Defne Abur, B.S.

Dept. of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Boston University

Email: dabur@bu.edu

 

 

Research Interests

Speech Motor Control; Parkinson’s disease; Auditory contributions to voice production; Autophonic judgments of voice; Vocal Hyperfunction

Education

2017 – Present           Ph.D., Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (expected), Boston University

2010 – 2014               B. S., Engineering Science with Biomathematics Concentration, Smith College

Honors and Awards

2020 ASHA Pathways program mentee
2020 National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Pre-doctoral fellowship “Longitudinal Changes to Speech in Parkinson’s Disease Phenotypes” NIDCD F31 DC019032
2019 ASHFoundation New Century Doctoral Scholarship
2019 Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences (ANCDS) Conference Student Fellow Award
2019 Dudley Allen Sargent Research Fund Award
2019 Raymond H. Stetson Scholarship in Phonetics and Speech Science, Honorable Mention
2018 Rafik. B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science Engineering Graduate Student Fellow Award
2017 NIH/NIDCD Traineeship T32DC013017 “Advanced research training in communication sciences and disorders”
2017 2nd Place, Best Poster Award, The Voice Foundation Annual Symposium
2013 Sigma Xi (Research Honor Society)
2012 – 2014 NSF Fellowship 1129194 “Interdisciplinary Training for Undergraduates in Biology and Mathematical Sciences”

 

Publications

(For a full list, see Google Scholar)

Abur, D., Perkell, J.S., Stepp, C.E. Effects of Vocal Effort on Respiratory and Articulatory Kinematics. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2021.
Abur, D., Subaciute, A., Daliri, A., Lester-Smith, R. A., Lupiani, A. A., Cilento, D., Enos, N. M., Weerathunge, H. R., Tardif, M.C. & Stepp, C. E. Feedback and Feedforward Auditory-Motor Processes for Voice and Articulation in Parkinson’s Disease. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, 2021.
Abur, D., Subaciute, A., Kapsner-Smith, M., Segina, R., Tracy, L., Noordzij, J. P., Stepp, C.E., “Impaired Auditory Discrimination and Auditory-Motor Integration in Hyperfunctional Voice Disorders”, Scientific Reports , 11, 13123, 2021.
Abur, D., MacPherson, M.K., Shembel, A.C., Stepp, C.E.  “Acoustic measures of voice and physiologic measures of autonomic arousal during speech as a function of cognitive load in older adults”, Journal of Voice. In Press.
Abur, D. & Stepp, C.E., “Acuity to Changes in Vocal Pitch in Parkinson’s disease”. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(9), 3208-3214, 2020.
Weerathunge, H. R., Abur, D., Enos, N., Brown, K., Stepp, C.E., “Methodological Considerations for Auditory-Motor Perturbations of fo: feedback delay and amplification”. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(9), 2846-2860, 2020.
Lester-Smith, R.A., Daliri, A., Enos, N.M., Abur, D., Letcher, S., Lupiani, A.A., Stepp, C.E., “The Importance of Auditory Feedback in Speech and Voice Motor Control”. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(11), 3628-3642, 2020.
Kearney, E., Nieto-Castañón, A., Weerathunge, H.,Falsini, R., Daliri, A., Abur, D., Ballard, K., Chao, S., Heller Murray, L., Scott, T., & Guenther, F., “A Simple 3-Parameter Model for Examining Adaptation in Speech and Voice Production”. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2995, 2020.
Broadfoot, C. K., Abur, D., Hoffmeister, J. D., Stepp, C.E., Ciucci, M. “Research-Based Updates in Swallowing and Communication Dysfunction in Parkinson Disease: Implications for Evaluation and Management”, Perspectives of ASHA Special Interest Groups SIG 3. 4(5), pp. 825 – 841, 2019.
Abur D.*, Enos, N.E.*, Stepp, C.E., “Visual-Analog-Scale Ratings and Orthographic Transcription Measures of Intelligibility in Parkinson’s disease with Variable Listener Exposure”, American Journal of Speech-Language-Pathology 28 (3), pp.1222-1232, 2019. *Authors contributed equally
Abur, D., Lupiani, A.A., Hickox A.E., Shinn-Cunningham, B.G., Stepp, C.E. “Loudness Perception of Pure Tones in Parkinson’s disease”, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61 (6), pp. 1487-1496, 2018.
Abur, D., Lester-Smith, R.A., Daliri, A., Lupiani, A.A., Guenther, F.H., Stepp, C.E. “Sensorimotor Adaptation of Voice Fundamental Frequency in Parkinson’s Disease”, PLoS ONE, 13(1): e0191839, 2018.
Stieger C., Guan X., Farahmand R.B., Page B.F., Merchant J.P., Abur D., Nakajima H.H., “Intracochlear Sound Pressure Measurements in Normal Human Temporal Bones During Bone Conduction Stimulation.” Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, pp. 1 – 7, 2018.
Stepp, C.E., Lester-Smith, R.A., Abur, D., Daliri, A., Noordzij, J.P., Lupiani, A.A. “Evidence for Auditory-Motor Impairment in Individuals with Hyperfunctional Voice Disorders”, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60 (6), pp. 1545 – 1550, 2017.
MacPherson, M., Abur, D., Stepp, C.E.  “Acoustic measures of voice and physiologic measures of autonomic arousal during speech as a function of cognitive load”, Journal of Voice, 31 (4), pp. 504e1 – 504e9, 2016.
Abur, D., Horton, N.J., & Voss, S.E. “Intra-subject variability in Power Reflectance”, Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 25(5), 441-48, 2014.