Voice and Speech Rehabilitation Research Lab

On Thursday, April 18, 2024, from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm (CST), our research assistants, Raleigh de los Reyes and Lily Carpenter, will present their research at an online conference, "A Day of Voice at the University of Illinois." This conference is held in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Iowa, and the University of Kentucky. Good luck, Raleigh and Lily!

Congratulations to our research assistants, Lily Carpenter, Raleigh de los Reyes, Annie Moffitt, Olivia Stevens, and Corinne Wing, for their successful presentations at the University of Kentucky Center of Clinical Translational Science Spring Conference! The job well done!

Great success at the Kentucky Speech-Language and Hearing Association Annual Convention! Our lab presented five posters. Two of them were done in collaboration with Dr. Diana Orbelo at Mayo Clinic. One of the posters, "Gargle Phonation and Water Swallow Treatment for Muscle Tension Dysphonia: An Acoustic Study" won the second place in the competition! Thank you, Dr. Orbelo for letting us be a part of your project!

Congratulations to Julia and Christy on their first presentation at the American Speech-Language Hearing Association Annual Convention! They were also selected to participate in ASHA's PROGENY program. We are very proud of you!

We're thrilled to share our latest research paper about Clear Speech, a technique used to improve speech intelligibility.

Speaking in noisy environments isn't just tough on your voice and ears; it's tough on the mind too. Especially with babble noise, the mental strain is much higher than when it's quiet!

The Effect of Noise on Initiation and Maintenance of Clear Speech and Associated Mental Demand Background/Objectives: The objectives of this study were to explore (a) the influence of different types of background noise and their informational content on the ability of speakers to initiate and maintain clear speech (CS), a widely utilized technique for enhancing speech intelligibility, and (b...

Exciting news! Our latest paper is finally out, and we couldn't be more proud of our team's hard work. It's a fantastic example of what can be achieved through interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together experts from the University of Kentucky, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Mayo Clinic. We're especially grateful for our amazing collaborators, Dr. Diana Orbelo (Mayo Clinic), Dr. Mary Pietrowicz (UIUC), and Ms. Sara Charney (Mayo Clinic). Here's to many more multi-institutional studies in the future!

Landmark-based analysis of speech differentiates conversational from clear speech in speakers with muscle tension dysphonia This study evaluated the feasibility of differentiating conversational and clear speech produced by individuals with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) using landma

Congratulations to our research assistants on their brilliant presentations at the University of Kentucky Undergraduate Research Showcase! We are very proud of you!

Feeling grateful for the delicious lunch that our collaborator, Dr. Cadman Leggett at Mayo Clinic, arranged for us today! Our lab enjoyed a wonderful baked potato bar, salad, cookies, and strawberry shortcake from Jason's Deli. The food was so plentiful that we even shared it with students outside of our lab. It was a great send-off for our senior students, and the meal lifted everyone's spirits during this last week of the semester. Thank you, Dr. Leggett, for your generosity and thoughtfulness! We truly appreciate your support.

As a part of the graduate clinical training, we ran Free Voice Screening clinic. All first-year graduate students in speech-language pathology conducted voice assessment for student singers at the School of Music. Here is an article about this activity! https://www.uky.edu/chs/about/news/for-vocal-health-chs-collaborates-school-music-for-screening

🎉 Save the date! 🎉 The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Michigan State University (MSU), and University of Kentucky (UK) are excited to announce "The 2nd Symposium: A Day of Voice at the University of Illinois" on April 20, 2023, from 2 pm to 3:40 pm CST. Join us virtually for an enlightening afternoon on the importance of the human voice in art and communication. This event is free and open to all and no registration involved. Don't miss out! https://spaa.shs.illinois.edu/symposium/

Two undergraduate research assistants presented their work at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Congratulations! We are very proud of you!

People who are aging, people with certain cancers, and people with thyroid disorders are among the many others who deal with changes to their voices.

Performers and researchers Yvonne Redman (Music), Pasquale Bottalico (SHS) and Keiko Ishikawa (SHS) are shining a spotlight on the many aspects of the human voice with an online symposium celebrating World Voice Day.

