Our Team

Lab Director

Jennifer Zuk, Ph.D, CCC-SLP (she/her/hers)
Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Zuk is the Director and Principal Investigator of the Communication and Neurodevelopment Lab (est. 2020). She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Boston University. Dr. Zuk earned her PhD from Harvard University, and completed clinical training in speech-language pathology at the MGH Institute of Health Professions and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Jennifer received dual bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Cognitive Science from Case Western Reserve University, and her Ed.M. in Mind, Brain, and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Zuk is committed to translating research to practice in an effort to promote effective identification, access, and inclusion for those who experience communication difficulties. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges experience in clinical speech-language pathology, developmental cognitive neuroscience, music cognition, and education.

Lab Members

Postdoctoral Fellows

Juliana Ronderos (she/her/hers)
jrondero@bu.edu

Juliana Ronderos is a Postdoctoral fellow in the Communication and Neurodevelopment Lab at Boston University. She recently earned her Ph.D. from the Integrative Program in Developmental, Cognitive, and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Houston. Her research interests lie in the intersection of the neurological bases of typical and atypical language development and bilingualism. She is interested in effective identification and assessment of bilingual children with developmental language disorders and the environmental and neurocognitive factors impacting language and literacy development for culturally and linguistically diverse populations

Doctoral Students

Kelsey Davison (she/her/hers)
davisonk@bu.edu

Kelsey is a doctoral student in the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences program at Boston University. She studied geography and Spanish as an undergraduate student at Salem State University and served as an education volunteer with the Peace Corps in rural Paraguay. Upon her return, Kelsey earned her Ed.M. in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focuses on investigating and identifying optimal contexts of language learning for children of varying linguistic abilities and language experiences.

Alexandra Kapadia (she/her/hers)
akapadia@bu.edu

Alex is a doctoral student in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Boston University (BU). She studied Linguistics and Physics as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, and more recently, earned her master’s in Speech-Language Pathology in the combined MS/PhD program at BU. Alex investigates the intersection of speech perception, speech production & reading in development, and the cognitive & neural mechanisms that support processing perceptual variability. Outside of the lab, she enjoys growing plants, absorbing art & experimenting with photography, and kayaking.

Talia Liu (she/her/hers)
talialiu@bu.edu

Talia Liu is a doctoral student in the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences program at Boston University. She received her bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Sciences and Psychology at Rice University. She earned her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology at Vanderbilt University, where she also worked as a research analyst in the Vanderbilt Music Cognition Lab. Her research interests include studying the impact of musical activities on social engagement and language in autistic children and the efficacy of music-based interventions and community programs. She also has a clinical interest in pediatric feeding and swallowing.

Viviana Castro (she/her/hers)
vmcastro@bu.edu

Viviana Castro is a doctoral student in the Graduate Program for Neuroscience. She graduated with honors from the University of San Diego in 2023 with a B.A. in Behavioral Neuroscience and minors in French and Biomedical Ethics. As an undergraduate, she researched the role of the endocannabinoid system in elapsed time memory to better understand how time discrimination processes occur in the brain. Viviana is interested in researching learning disorders, such as ADHD and dyslexia, and how language is involved in brain/reading development. In her free time, she enjoys running, hiking, biking, music, and finding the best dessert shop.

Research Coordinator

Helen Gray-Bauer (she/her/hers)

Helen is the coordinator for the Communication and Neurodevelopment Lab and joins with experience in cognition research and clinical oncology trial coordination. She earned her bachelor’s degree in music and neuroscience from Skidmore College where she worked as a research assistant and conducted thesis work with the Music and Cognition Lab. Helen has also held intern positions in clinical ethics, music therapy, and cognitive neuroscience. Her research interests include the neural overlap of music and language and the role of musical training and exposure in language development. Outside of lab, Helen enjoys crafting, cooking, and spending time with her family.

Research Assistant

Adanna Thomas
asathom@bu.edu

Adanna Thomas graduated from BU in 2023 with a B.A. in Neuroscience with a Linguistics minor. She has experience collecting data for speech motor experiments with the Guenther Lab, where she currently splits her time. Her hobbies and interests include visiting museums, embroidery, horror, and music theory. Adanna hopes to continue doing research in neurolinguistics in the future with a possible focus in child speech development or speech language pathology.

Mercy Valladares

Mercy Valladares recently completed the Masters of Speech-Language Pathology at Boston University where she also earned her Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Mercy also completed Masters thesis work with the lab exploring parental speech prosody. She is presently completing her clinical fellowship as a Speech-Language Pathologist in a school setting in the Greater Boston Area.

Laura Doherty (she/her/hers)
ldoher@bu.edu

Laura recently completed the Masters of Speech Pathology Program at BU in 2023 where she conducted her masters thesis project within the lab studying parent-child book reading interactions and prosody. Laura loves working with the pediatric population and aspires to be a pediatric speech-language pathologist. When she’s not working or in school, Laura loves to hike, ski, and paddle board in the White Mountains!

Hannah Stetson (she/her/hers)
hstetson@bu.edu

Hannah graduated from BU in 2022 with her Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology. During her time at BU she completed a Masters Thesis with the Zuk Lab and worked as a research assistant on additional lab projects. Currently, she works as a Pediatric Speech Language Pathologist in the Boston area and remains involved in the lab as a research assistant using her clinical skills and experience to assist with current studies. Her research interests include child language and literacy, neurodevelopment, and their intersections with risk and protective factors.

