2024 Research Symposium at the ASHA Convention

The Research Symposium is an annual event at ASHA's Convention where clinicians and researchers discuss current research in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). Each year's symposium has a specific research theme.

Find out more about the Research Symposium at the ASHA Convention and its associated travel award.

Symposium Topic: Genetics in CSD

Coordinated by Beate Peter, PhD, CCC-SLP (Arizona State University), the Symposium focused on the role of genetics in a diverse range of communication abilities and disabilities.

Symposium Presentations

Update on Phenotypes and Genotypes for Studies of Speech Sound Disorders
Speakers: Barbara A. Lewis, PhD, CCC-SLP and Sudha K. Iyengar, PhD (Case Western Reserve University)

Molecular and Neuronal Pathways Implicated by Stuttering Genetics and Their Broader Clinical Consequences
Speakers: Jennifer E. Below, PhD, (Vanderbilt University Medical Center) and Shelly Jo Kraft, PhD (Wayne State University)

Can Genetics Help Identify Specific Reading Disabilities?
Speaker: Elena L. Grigorenko, PhD (University of Houston and Baylor College of Medicine)

Using Genetics to Uncover the Biological Substrates of Spoken and Written Language
Speaker: Simon Fisher, DPhil (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics & Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour)

Translating the Power of Precision Medicine into the World of Communication Disorders
Speaker: Beate Peter, PhD, CCC-SLP (Arizona State University)

The Research Symposium at ASHA Convention is funded, in part, by a grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).

Symposium Publications

Papers based on the 2024 Research Symposium were published in a Forum in the November 2025 issue of Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (JSLHR) and are open access.

Peter, B. (2025). Deciphering the language in our DNA and leveraging the discoveries toward improved outcomes: Introduction to the Forum. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(11), 5101-5103. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00681.
Pruett, D.G., Scartozzi, A.C., Polikowsky, H.G., Highland, H.M., Doug M., Shaw, D.M., Petty, L.E., Petty, A.S., Kraft, S.J. and Below, J.E. (2025). Challenges and opportunities in characterizing the genetics of stuttering: from sample acquisition to functional interpretation of the genome. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(11), 5137-5157. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00093.
Dobrynin, P., Zeng, Y., Norkina, M., Fedorova, A., Zhuk, A. and Grigorenko, E.L. (2025). Four decades of inquiry into the genetic bases of specific reading disability. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(11), 5158-5173. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00050.
Fisher, S.E. (2025). Genomic investigations of spoken and written language abilities: A guide to advances in approaches, technologies, and discovery. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(11), 5104-5121. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00152.
Lewis, B.A., Miller, G.J., Benchek, P., Stein, C., and Iyengar, S.K. (2025). The Cleveland Family Speech and Reading Study: A review of long-term outcomes linking phenotypes and genotypes for speech sound disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(11), 5122-5136. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00052.
Peter, B., Davis, J., Bruce, L., Finestack, L., Kornelis, M., Eng, L., Kim, Y., Scherer, N., Potter, N., VanDam, M., Thompson, L., Loveall, S., Stoel-Gammon, C., Raaz, C., Armstrong-Heimsoth, A. and Buckley, S. (2025). Translating the power of precision medicine into the world of communication disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(11), 5174-5189. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00077.