Big ideas start somewhere. This year, NAA is investing $30,000 in three of them!

The NAA received a record number of grant applications filled with promising ideas. After much consideration, three proposals were selected by our research committee. Continue reading to meet the recipients and learn about their projects. And, congratulations to our awardees!

Outdrive Aphasia PPA Grant Recipient

🏆 Lucía Fernández-Romero, PhD, MSc

Institution: The University of Texas at Austin

Project Title: Centering the Voices of Spanish Speakers and Bilinguals with PPA: The CASA-PPA Pilot Study on Remotely Supervised tDCS and Language Intervention for Everyday Communication and Well-Being

Description: This study will explore a treatment approach for Spanish-speaking and bilingual people with semantic or logopenic Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) who have trouble finding words.

•  Language therapy
• Brain stimulation (tDCS)
• Treatment at home with remote clinician supervision

Researchers will study whether this approach is:

• Safe
• Accessible
• Practical

The study will also look beyond word-finding to what matters in everyday life, including:

• Communication
• Participation
• Confidence
• Quality of life

The goal is to help guide future treatments that are accessible, meaningful, and centered on the needs of people living with PPA.

Barbara Martin Aphasia Research Grant Recipients

🏆Victoria Diedrichs, PhD, CCC-SLP

Institution: Michigan State University

Project Title: Optimizing Script Training Using Spaced Retrieval: A Feasibility and Proof-of-Concept Study

Description: This study will explore a way to potentially improve script training for people with aphasia.

Script training helps people practice conversations that are useful in everyday life.

Researchers will combine script training with spaced retrieval, a learning strategy that increases the time between each practice.

People with aphasia will:

• Practice personalized conversations
• Practice parts of the conversation with more time between each practice
• Have their brain activity measured during practice

Researchers will study whether it is practical to use this approach in a future, larger study.

They will also explore what happens in the brain during learning.

The long-term goal is to find ways to make script training even more helpful by supporting people with aphasia to:

• Remember practiced conversations
• Use their communication skills in other situations
• Communicate more fully in everyday life

🏆 Manuel Marte, PhD, CCC-SLP

Institution: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Project Title: Bedside Discourse Assessment Across Hemispheric Stroke Profiles: An Acute Feasibility Study

Description: This study will explore a new way to measure communication after stroke while they’re still in the hospital.

People who have had a stroke will:

• Provide a sample of everyday-like communication
• Use connected speech—not just single words
• Have their communication sample analyzed using an automated tool

This type of communication sample can provide more information about how a person communicates than single-word tasks alone.

Researchers will study whether this approach can be used at the hospital bedside for people with strokes affecting the left, right, or both sides of the brain.

The study focuses on communication that matters in everyday life, such as:

• Having a conversation
• Telling a story
• Taking part in family and community life

The goal is to help develop better ways to identify communication difficulties after stroke, including difficulties that current tests may miss.

Thank you for supporting our aphasia research program

These grants are made possible because of the people and partners who believe in NAA’s mission. We would like to acknowledge:

• The members of the NAA’s Research Committee and Research Team
• The record-breaking 28 research teams who submitted applications this year
• The 35 volunteer aphasia researchers who reviewed research proposals
• Those who financially support our NAA grants, including the family of Barbara Martin, the Academy of Aphasia, the Outdrive Aphasia Golf tournament, and other generous donations from the aphasia community.

Your support helps good ideas get started—and can help us say “yes” to even more promising research in the future.