with distinction)
University College London, London, UK

B.A., Applied Linguistics, 2008 (magna cum laude)
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD

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Teaching Portfolio

I approach teaching from the perspective that the main objective is for students to become comfortable with foundational concepts while both confident and excited in seeking to learn more. It seems the best retention of a given topic occurs when students are given the opportunity to actively manipulate the information they are learning, to follow their curiousities within a given topic, and to work collaboratively when approaching content that may seem, at first, intimidating.

At University of Maryland, I taught three classes. Two were required courses for the undergraduate degree in Hearing and Speech Sciences typically completed by students in their final year, and one was an evening course for post-baccalaureat students looking to enter a graduate degree program in speech pathology after completing a bachelor's degree in a different discipline. Click on the course title below to learn more.

HESP 403 Introduction to Phonetic Science
HESP 422 Neurological Bases of Human Communication
HESP 313 Neurobiology for Speech and Hearing

Introduction to Phonetic Science

The primary goal of the course is to provide students with a survey of information about phonetics and facilitate their ability to use this knowledge in an applied setting. This includes knowledge of the nature of language and the physical means by which we produce speech, as well as the kinds of changes involved in normal and disordered speech production.

ASHA Standards
Standard III-B: The applicant must demonstrate knowledge of basic human communication and swallowing processes, including their biological, neurological, acoustic, psychological, developmental, and linguistic and cultural bases.
Standard III-C: The applicant must demonstrate knowledge of the nature of speech, language, hearing, and communication disorders and differences and swallowing disorders, including the etiologies, characteristics, anatomical/physiological, acoustic, psychological, developmental, and linguistic and cultural correlates.

Course Schedule
Unit 1. Sound and the Speech Mechanism
Unit 2. The International Phonetic Alphabet and broad transcription
Unit 3. Connected speech and narrow transcription
Unit 4. Applied uses for transcription, including clinical transcription
Course Syllabus
Course Materials available upon request

Neurological Bases of Human Communication

This course covers basic structure and function of the brain as it pertains to substrates of speech, language, and hearing.
This course is designed as a flipped class. Students watch recorded video lectures in addition to completing readings prior to class. In class time is predominantly spent working forward from readings and applying the information learned in a variety of activities that bring students in contact with both clinical and research applications.

ASHA Standards
Standard III-C: The applicant must demonstrate knowledge of the nature of speech, language, hearing, and communication disorders and differences and swallowing disorders, including the etiologies, characteristics, anatomical/physiological, acoustic, psychological, developmental, and linguistic and cultural correlates.
Standard III-D: The applicant must specifying etiologies and characteristics of neurologically-base-acquired language, speech, reading, writing, and cognitive disorders by demonstrating the understanding of neurological basis of cognitive aspects of communication, including memory, learning, sequencing, problem-solving, and executive functioning and specifying knowledge of hearing, including the impact on speech and language.

Couse Schedule
Unit 1. Cellular & molecular bases of cognitive development
Unit 2. Building from sensory to integrative systems in the CNS
Unit 3. Sensation and movement in the PNS
Unit 4. Higher-order cognitive processes
Course Syllabus
Course Materials available upon request

Neurobiology for Speech and Hearing

This course covers basic structure and function of the brain as it pertains to substrates of speech, language, and hearing. Although this class covered content similar to HESP 422, this was designed to be a two-credit evening class in the non-degree, post-baccalaureate program designed to cover pre-requisite coursework needed to apply to most hearing and speech sciene graduate programs.

ASHA Standards
Standard III-C: The applicant must demonstrate knowledge of the nature of speech, language, hearing, and communication disorders and differences and swallowing disorders, including the etiologies, characteristics, anatomical/physiological, acoustic, psychological, developmental, and linguistic and cultural correlates.
Standard III-D: The applicant must specifying etiologies and characteristics of neurologically-base-acquired language, speech, reading, writing, and cognitive disorders by demonstrating the understanding of neurological basis of cognitive aspects of communication, including memory, learning, sequencing, problem-solving, and executive functioning and specifying knowledge of hearing, including the impact on speech and language.

Couse Schedule
Unit 1. Cellular & molecular bases of cognitive development
Unit 2. Building from sensory to integrative systems in the CNS
Unit 3. Sensation and movement in the PNS
Unit 4. Higher-order cognitive processes
Course Syllabus
Course Materials available upon request

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