Research Interests

Why do some children struggle to acquire their native language? How can we promote language development across neurodiversity? My research interests include language development, its disorders and its neurobiological basis. I address these fascinating topics from a multidisciplinary perspective, bridging between my background in Speech and Language Pathology, Cognitive Neuroscience and my current training in Psychology.

As a predoctoral researcher, I investigated the benefit of perceptual anchoring as a facilitating learning mechanism in early language development, by employing non-invasive optical brain imaging (NIRS) in human infants. This work has received the Best Poster Audience Award from the 7^th Summer Neurolinguistic School, Center for Language and Brain, HSE, Moscow.

My current research concerns the effects of shared storybook reading on early language development in typical and atypical populations. Accumulating evidence suggests that shared storybook reading has a positive influence on language development. Nevertheless, the way in which stories are told and the design of the storybooks themselves are rapidly changing. My project aims to disentangle which features of traditional and digital storybooks maximise word learning in children, with a special focus on neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., Down Syndrome, Autism, Developmental Language Disorder) and disadvantaged backgrounds. As part of the e-LADDA consortium, and in cooperation with Amplify, I will examine the potential of technology to support language development in young and vulnerable populations. With this work, I have been selected to be featured in the European Union Research Executive Agency #MyJobinResearch campaign as an ambassador to promote the impact of EU funded research.