MSU - Comm. Sciences & Disorders

We are excited to celebrate Amir Hossein Rasoli Jokar, a third-year PhD candidate in Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University, working with Dr. J. Scott Yaruss, on the acceptance of two first-author publications in ASHA journals.

His manuscript, Social-Emotional Development of Young Children Who Stutter: An Overview of Empirical Studies, has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. His manuscript, How Do Iranian Speech-Language Pathologists Represent Stuttering on Instagram: A Mixed-Methods Study, has also been accepted for publication in Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups.

These accomplishments reflect Amir’s growing scholarly contributions to stuttering research, including work on social-emotional development, public representations of stuttering, and clinical implications for the field. Congratulations, Amir, and congratulations to Dr. Yaruss and all collaborators on this exciting achievement.

Congratulations to Stephen Spates (COM) and Thea Knowles (CSD) on being named Global Partnership Scholars through the Alliance for African Partnership, an initiative that supports faculty pursuing international research collaborations and advancing scholarship with global impact.

Each scholar will receive a $10,000 grant to expand research initiatives and strengthen international partnerships. The support will help advance Spates’ research examining communication and artificial intelligence across global contexts and support Knowles’ efforts to expand collaborative research in speech, language and communication sciences.

Read more: http://spr.ly/6189BBQ8Jb

Michigan State University Communication Department | MSU - Comm. Sciences & Disorders

Congratulations Class of 2026! The CSD department celebrated graduates at multiple ceremonies last Friday- undergraduate, Master's, and PhD! We are especially proud that one of our own was chosen as the undergraduate ComArtSci commencement student speaker! Go Green!

Congrats to Amir Hossein Rasoli Jokar, a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University, on receiving the Strosacker Fund to support for his research. Working with Dr. J. Scott Yaruss, Amir studies stuttering, with a focus on helping us better understand how people experience it in everyday life and how research can improve support and care for people who stutter.

We loved having our Henry Ford colleagues (Anjli Lodhavia, MS, CCC-SLP, Emily LeRose, PhD, CCC-SLP, and Ross Mayerhoff, MD; Not pictured: Elise Pearl, PhD) on campus to speak to our second year grad students about having difficult conversations with patients/clients. Thank you for your time and insights! An extra shout out to Dr. LeRose who is a double alum of MSU CSD - we hope you enjoyed your time coming home! 🤍💚

AVAH Lab researchers in collaboration with the FMATH group in Mechanical Engineering earned 3rd place for their paper, “Comparative Study of Ear Transmission Characteristics,” at the Macomb Annual Research Forum!

Congratulations to Dr. Sou'd Ebdah who successfully defended his dissertation on Monday, March 30th! His dissertation is "Swallowing-Vocal Function Exercises: An Integrative Cross-System Therapy Program for Concurrent Dysphagia and Dysphonia in Head and Neck Cancer Patients." Dr. Ebdah's presentation was amazing and the work is impactful!

Congratulations to our PhD Candidate, Sou'd Ebdah, for presenting about LiTL lab's research during the Dysphagia Research Society annual conference

Check out LiTL Lab's latest publication: Dysphagia Therapy Following Radiation Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer: Speech-Language Pathologists' Practice and Preferences

https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_PERSP-25-00118

New publication from our PhD Student, Amir Hossein ✨

Neuroethical Evaluation of Neuromodulation for Stuttering: Implications for Agency, Identity, Consent, and Social Meaning

Amir Hossein Rasoli Jokar & Robyn Bluhm
Journal of Fluency Disorders
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfludis.2026.106213

As neuromodulation is increasingly explored for stuttering, most studies focus on fluency outcomes. In this paper, we ask a different question:

What are the ethical implications of directly modulating the neural systems involved in communication?

Using a neuroethical framework, we examine how these interventions may affect agency, identity, informed consent, and the social meaning of stuttering.

Because the impact goes beyond speech outcomes alone.