Research Team

Faculty

Janis Cardy, PhD, S-LP(C) - Assistant Professor

Dr. Janis Cardy is an Assistant Professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Western. She completed a PhD in Speech-Language Pathology and a CIHR Fellowship in Medical Imaging at the University of Toronto. Dr. Cardy and her colleagues have been applying MEG and ERP to the examination of speech and sound processing in children with autism spectrum and language disorders. She is a speech-language pathologist by training (McGill University), having practiced for nine years at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children prior to embarking on her research career.

Contact Janis Cardy

Staff

Rachael Smyth, BHSc - Lab Coordinator

Rachael joined the lab in the summer of 2012. She previously completed a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree at Western University. In the lab, she is the project coordinator for the studies exploring writing achievement of adolescents with ASD, and semantic integration in adults with AS and Nonverbal LD. In the future, Rachael hopes to pursue a master's degree in Speech and Language Sciences. 

Graduate Students

Heather Brown, MEd - PhD Candidate

Heather began her PhD program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in September of 2009. Her master’s research on the writing skills of adults with ASD was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Institute and Western’s Autism Centre of Excellence. Heather is continuing to research the cognitive underpinnings of writing achievement in ASD, extending her master’s work to adolescents.

 

 Margot Stothers, MEd - PhD Candidate

Margot Stothers is a PhD student in the Graduate Program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Prior to beginning her degree, she was a counsellor and learning strategist with university students who have disabilities. Her master’s research explored cognitive processes underlying reading achievement in adults with and without learning disabilities (LD). Her work won the Canadian Association for Educational Psychology’s Dunlop Award for outstanding Master’s thesis in 2006. Margot’s research interests include further investigating the contribution of nonverbal cognitive processes to language comprehension, and identifying patterns in educational, cognitive, and neurospychological markers of Nonverbal LD and Asperger Syndrome in adults.

Elaine Kwok, BSc - MSc candidate

Elaine Kwok is an MSc candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.  She completed her Honours Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biotechnology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. After completing her undergraduate thesis on the genetics of Chinese Dyslexia, Elaine became interested in researching language learning disabilities. Her current research focus is on the use of EEG/ERP to study auditory integration in children with Specific Language Impairment.

Alumni

Jessi Boehm, HBA - Study Coordinator 2011-2012

Jessi worked as the lab coordinator on the ERP study of children with ASD and SLI. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology.

Charity McCarthy, BHSc - Research Assistant 2011-2012

Charity assisted in the collection of data in the EEG/ERP study of brain markers of auditory integration in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Specific Language Impairment. After completing her undergraduate degree, Charity hopes to pursue a master's degree in a Rehabilitation Science field.

Kim Brittain, HBA, MClSc 2011-2012

Kim worked as a research assisant on the ERP study of children with ASD and SLI. She also completed an independent study examining whether an advanced communication skill (commenting) could be taught to a non-verbal child with autism using Proloquo2Go software running on an iPod. She is currently employed as a speech-language pathologist at the Child Development Centre in Kingston, Ontario.

Jillian Spratt, MASc 2008-2011

Jillian worked as project coordinator for the ERP study on auditory processing in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Specific Language Impairment . She is currently completing her MClSc in Speech-Language Pathology at Western.

Jackson Wilson - Summer Research Assistant 2011

Jackson worked as a summer research assisant on the EEG/ERP study of brain markers of auditory integration in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Specific Language Impairment and on the study investigating the relationship between language, reading and math skills in children which is in collaboration with Drs. Janis Oram Cardy, Lisa Archibald, Marc Joanisse, and Daniel Ansari. He is currently pursuing his MClSc in Speech-Language Pathology at Western.

Asha Shelton - Work Study Student, 2010-2011

Asha worked as a research assistant in the lab during completion of the final year of her BHSc at Western. She is currently completing a MHSc in speech-language pathology at the University of Toronto.

Krista Davie, MSc 2010-2011

Krista completed a MSc in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, specializing in Speech and Language Sciences under the joint supervision of Dr. Cardy and Dr. Andrew Johnson. She is currently completing a MHSc in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto.

Katherine Harder - Research Assistant, 2010-2011

Breanna Empringham - NSERC Summer Student, 2009 (co-supervised by Dr. Marc Joanisse, Dept. of Psychology)

Brianna graduated in 2010 from McMaster University (Hamilton, ON) with a double major in biology and psychology. She is now attending the University of Toronto Medical School.

Joseph Margolick - Honours Thesis Student, 2008-2009

After graduating from UWO (2009), Joseph undertook a research internship with the EEG lab at Tel Aviv University and worked as the Research Coordinator of a clinical study at the Prostate Centre at Vancouver General Hospital. He is currently attending medical school at McMaster University.

Jennifer Paradis, BMT, MClSc - Summer Research Assistant 2009

Jennifer Paradis graduated from the graduate program in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Western in 2010. She is currently working as a CASLPA certified Speech-Language Pathologist with school-aged children in London and surrounding areas. She is also involved in international speech-language pathology outreach programs.

Allison Andres, MSc, 2006-2008

Allison completed her Master of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2008. She was co-supervised by Dr. Cardy and Dr. Marc Joanisse in Psychology. Her research examined audio-visual integration of speech sounds using ERPs. Allison is currently working as a Speech-Language Pathologist at KidsAbility in Cambridge, Ontario.

Darcy Russell, MSc, 2006-2008

Darcy completed her Master of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2008 under the supervision of Dr. Cardy. Her research examined markers of language impairment in children with autism by measuring rapid temporal processing using MEG and phonological short term memory using a nonword repetition task. She is currently employed as a Speech-Language Pathologist at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, BC.

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