People

Dr. Yu is a certified speech-language pathologist with years of clinical experience working with adult patients with neurogenic communication disorders, dysphagia, and/or cognitive communication disorders. Her clinical passions include dysphagia and motor speech disorders, providing therapy to individuals with swallowing, and dysarthric-related voice and speech production difficulties. Dr. Yu is in the unique position of having been trained in several neuroimaging modalities including magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional MRI.  Also, She is a well-trained speech scientist with extensive experience in behavioral studies. She has worked in the area of speech perception-production and language processing with regard to lexical prosodic information and speech acoustics. Dr. Yu's research interests include the areas of speech perception & production, neurogenic communication disorders, bilingualism, second language acquisition and acoustics of speech. In her free time, Dr. Yu likes to go hiking, going to beaches, watching movies, dramas and spending time with family, friends and four-legged family members. 

NaYoung is a licensed SLP who works with both pediatric and adult/geriatric populations with speech/language communication and swallowing. She completed her Master’s in Communication Disorders and Sciences in 2020, where she engaged in multiple research projects under the mentorship of Dr. Yu. She was honored with the Ruth Harris Award for Clinical Excellence upon graduation, recognized as an exemplar of effective and culturally sensitive communication and treatment.

NaYoung continues to collaborate with Dr. Yu and the lab, with her passion to bridge between research and clinical practice. Her research interests include in the areas of bilingual aphasia, neurogenic communication disorders, second language acquisition, and bilingualism. In her free time, NaYoung enjoys watching movies, crocheting, listening to music, and spending time with her loved ones.

Currently, Bea is a licensed SLP and a second-year graduate student at CSUN’s Health Administration program. Bea completed her MS In Communicative Disorders from CSUN in May 2022 where she finished and led several research projects under Dr. Vickie Yu’s mentorship. Before moving to the US, Bea worked as a pediatric speech-language pathologist in the Philippines for more than 6 years. As a certified CCC-SLP now, she specializes in cleft and craniofacial disorders and loves working with the pediatric population. She is also interested in combining her SLP background with leadership and management. Her current research interests include recruitment and retention in the SLP field, SLP burnout, cleft and craniofacial disorders, and bilingualism. In her free time, Bea enjoys reading and music, whether through singing or playing the violin and flute.  She also likes film photography, cooking, camping, and staying active.

Rachel is an undergraduate student, majoring in Communications Disorders and Sciences with an emphasis in Speech-Language Pathology. She is the current NSSHLA Vice President for CSUN. 

Rachel is a first-generation South Asian-American immigrant. Her goal is to continue into higher education and continue her passion for research. Her research interests include bilingualism and psycholinguistics. Her current clinical interests include aphasia, swallowing disorders, and voice disorders. 

In her free time, Rachel loves to bake and try new recipes from around the world. She loves hosting people at her house for dinner parties. Rachel is also an avid film-watcher. She loves watching newly released movies as well as the classics in film. She also loves volunteering at her church in the children’s ministry.

Myriam is a graduate student from the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences at California State University Northridge (CSUN). She graduated summa cum laude from CSUN with a bachelor's degree in Communication Disorders and Sciences with a double major in Chicana/o Studies. She is a current research assistant within the Speech Language and Science Lab at CSUN and aspires to increase diversity in the field of Speech-Language Pathology and hopes she can use her unique background to educate and aware peers on cultural competency and biases. 

Her interests include bilingualism, cultural studies, rehabilitation and aspires to work with incarcerated populations in the future, helping them find their voice and improve their communication skills as she believes this population is overlooked despite there being a high demand. 

Outside of the lab, Myriam is a dance teacher at a cultural center where she teaches folklorico to new generations. Myriam has been dancing folklorico professionally for over five years and continues to perform around California with Ballet Folklorico Ollin, a nonprofit company dedicated to preserving and interpreting the diverse cultural beauty of México through music, dance, and folk traditions.

Karley is an undergraduate student majoring in Communication Disorders and Sciences. She has been a member of the Speech-Language Science Lab and a current executive board member for CSUN NSSLHA. With a bilingual background in Vietnamese and English, Karley is passionate about researching bilingualism, particularly bilingual advantages. Her clinical interests are in neurogenic communication disorders. Her goals are to attend higher education and become a competent Speech Language Pathologist. Outside of academics, she loves swimming, spending time with her pet fish, and immerses herself in books on Minimalism or the workings of the human body while sipping on her Vietnamese iced coffee.