Director

Eric J. Hunter, Ph.D., Professor & Department Chair
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Eric Hunter serves as the Department Executive Officer in Iowa's Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, along with the title of Harriet B. and Harold S. Brady Chair in Liberal Arts and Sciences. For the last 15 years, Dr. Hunter has researched occupational voice use, particularly examining voice disorders in elementary and secondary school teachers.

Dr. Hunter earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Physics and Mathematics from Brigham Young University, with an emphasis in acoustics and vibration. His master’s thesis, which focused on designing and testing computer-generated visual aids, shifted his interest from general acoustics to speech acoustics. He completed his training in the area of speech science and received his doctorate from the University of Iowa. His dissertation topic used continuum mechanics to model vocal fold posturing.

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Over a decade ago, Lady Catherine Cantor Cutiva began studying the work-relatedness of voice disorders among occupational voice users. After finishing her speech-language pathology and audiology degrees at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, she started her first graduate degree investigating the working conditions associated with voice disorders among college professors. Then, she began a second master’s and a doctoral degree at Erasmus Universiteit (The Netherlands); there, she delved further into this research, and conducted the first longitudinal study with cost-analysis of voice disorders among Colombian schoolteachers. After completing these studies, she pursued a research fellowship at Politecnico di Torino (Italy), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Michigan State University. At both locations, her research expanded to include various occupational voice users and the analysis of different -- but related -- factors, such as speaking a second language (bilingual occupational voice users). In 2018, she started working at Universidad Nacional de Colombia at the Department of Collective Health. She is the project coordinator of a large multi-faceted NIH-funded project. Her research interests focus on occupational voice disorders and the effect of occupational voice use in a second language among occupational voice users. She also enjoys studying work-related voice disorders, vocal fry, and the effects of bilingualism on voice production.

Mark Berardi, Ph.D., Research Scientist
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Mark Berardi's academic journey began in acoustical physics, with applications in music, speech, and architectural acoustics. He earned his PhD from Michigan State University's Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, where he developed models for aging voice, vocal effort related to communication demands, and vocal fatigue. Following his doctoral studies, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) in Germany. Working in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy's Vocal Control and Vocal Well-Being lab (VoCoWell), he investigated the neurobiological and psychological factors associated with vocal fatigue in primary school teachers. During this time, he expanded his research scope, collaborating with UKB researchers to apply speech science and computational linguistics to psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. A key focus of his work is the development of computational tools for large-scale speech and voice disorders research. By leveraging data science methodologies, he aims to advance more precise and personalized therapeutic care. His long-term research goal is to combine his diverse background in acoustics, computation, and neurobiology to deepen our understanding of the complexities of speech and voice production.

Amed Yousef
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My research interest is to examine the underlying mechanisms of voice production in normal and pathological phonations, with a particular interest in hyperfunctional voice disorders. Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach and machine learning, I aim to enhance clinical voice assessment via exploring accurate measures of voice production—through laryngeal imaging and acoustic voice analysis—and developing advanced computational models and machine learning techniques. I hold a dual PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University. In 2022, I was honored with the 2022 Sataloff Award—bestowed to early-career voice scientists by the Voice Foundation and Elsevier. My current work with Dr. Eric Hunter focuses on examining ideal environmental conditions in clinics (room acoustics) to perform accurate and reliable acoustic voice assessment. We also develop machine learning models for automated detection of voice disorders, helping clinicians to have better diagnostic decisions. In future, I aim to combine laryngeal imaging techniques with acoustic voice analysis to improve the assessment and diagnosis of voice disorders. 

Adrián Castillo-Allendes M.Sc., SLP
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Adrián Castillo-Allendes is a Fulbright scholar, Speech-Language Pathologist and MSc in Clinical Exercise Physiology from Universidad Mayor in Santiago, Chile. He holds professional certifications in Vocal Rehabilitation, Research Methods, and Teaching for Higher Education. With over 15 years of experience, he has worked extensively with individuals facing voice disorders, including professional voice users and those with Parkinson's disease, in various clinical settings.

Currently, Adrián is a PhD candidate in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University. He also serves as a research fellow at the Vocal Biomechanics and Acoustics Laboratory (VBAL), led by his mentor, Dr. Eric Hunter, at the University of Iowa. His research interests focus on interdisciplinary therapy, comprehensive assessment for individuals with voice and swallowing disorders, and biomechanics related to both functions. Adrián's research is advanced by support from the Charles J. Strosacker Foundation Research Fund for Health and Risk Communication at MSU, and the Career Development Program fellowship from the Dysphagia Research Society (DRS). He has also been awarded the Graduate Student Fellowship by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHFoundation).

Chia-Hsin Wu, MS, SLP
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Chia-Hsin Wu joined the Voice Biomechanics and Acoustics Lab as a Ph.D. student in Speech and Hearing Science in August 2024. Prior to embarking on her Ph.D. journey, she worked as a speech-language pathologist in Taiwan. Her interest in voice studies began with her master's thesis on a Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract (SOVT) exercise program for older adults. Chia-Hsin is keenly interested in both basic and clinical science, particularly in voice physiology, acoustic analysis, and therapeutic strategies. She is especially interested in research involving the elderly and professional voice users.