Doctoral Student Profiles
Tahmineh Maleki
Tahmineh Maleki is currently in her third year of pursuing a PhD. Her educational background includes completing a master's program in Speech Therapy in 2019, where she focused on assessing children with developmental language disorders (DLD) at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Furthermore, she has over six years of experience working as a speech-language pathologist, starting after she obtained her bachelor's degree in 2015. During this time, she worked with Persian-speaking school and pre-school age children. Originally from Iran, Tahmineh's research interests revolve around child language development and disorders. Her studies are strongly influenced by evidence-based practice, particularly in the areas of late talker's children, early acquisition, and intervention. Moreover, she serves as the primary instructor for COMD 2050 (Intro to Language) and COMD 4380 (The Development of Spoken Language).
Tengwen Fan
Tengwen Fan is a first-year (Fall 2022) doctoral student in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Louisiana State University, supervised by Dr. Julie Schneider. Tengwen completed her Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology (2022) and Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (2019) in Shaanxi Normal University, China. Tengwen is interested in exploring the language development of young children with behavioral, electrophysiological and neuroimaging approaches. Tengwen is now conducting research on the neural basis of statistical learning and vocabulary learning from context of developing children, which is funded by Juneau Family Child Speech and Language Research Fund.
Ella Tabari
Ella Tabari is a Ph.D. student in the department of communication sciences and disorders and a research assistant at the Human Neurophysiology & Neuromodulation Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Johari. She completed her first Ph.D. in Neurolinguistics at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid where she conducted her research in understanding the Neural Signature of Bilingualism using the Magnetoencephalography (MEG) technique. Currently, her research focuses on the validation of HD-tDCS for improvement of speech and limb motor control in healthy older adults and individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Her research centers around utilizing EEG and HD-tDCS/tACS to study the neural correlates of language. Specifically, she investigates how these neurophysiological methods can shed light on the mechanisms underlying language processing and its disorders. Her multidisciplinary approach, encompassing neuroscience, experimental psychology, and linguistics, allows her to explore new frontiers and develop innovative solutions that can positively impact individuals with communication disorders.
Jesica R. Bates
Hi, I’m Jes, an openly Autistic speech-language pathologist and PhD student in Communication Sciences with a minor in Sociocultural Anthropology at Louisiana State University (LSU). I work primarily under the mentorship of Janet A. Norris, Ph.D., CCC-SLP in the Language Intervention Lab. My scholarship and advocacy combine qualitative, participatory, and visual methodologies in autism research to examine how communicative environments affect social participation, friendship, and inclusion; communication access; and quality of life for autistic people. Gaining a greater understanding for the various ways marginalized people are underrepresented in higher education, while recruiting, and retaining autistic and neurodivergent individuals in academia to ensure our voices are heard in future research is of paramount importance to me. Outside of work, I enjoy music, running, and petting any animal I see!
Biraj Bhattarai
Biraj Bhattarai is a second-year doctoral student (Fall 2022) in the Department of
Communication Sciences and Disorders at Louisiana State University under the mentorship
of Dr. Bijoyaa Mohapatra. He completed Bachelor of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology
from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Tribhuvan University, Nepal (2018), and a Master
of Science degree in Speech Language Pathology (2021) from All India Institute of
Speech and Hearing (AIISH), University of Mysore, India. He was part of many research
projects during his master's program and has authored several scientific publications.
He was working as Speech Language Pathologist at AIISH before joining his PhD program
at LSU.
Biraj’s research interest in understanding cognitive and language processing in neuro-communication
disorder, specifically Aphasia. His research focuses on utilizing neuroimaging technology
(fNIRS) to assess neural correlates of cognition, language, and related functions
in persons with aphasia.
He likes playing cricket and soccer.
Muhammad Ayyaz
Muhammad Ayyaz embarked on his doctoral journey in Fall 2022, dedicating his research to the field of adult bilingual communication disorders. He completed his undergraduate studies at Forman Christian College Lahore, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and later, he pursued a Master of Science in Applied Linguistics from The University of Management and Technology, Lahore. He is also a graduate of the UT-CELT program at The University of Texas at Austin. Muhammad's primary research interest lies in exploring evidence-based practices for adults who are bilingual and experience communication disorders. With a focus on dual-language phonological patterns, currently, he is investigating the impact of the mora on bilingual language production and how it influences the exact temporal coordination of syllables in native and non-native languages. To that end, driven by his passion for helping others, he envisions a future where he develops innovative tools tailored to the unique needs of bilingual individuals grappling with speech and language disorders.
Fatema Akhter Mitu
Fatema Akhter Mitu is a forth-year doctoral student in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Louisiana State University (LSU). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Speech & Language Therapy from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Before pursuing her graduate studies, she gained over four and a half years of clinical experience as a Speech & Language Therapist in a spinal cord rehabilitation hospital in Bangladesh. In this role, she worked extensively with individuals experiencing communication and swallowing difficulties, as well as serving as a trainer for parents, special school-teachers, and caregivers. Fatema later completed her master’s degree in social science interdisciplinary concentrating Communicative Disorders and Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Fatema’s research interest focuses on the language development of typical children and children with neurodevelopmental disorders, early word learning of autistic children associated with social ratings. She is currently exploring parental verbal responsivity, and the influence of cultural considerations on parent-child interactions. At LSU, Fatema also serves as the primary instructor for COMD 2050: Introduction to Language and COMD 2081: Introduction to Communication Disorders. She has also worked as a teaching assistant for COMD 4382: Basic Language Disorders of Children and COMD 4153: Acoustics of Speech and Hearing, and as a lab instructor for COMD 4380: Speech and Language Development.