At Nova Southeastern University, students from several different health care disciplines learned about living with aphasia thanks to NAA Board Members Barbara and Steve Kessler. The story of some of Barbara Kessler’s challenges living with aphasia served as a challenge to student teams to design innovative technological solutions.

Eleven interdisciplinary student teams designed apps and other solutions to help people with aphasia live better in a case-based competition, Empowering Communication and Independence Post-Stroke. The student teams presented their ideas at a Poster Symposium attended by the Kesslers, who had a chance to discuss the students’ ideas with them.

The winning team proposed a new company called AphasiaCare, providing accessible communication and management tools through the MyAphasia app, home adjustment services for aphasia compatible living, and a website to educate caregivers on the best way to help those with aphasia. Congratulations to the winning team members, Pujita Jain, Sohini Jana, and Sridruthi Narayan, who won the $300 prize.

Students were thrilled to hear directly from Barbara and Steve and to get their feedback on their projects and presented Barbara and Steve with thank you certificates.

For their part, the Kesslers were amazed and highly impressed by the quality of the research, presentations, and innovative concepts presented by all of the student teams.

Dr. Jackie Hinckley, Professor in Speech-Language Pathology and Chair of the NAA Board of the Directors, facilitated the collaboration between the Kesslers, NAA, and the 2026 NSU Pre-Health Case Competition event.