The symposium is Thursday, April 21 from 2:00 - 4:15 pm. The event is open to all, and includes discussions of both research and practice in the field. ▶️ https://bit.ly/3uRg24U

Our online symposium for the World Voice Day has been featured in a weekly letter by the Office of Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain. See you this Thursday at 2 pm!
For a Zoom link, please email us at [email protected].
https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/1455454849.html

This Week in Illinois Research It's easy to assume that your voice will bounce back after an illness—but vocal changes that are minor for those of us who only sing when we're alone in the car can be career-ending for professionals. In particular, performers who are returning to the stage after a battle with COVID-19 face signif...

We are excited to announce our Wold Voice Day event, "I Symposium: A Day of Voice at University of Illinois." To receive a link to the event, please contact us at [email protected].

Student researchers are taking over the lab! It has been a very busy semester. We can't wait to see what the data will look like.

From our recent survey study:
About 35% of college professors report that the amount they use their voice increased after transitioning to online teaching, and 41% of them report that the online teaching makes their voice more tired than face-to-face teaching.
Please take care, everyone!

REDCap

We are conducting an online survey study. If you are a professor or teaching assistant at a college, we need your help!

Risk Factors for Voice Disorders in University Community (IRB #20693)

This research study is aimed at identifying how everyday activities affect vocal health among professors and graduate teaching assistants. This study includes an online survey that will take about 10 minutes. You can access the survey here: https://redcap.healthinstitute.illinois.edu/surveys/?s=K3TTTKKRAP

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Keiko Ishikawa at [email protected].

redcap.healthinstitute.illinois.edu

Although the lab is physically closed, COVID-19 can't stop us! Here is a group picture from our online lab meeting this afternoon. Happy to report that everyone is doing well. We will be busy working on our projects and papers!
Stay safe everyone!

Following the guidelines set by the CDC, state of Illinois and the University of Illinois, we are closing the Voice Screening Clinic until further notice. We will re-instate your appointment as soon as possible.

Our lab is far from closed, however! The members are working hard on their research. We hope to deliver some exciting findings to you!

Thank you for your support and patience. Please stay safe and healthy!

Health is the foundation of good musical training and education! Graduate research assistants, Corey Ketring, Searm Park and Mia Webster provided the vocal health workshop to students in "MUS 444 Healthy Music Practices." Thank you, Dr. Bridget Sweet, for inviting us!

It's always exciting to start a new experiment. An undergraduate research assistant Malinda Mullet demonstrates how it gets done!

The Free Voice Screening Clinic is back! Come to the clinic and we'll check how your voice is doing. Schedule your appointment here: https://uiucvoicelab.youcanbook.me/

Perception and Acoustic Studies of Vowel Intelligibility in Dysphonic Speech

The latest paper from the lab is now in press!
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0892199719303042

sciencedirect.com This study aimed to (1) examine the effect of dysphonia and background noise on the identifiability of vowels, and (2) evaluate the relationship betwe…

A very exciting day for the lab! We had a video shooting for the faculty retreat grant we've received from the Office of Provost and Center of Innovative Learning and Teaching. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Here is the last Vocal Health Workshop of the semester! Graduate students Kara Kibitlewski, Darcy Koester, Monique Martinez, and Elizabeth McKernan provided the workshop to the University Choir Group. Despite the very busy last week of the semester, it was well-attended!

Stay well, everyone! The winter break is around the corner!

A graduate research assistant, Searam Park, explaining the stroboscopy exam to a participant of the voice screening clinic. Thank you, Niki Sodetz for allowing us to post this photo!

We are currently running some listening experiments. Dr. Pasquale Bottalico checks hearing of our next participant?? 😆

Would you like to donate your voice for science? If so, please contact [email protected]. We are in the middle of collecting voice recordings for our experiments. Here is a picture of an undergraduate student, Sarah Robinson, recording her voice in the lab. Thank you, Sarah, for giving us your permission to share your photo on this page!!