Research: Speech disorders in children using acoustic-based methods, machine learning, and biomarkers

Marisha Speights Atkins is an assistant professor at Northwestern University and the director of the Pediatric Speech Technologies and Acoustics Research Lab (PedzSTAR lab). Her research focuses on testing automated methods for tracking acoustic vocal biomarkers for the early detection of speech disorders in young children. She works in collaboration with computer and data scientists who specialize in machine learning to develop innovative computer-based approaches for classifying children with articulatory difficulties. More generally, her lab conducts research on aspects of articulatory and acoustic phonetics, child speech production, and listeners’ speech perception to develop software tools for quantitative screening of developmental speech disorders and assessment of decreased speech intelligibility.