Chelsea La Valle

Visiting Researcher

Ferenc Honbolygó
fhonboly@bu.edu

Dr. Ferenc Honbolygó is a cognitive psychologist, working as senior researcher at the ELKH Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Brain Imaging Centre, Budapest, Hungary. He is the head of the Neurocognitive Development Research Group. He obtained his PhD in 2010 at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. His research focuses on how the human brain deals with speech and music. In his research, he uses event-related brain potentials and fMRI methods to examine human brain function. He has participated in several international and national research projects and published over 40 scientific articles as well as several book chapters in Hungarian. In addition to his research, he teaches at the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology of Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Dr. Honbolygó enjoys running, biking and swimming (aka triathlon) is his free time.

Visiting Students

Antonia Nikolaidou

Antonia Nikolaidou is a visiting Research Master’s student in Linguistics from the University of Groningen. She received her BSc on Speech and Language Therapy from the Cyprus University of Technology in 2020. During her clinical practice and work experience as an SLP, she had the opportunity to work with children diagnosed with ASD, language delay, dyslexia, and other neurological disorders. She was able to assess their abilities and create personalized therapy plans that would enhance their language and communication skills. Her research interests include investigating the language development of children diagnosed with ASD, as well as the advancement of the intervention methods currently used in early childhood. In her free time, Antonia likes traveling and meeting new cultures!

Michelle Hernandez (she/her/hers)

Michelle is a visiting doctoral student from the Communication Sciences and Disorders department at the University of Houston. She studied psychology and women’s studies as an undergraduate student at Stony Brook University in 2013. Then Michelle completed her Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology at SUNY Buffalo State in 2018. She is also a licensed and certified speech pathologist in Texas. Her research interests includes the language development of Spanish-English bilingual school-aged children with and without language disorders.

Masters Students

Natalie Tewksbary (she/her/hers)
ntewks@bu.edu

Natalie is a second year Master of Science student in the Speech-Language Pathology program at Boston University. She graduated with a B.S. in Communication Disorders from Sacred Heart University in 2022. She is currently conducting her thesis project within the lab examining the relationship between key speech and language sub skills and their association to speech sound production accuracy in multisyllabic word contexts. After graduation, Natalie aspires to be a pediatric speech-language pathologist.

Aiko Jones (she/her/hers)
aikoj@bu.edu

Aiko is a first-year student in the Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology Program. She received her dual bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and East Asian Languages and Cultures from the University of Southern California (fight on!), and her Ed.M. in Mind, Brain, and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She also worked full-time in a cognitive neuroscience lab at Boston Children’s Hospital which studies the trajectory of executive functioning in autistic children. At the Zuk Lab, she is excited to explore research questions at the intersection of language, autism, and neuroscience! In her spare time, she enjoys cycling, playing with her two cats, and building miniatures.

Caroline Jones (she/her/hers)
strangc@bu.edu

Caroline (Ceci) is a first-year student in the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program at Boston University. She received her BA in Psychology from Scripps College in 2021.

Marion Kalina Heinrich (she/her/hers)
marionkh@bu.edu

Marion is a first-year student in the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program. She received her BA in Linguistics from New York University, where she gained research experience in child language and acoustic phonetics. Marion plans on pursuing a career as a pediatric speech-language pathologist.

Undergraduate Students

Tomo Curran (she/her/hers)
currant@bu.edu

Tomo is a fourth year undergraduate student at Boston University studying Linguistics & Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Her current research interests include hearing technologies and the neurocognitive bases of language. Tomo loves learning new languages and is working hard to improve her skills in Japanese, French, and ASL. She also enjoys painting and hiking. After graduation she plans to complete a graduate degree in Audiology.

Marion Bensing (she/her/hers)
mbensing@bu.edu

Marion is a senior in the OT department majoring in behavior and health. Her research interest lies in exploring speech-related subskills that relate to emergent literacy skills in early childhood and language development with music. Marion has an associates in science from Harper College. She likes to bake, read, play the trumpet, and enjoys exploring Boston

Marie Murray (she/her/hers)
marierm@bu.edu

Marie a junior undergraduate here at Boston University studying neuroscience on the pre-med track with the goal of becoming a pediatric neurologist!

Sarah Finnegan (she/her/hers)
sfinny@bu.edu

Sarah is third year undergraduate student at Boston University studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Her research interests include bilingual school-aged children as well as language development in multicultural households. Sarah plans to pursue a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology at Boston University.

Jovie Reyes (she/her/hers)
jovie16@bu.edu

Jovie is a junior majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Boston University. Her research interest is studying swallowing disorders, stuttering, and the connection between literacy development in children and bilingualism. She is excited to be part of a bilingual study that allows her to use her Spanish-speaking skills. Jovie plans on applying to graduate school for a master’s in Speech-Language Pathology after graduation.

Caroline Goldman (she/her/hers)
cjg23@bu.edu

Caroline is a junior majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Boston University. She is interested in music as a part of language development as well as using theatre as a form of speech therapy. She intends to pursue a master in Speech-Language Pathology after graduation.

Collaborators

Alumni