SPEECH NEUROPHYSIOLOGY LAB

at the University of Michigan

Spring 2025

News and Updates

A message from our director

This spring has been an exciting one in our lab. We've published new papers, forged stronger connections with our community, and participated in countless local events. We even received a grant to begin a new stuttering research study! We can't wait to get started with this innovative area of research. If you're curious about the new study, please read my interview (below) where I talk through what we hope to learn.

Next month, we are hosting a virtual webinar focused on stuttering education and awareness. Presenters from our lab will bust stuttering myths, share the latest research findings, and highlight the lived experience of stuttering. I encourage you to attend along with family and friends. The event is free and virtual, so you can tune in no matter where you are.

As we expand into new areas of research this spring, I'm grateful for everyone who has contributed to stuttering research over the years. Whether you've participated in a study, helped us spread the word, given a gift to support us, or you simply read this newsletter to hear what our lab is up to—thank you! We are so excited to work together toward furthering stuttering research and supporting our stuttering community.

Soo-Eun Chang, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Principal Investigator and Director

Speech Neurophysiology Lab

Rosa Casco Solano-Lopez Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Michigan Medicine

University of Michigan

Publications

New publication in Neurobiology of Language

Dr. Soo-Eun Chang has a new paper, Stuttering: Our Current Knowledge, Research Opportunities, and Ways to Address Critical Gaps, published in Neurobiology of Language. The paper summarizes invited talks that include topics like neurobiology; genetics; speech motor control; cognitive, social, and emotional impacts; and stuttering interventions. Together, these insights contribute to efforts to better the lives of people who stutter.

Learn more about these findings

New publication in Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research

Dr. Shanley Treleaven, Megan Sheppard, and Dr. Soo-Eun Chang are among the lab's co-authors in a new paper in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. The article, Assessing childhood stuttering recovery: Incorporating self-identification, caregiver, and clinician reports through adolescence, investigates stuttering recovery rates and provides interesting insights into how different people self-report their experience of recovery.

Read the article

Upcoming Events

Mind Matters: Stuttering Fact vs. Fiction

Date: May 15, 2025

Time: 7:00p.m.–8:30p.m. ET

Join us for a webinar that separates fact from fiction and shares the latest in stuttering research.

Learn more

Monthly Stuttering Support Group

Date: Fourth Wednesday of every month

Time: 6:00p.m.–7:30p.m.

Location: Ann Arbor District Library Downtown, 3rd Floor Freespace

In partnership with the Ann Arbor Stuttering Awareness and Research Club (A2STAR ⭐) at the University of Michigan, we co-host monthly support group meetings open to teens and adults who stutter. If you'd like to be part of the group, fill out our brief interest form.

Support Group Interest Form

Lab Highlights

Lab Receives NIH Grant for New Stuttering Research Study

The Speech Neurophysiology Lab has been awarded an NIH Grant to conduct a new stuttering research study. Over the next five years, this study will gather detailed brain scans of individuals who stutter to map out what makes the structure and function of their brains unique.

We interviewed Dr. Soo-Eun Chang to learn more about this new, innovative study and what she hopes further research will have to teach us about stuttering.

Read the interview

SLP Spotlight: Megan Sheppard

We interviewed Megan Sheppard, a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) in our lab whose work is helping to make a difference in the SLP and stuttering communities. We asked her about her role in the lab as well as her new in-service program which provides school SLPs a resource to support their students who stutter.

Read the interview

Speech Neurophysiology Lab Highlights

This spring, our lab members have been busy traveling locally and abroad to advance stuttering research! Here are a few photos from our most recent adventures.

Lab members Janice Chong and Sophia Hogan help kids craft brain hats and learn about their brains at the Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum

Dr. Soo-Eun Chang explores Seoul, South Korea

Dr. Emily Garnett gives a talk at the Ann Arbor District Library

Dr. Soo-Eun Chang teaches a lecture at Hallym University in Chuncheon, South Korea

Participate in our research

Are you or someone you know interested in participating in stuttering research? We are searching for participants of all ages to help us with our research studies and would love your help spreading the word. Our study procedures include surveys, speech and language screenings, and non-invasive brain activity recordings using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Our participants are compensated for their time and are helping to advance the field of stuttering research!

Get Involved

Looking for more research opportunities?

The University of Michigan's Conceptual Development Lab is interested in learning more about what children understand about COVID-19 transmission and illness as well as how parents and children learn about viruses together. Their study, Learning about Illness at Home, is a virtual study that can be completed from home. To get started, fill out their study interest form. Questions? Contact conceptlab@umich.edu.

Study Interest Form

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