Research Symposium at the ASHA Convention

Purpose

Resources

The Research Symposium brings together clinicians and researchers at the ASHA Convention to discuss current research that has important implications for the study of communication sciences and disorders (CSD). Each year's symposium focuses on a specific research theme. Research is presented by invited speakers who are experts in their fields.

ASHA offers a Research Mentoring-Pair Travel Award (RMPTA) in conjunction with this program to provide a research mentoring experience to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Awarded pairs receive ASHA Convention registration fee waivers and a travel stipend, as well as the opportunity to engage in mentored activities before, during, and after Convention.

The Symposium is an annual program that has been offered since 1990. The Symposium and the associated travel award are funded, in part, by grant #R13DC003383 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).

Participants

The Symposium is open to all attendees of the ASHA Convention who are interested in current research.

Format

The Symposium consists of several talks related to a research topic of importance to CSD with opportunities for discussion between clinicians, students, junior investigators and senior investigators. The 2025 Symposium is scheduled to take place all day Saturday, November 22 as part of the in-person ASHA Convention in Washington, D.C.

Coordinated by Leora R. Cherney, PhD, CCC-SLP, BC-ANCDS, FACRM (Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and Northwestern University), the Symposium will highlight clinical trials conducted with adult populations. Speakers will discuss their federally funded clinical trials that focus on (a) different adult populations, including people with aphasia, people with primary progressive aphasia, and people who have had swallowing impairment in head and neck cancer (HNC), and (b) improving healthcare communication between providers and patients with communication disabilities. The presentations will address critical issues and challenges in clinical trials research such as identifying key treatment ingredients, determining relevant outcomes, transitioning from efficacy to effectiveness and pragmatic trials, and clinical implications of results.