Meet Our Team

Clinically trained as speech Language pathologist, Dash is interested in the interaction between language and cognition in healthy aging and among individuals with communication disorders. Her research focuses on the impact of bilingualism on cognitive performance to uncover the underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms that can be used to improve clinical practices for treating neurogenic communication disorders. She aims to use her understanding of bilingualism to develop culturally sensitive interventions for individuals with cognitive-communication disorders.

Hello, my name is Destinee Elsasser and I am a first year student in the Speech Language Pathology masters program at UofA Augustana Campus. I found myself drawn to speech pathology due to my love of languages and language acquisition. It has always interested me how we are able to communicate so easily using such a complicated system. Furthermore, how we have the capacity to do this more than one language. This interest ended up morphing into a love for the field of speech pathology. I joined this project because it combines two things I’m passionate about: bilingualism and cognitive decline. As I mentioned, I love languages and learning them. But also, I worked in an assisted living facility (SL4) before starting grad school and I was exposed daily to people with cognitive decline. So, over time I’ve developed a curiosity around the subject and would love to learn more.

Hi, I'm Isa Godoy and I'm a second year MSc-SLP thesis-track student in the Dash Lab, where I'm creating a discourse analysis rubric for the language assessment of individuals with aphasia. I completed my undergrad in Cognitive Science at Carleton University in 2023 and began my MSc here at UofA shortly after. At Carleton, I worked in a literacy lab and a bilingual language development lab, both of which played a part in igniting my research interests. My research interests include: the assessment of literacy and language for both pediatric and adult populations, and syntactic input and output in pediatric and adult populations. 

When I’m not in school, I enjoy rock climbing, playing tennis, reading, attending artisan fairs, and listening to live music.

Hi, I’m Stephanie, and I’m currently in my first year of studying speech-language pathology. With a background in neuroscience, I had the opportunity to take a neurobiology of language course during my undergraduate studies, which sparked my passion for exploring speech pathology in greater depth. Growing up, I was surrounded by speech therapy, and as I’ve witnessed close family members experience strokes and one being diagnosed with MS (both of whom underwent speech therapy) I’ve developed a strong desire to be the person behind the scenes helping individuals improve their communication skills. Given my fascination with the brain, I knew I wanted my CSD900 project to focus on something in that area. Aphasia has always intrigued me, and I’ve learned a lot about it during my undergraduate studies and now in my master’s program. It felt like the perfect fit to join this lab to further explore and deepen my understanding of aphasia, especially in the context of developing a discourse rubric for Aphasia in languages other than English, which I’m excited to learn more about! A couple of fun facts about me: I’m a twin! While it’s more common to have twins nowadays, I’ll always feel lucky to have had a built-in best friend. I also love to travel -recently, I’ve been to Europe, the Virgin Islands, and Disneyland, and I’m looking forward to my upcoming trip to Mexico!

Hello! My name is Ryan Kaefer and I am a Speech-Language Pathology student at the University of Alberta. My academic and clinical interests include dysphagia, multilingualism, and the effects of congenital anomalies on the speech mechanism. My interests primarily stem from my life experience, having a grandmother with dysphagia, a multilingual family, and developmental anomalies which led me to speech therapy as a child. I'm thrilled to join Dash lab this year where I seek to apply my interest in multilingualism to a project focusing on developing assessment tools for culturally and linguistically diverse populations. When I'm not at school, you can usually find me composing music, skiing, learning a new language, or pulling a nice espresso.

Hello, my name is Gabby Lai and I am currently in my first year of my Masters program in Speech Language Pathology. I really enjoyed working at an aphasia centre during my undergraduate years and through that experience I knew that I wanted to work in this field. Some fun facts about myself would be that I can speak both English and conversational Cantonese and I was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario so being in Edmonton is completely new to me. 

Howdy! My name is Kyleigh McAlister and I am a first year MSc Rehabilitation Science student at the University of Alberta. My research interests center around bilingualism and its impact on cognitive reserves, working primarily with indigenous populations and individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. I received my BS in psychology from the University of Texas- at Austin in 2023, with a minor in Anthropology. Before moving to Edmonton, I worked as an undergraduate RA in the MADR Lab, focusing on Multilingual Aphasia and Dementia research, and with Project SEED, focusing on the emotional, social, and educational impact of language brokering. Some of my hobbies include language learning (German, French, and Spanish), playing instruments (Piano and Ukulele), and spending time with my hedgehog.

I am a first year student in the faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine getting my Masters in Science in Speech and Language Pathology. I have always been interested in language, especially bi-/multilingualism, and look forward to working with the multicultural population in my future career. 

Hello, my name is Sarah Pfeiffer. I am a master's thesis student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program. Before embarking on a career in rehabilitation medicine, I studied finance during my undergrad and worked in the industry for several years. At the University of Alberta, under the supervision of Dr. Tanya Dash, my research aims to examine semantic representations in Alzheimer’s disease using Natural Language Processing. Exploring the intersection between neuroscience and computer science as it relates to measuring cognitive health is a key interest of mine. I aspire to see applications of Artificial Intelligence become more mainstream in clinical settings. 

Hi, my name is Mohammad, and I’m a PhD student in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta. I am a trained speech-language pathologist with a focus on working with adults who have cognitive communication disorders. My research interests primarily center around the early detection of Alzheimer's disease through the analysis of cognitive and neuroimaging data. In the Dash Lab, I aim to integrate my previous research with elements of artificial intelligence to develop cost-effective and accessible tools for early detection of Alzheimer's disease. I love animals so if I find out you have a pet, I might try to befriend you just to get to pet them! I'm always happy to meet new people so if you see me around the campus feel free to say hi.

Hello, I’m Viktoriya! I’m currently in my first year of the Speech-Language Pathology program at the University of Alberta. My decision to pursue this field stems from a desire to help others and make a meaningful impact on their lives. I joined this lab because I've always been interested in bilingualism, but I hadn’t considered it from a cognitive perspective until now. This lab gives me the perfect opportunity to explore that! Some fun facts about me: I speak Bulgarian, I love to cook but mostly eat, and I have a pet turtle.