Ciullo Receives Awards to Support Dissertation Research to Improve Outcomes in School-Age Children with Communication Disorders
Content
Brittany Ciullo, a doctoral candidate in speech, language, and hearing sciences, has been awarded a two-year, $47,537 Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31) from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant will support her dissertation research, which focuses on improving outcomes in school-age children with communication disorders by implementing communicative participation interventions.
The F31 award supports promising predoctoral students with potential to develop into a productive, independent research scientists, and to obtain mentored research training while conducting dissertation research.
“Brittany is one of those rare students who brings both heart and scientific precision to her work,” says Associate Professor of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Jill Hoover, who serves as Ciullo’s faculty mentor and directs the Sounds2Syntax Lab. “From day one, she’s shown an incredible drive to connect research with real-world impact—especially for children with communication disorders. Her background as a school-based SLP gives her a unique lens, and she’s used that to ask thoughtful, practice-informed research questions. She’s collaborative, curious, and remarkably independent. Watching her grow into a confident, capable researcher is both inspiring and rewarding.”
“I am incredibly grateful to receive the F31,” says Ciullo. “This award provides me with dedicated time to focus on my dissertation project and obtain specialized training in theoretical and methodological areas relevant to my project and long-term research goals. I am excited to explore my topic in depth and learn all I can from my mentorship team. The chance to conduct a project I am passionate about while learning directly from experts in my areas of interest is not something I take for granted. Truly a gift!”
In addition to her F31 grant, Ciullo has received two additional awards from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation in support of her dissertation research: a New Century Scholars Doctoral Scholarship, a $10,000 scholarship award intended to offset living costs; and a Student Research Grant in Early Child Language Development, a $2000 award to support research costs.
Nearly 20% of school-age children have a communication disorder that limits their ability to participate in daily life, such as classroom discussions or conversations with peers at school, notes Ciullo. Intervention outcomes that focus directly on communicative participation (i.e., communication in these everyday life situations) are essential for improving the quality of life of school-age children with communication disorders.
Although researchers have developed a relevant intervention guide, many school-based speech-language pathologists do not directly target communicative participation, which limits children’s access to treatments that could improve their quality of life in this crucial developmental period (ages 5-12).
Ciullo’s dissertation will address this gap between theory and practice. Using a mixed methods approach, she will combine the findings of an online survey and focus groups comprised of school-based speech-language pathologists to understand the barriers and facilitators influencing speech-language pathologists’ use of communicative participation intervention outcomes. She will then use this information to adapt a research-based intervention guide for practical use in the school context, with the ultimate goal of implementing this guide to enhance outcomes for school-age children with communication disorders.
She hopes this research will lay the groundwork for future studies focused on reducing the barriers, elevating the facilitators, and supporting communicative participation in school settings with children with communication disorders.
“Ultimately, by focusing on the critical role speech-language pathologists play in supporting communicative participation, we can benefit the many school-age children currently struggling to express their ideas and communicate in everyday situations at school,” says Ciullo.