School of Communication Science & Disorders (SCSD) Associate Professor Kaitlin Lansford was elected a Fellow of the American Speech, Language, Hearing Association (ASHA). Fellowship is one of the highest honors the Association grants. To be awarded Fellow, a nominee must make outstanding contributions to the discipline of communication sciences and disorders.

“I’m very honored and humbled to be included amongst this group of people who have been selected this year for the fellowship,” stated Lansford who was recognized for her excellence through her teaching, research, and service to ASHA. 

Not only has Lansford taught thousands of students at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels at FSU, she also conducts important research as a motor speech scientist, for which she recently received an NIH Grant to advance the clinical implementation of listener-based training for improving communication outcomes associated with Parkinson’s disease.

As of September 1, her research team is launching their first clinical trial, a new milestone in Lansford’s research journey. “What excites me most is the clinical translation of this work. I’m most proud of getting it to the point where we can move our work out of the laboratory and into the clinic to determine if our research improves communication outcomes for people with neurological disorders and their communication partners,” shared Lansford. 

During her time as an ASHA member, Lansford has helped with programming committees, mentored junior scientists, served as a topic chair for the annual convention three times, and completed editorial duties for ASHA journals. She is not the first from FSU to be elected Fellow for ASHA and said, “I think it speaks to the reputation of our department across the country. It’s heartening to see our faculty members are being recognized for their excellence.”

The official ASHA 2024 award ceremony will be the first week of December in Seattle, Washington.