Maya Brown (left) and Alex Coggins (right) are rising second-year graduate students pursuing their Masters in Speech-Language Pathology at CWRU. They have been members of the BiSC Lab for the past year.
What hobbies do you enjoy outside of the lab?
Alex: Outside of the lab I love to hang out with friends and family. I also love to be outside doing something active whenever I can!
Maya: I enjoy cooking, going to the trampoline park, scouting for vegan-friendly restaurants around town.
What sparked your interest within the field of Communication Sciences?
Alex: My grandfather suffered from a stroke and required the help of an SLP. After seeing the progress she helped my grandfather make, I became interested in the field.
Maya: I have always loved the geriatric population, but I did not want to become a nurse. When my mom went into rehab after her stroke, her speech-language pathologist worked so hard to instill in her both the self-confidence and the functional “tools” she needed to recover. She was incredibly successful. I decided I wanted to be a part of that kind of work.
Why did you join the BiSC Lab?
Alex: I am very interested in this area of the field and I would love to assist in furthering the research in regards to swallowing.
Maya:I think dysphagia is interesting. I also knew Dr. Mulheren would be an incredible person to learn from, especially as a student who is interested in working in a medical setting.
What is your favorite part of the BiSC Lab?
Alex: The fact that everyone has different knowledge and experiences, yet we are all welcomed and work wonderfully together!
Maya: The fNIRS [functional near infrared spectroscopy] training.
Why do you think being a part of a research lab is important?
Alex: I think it is important not only for the experience and knowledge of how research actually works, but to also give back to the field that you aspire to enter into. Working in a research lab helps to appreciate all the work put into the process and also to add to the literature, in hopes of giving our future patients the best possible practices!
Maya: Building research literacy, and contributing to it, helps you build the habit of using it in clinical practice and allows you to fully appreciate it.