Boston University's Sargent College has renewed a federal training grant that has funded more than ten years of research preparation for emerging scientists in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). The National Institutes of Health award, known as a T32 Institutional National Research Service Award, now enters its third five-year cycle, extending mentorship and hands-on research opportunities for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees.
How the Training Program Works
The T32 grant is housed at Sargent College and directed by Dr. Cara Stepp, who also leads the PhD program in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS). Rather than functioning as a single lab or course, the program draws together faculty and trainees from neuroscience, rehabilitation sciences, speech-language and hearing sciences, biomedical engineering, and education. Trainees receive dedicated laboratory space, placement in established research groups, and direct mentorship from faculty with specific methodological expertise, addressing what the program's organizers describe as a longstanding gap in structured research training for CSD students.
Professional Development Beyond the Lab
Beyond laboratory training, the program builds skills considered essential for sustaining an academic research career: experimental design, data analysis and interpretation, grant writing, and strategies for pursuing external funding. According to Dr. Stepp, the program has produced numerous tenure-track faculty members in CSD and related fields, some of whom now mentor their own doctoral students and compete successfully for NIH research funding.
A Trainee's Trajectory
Dr. Juliana Ronderos, a former T32 postdoctoral fellow mentored by Dr. Jennifer Zuk and Dr. Tyler Perrachione, illustrates how the program has translated into independent careers. Ronderos combined her background in bilingual language development and developmental language disorders with training in developmental neuroscience, later earning her own NIH F32 fellowship. She credits the program's grant-writing and professional-development components with preparing her to compete for federal and foundation funding and to secure a tenure-track position at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she founded the Bilingual Experience and Neurodevelopment Lab.
What the Renewal Means Going Forward
The latest renewal ensures continuity for a training model that has operated for more than a decade, allowing current and future trainees to access the same mentorship structure, interdisciplinary collaboration, and funding-preparation resources. While the program's long-term outcomes-such as faculty placements and grant success-are drawn from institutional reporting rather than independent verification, the renewal itself confirms continued federal investment in building research capacity within communication sciences and disorders.