School of Communication Science and Disorders Assistant Professor Dr. Sladjana Lukic received a First Year Assistant Professor (FYAP) award from the Council on Research and Creativity (CRC). This award will support Lukic’s research over the summer.

Lukic’s research focuses on improving diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for aphasia, a language disorder that affects millions of Americans. In the fast-evolving fields of artificial intelligence and neural networks, her project combines everyday speech data with brain imaging to build neurolinguistic phenotypes of aphasia to assist clinicians in developing effective therapeutic protocols. She hopes to be a catalyst for the continuous collection and monitoring of patients with post-stroke and progressive aphasias in central Florida, who are often marginalized due to a lack of understanding of this phenomenon.