Posted 6/18/2008

Voice disorders researcher to receive ASHA
2008 Early Career Contributions in Research Award

Dr. Heather Bonilha, a junior faculty member of the Arnold School of Public Health, has earned the 2008 Early Career Contributions in Research Award presented by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association.

She is the sole recipient of this year's award that recognizes scientific accomplishments by individuals in the early stages of their careers.

Bonilha will receive the award at the ASHA's national convention in November.

Dr. Heather Bonilha

Bonilha received her doctorate in 2005 from the Arnold School's Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders where she continues to work as a research assistant professor under the Centenary Plan.

Bonilha is the founder and director of The Voice Clinic, part of the USC Speech & Hearing Research Center. The clinic helps patients with voice disorders and provides hands-on experience with these types of disorders for students in the COMD Master's program.

"This is an outstanding accomplishment for the university and the research development program for young researchers at USC. Heather is conducting outstanding research here and in collaboration with regional institutions," said Bonilha's department chair, Dr. Elaine Frank.

Bonilha "has begun a line of research, funded by an R03 from the NIH National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, that has contributed significantly to our understanding of the role (and potential seriousness) of the accumulation of vocal fold mucus and the throat clearing and coughing behaviors that accompany the mucus," said COMD research professor Dr. Allen A. Montgomery, who nominated her for the award.

Montgomery's nomination also pointed out she has developed technical refinements that will advance the clinical potential of high-speed videoendoscopy, a procedure that uses a probe fitted with a video camera to analyze disorders of the vocal folds. That effort is supported by a R01 grant from NIH NIDCD. The principal investigator of the R01 is Dr. Dimitar Deliyski, Bonilha's Ph.D. mentor.

Bonilha is a certified speech-language pathologist. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Central Florida in Orlando before coming to USC in 2002. While a doctoral student, she received the New Investigator Research Award from The Voice Foundation.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association is the professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 130,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists.