The Developmental Stuttering Project at Vanderbilt values interdisciplinary collaboration. Students and faculty from Peabody College of Education to Vanderbilt University Medical Center each bring unique perspectives and ideas to the research process, creating a dynamic team environment with diverse training backgrounds, career goals, and expertise. Whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student looking for more information about how your interests may align with our projects, we encourage you to learn about our current students, as well as contact our lab to learn more about potential opportunities to get involved. We also suggest reviewing our recent publications to get an idea of the work our lab has recently produced.
Meet our Current Students
Cara Singer, M.A., CCC-SLP
Cara is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Developmental Stuttering Lab in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences. She previously received her clinical master’s degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Iowa and worked clinically with children and adults with a range of communication impairments. Shaped by her personal and professional experiences, she is interested in researching stuttering development and its treatment. Thanks to the Developmental Stuttering Project, she has received valuable experience in statistical analysis of risk factors for stuttering persistence and study development.
Dillon Pruett, B.S.
Dillon G. Pruett is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Developmental Stuttering Lab in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences. He received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington, majoring in biology and speech and hearing sciences. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, he worked as a student research assistant in a molecular pathology lab and a speech physiology and motor control lab. His primary interest relates to developmental stuttering, with a focus on utilizing electronic medical records to develop novel research approaches. Thanks to the Developmental Stuttering Project, he has received valuable mentoring and expertise in experimental design and statistical analyses.
Mallory Ford, B.A.
Mallory is a first-year master’s student in the clinical and developmental research track of the Child Studies Program at Peabody. She received her Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology and Sociology from Arkansas Tech University in 2018, where she spent two years doing an independent studies meta analytic project examining predictors of bullying. With that being said, her research interest is broadly bullying. Specifically, she is interested in examining predictors of involvement in bullying, both as victims and bullies; the mechanisms in the relationship between bullying involvement and negative mental health outcomes, and using this research to inform intervention and prevention programs. She is interested in studying stuttering, specifically, because children who stutter are at a much greater risk for being victims of bullying than fluent children, and they are vulnerable to negative mental health outcomes.
Anna Allen, B.S.
Anna is a first year master’s student in the research track of the Child Studies Program at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of Education. She received her undergraduate degree in psychological science from Ball State University in 2018, where she spent two years as a research assistant in an EEG lab. She has also worked extensively with populations with developmental disabilities, and is interested in pursuing a career in speech-language pathology. She is interested in stuttering not only for its direct importance, but also for how humans perceive differences in ability, in this case, what is acoustically heard or produced. Thanks to the Developmental Stuttering Project, she has increased her knowledge of research methods and design.