Dr. Bolger's research focuses on the neurocognitive underpinnings of typical and atypical development of language and reading as well as the role of general cognitive ability and executive functioning in the basic aspects of learning. He has nearly 20 years of hands-on experience in using functional neuroimaging methods with typically developing children as well as those with learning disabilities including dyslexia. His lab has also investigated the mechanisms of inferring the emotion of others from language and whether these mechanisms are impaired in Autism Spectrum Disorder. More recently, his research has focused on the impact of poverty and family environment on language and cognitive development in early childhood.

Dr. Bolger uses a variety of research methodologies including structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and other physiological measures. His research has been funded by the Office of Naval Research, the Congressional Directed Medical Research Program via the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes for Health. This work has been published in journals including Human Brain Mapping, Neuropsychologia, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, etc.  Dr. Bolger is an affiliate faculty member of the Language Science Center and the Maryland Neuroimaging Center. 

Maggie Polizos Peterson PhD is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Maryland Language Science Center at The University of Maryland, College Park, where she instructs literacy courses for pre-service teachers in the Elementary Education, Secondary Education and MCERT programs.  She is Director of the University of Maryland Writing Project, creating and delivering grant supported professional development for teacher inquiry for writing instruction, creating classroom writing community and teacher leadership. She has been the facilitator for The Memory Project, a writing workshop for Holocaust survivors at The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum since its inception in 2001. A 2000 graduate of The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, her current work focuses on the meaning making processes of writing and writing as a tool for teacher agency and professional development. She approaches writing as a liberatory process and integral to Critical Literacy. She also teaches Phenomenological Inquiry, a research methodology that foregrounds writing as a mode of researching lived human experience. 

Jade Wexler, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of special education and the inaugural College of Education Impact Professor at the University of Maryland. Her current research focuses on improving literacy outcomes for secondary students with reading difficulties and disabilities, via teacher professional development and the establishment of sustainable school-wide literacy models. Dr. Wexler has been the principal investigator and co-principal investigator on several federally funded adolescent literacy-focused grants totaling approximately $8M. She has published over 55 articles in peer-reviewed journals and is the co-author of three books about adolescent literacy. As a former high school special education and reading teacher, Dr. Wexler aims to bring her practical experience in the field to her research and greatly values her school partners. 

Brandi Slaughter brings a wealth of public policy experience to work at the University of Maryland having served nonprofits and government in advocacy and lobbying roles. At the outset of her career, Brandi offered direct service to children and families—mainly those considered high-risk youth at several settlement houses. As an advocate for policy change, she has supported the development of state and federal policy which has impacted people with disabilities, the health of Ohioans, and children and families. She worked in the Ohio Senate as a legislative staffer and has lobbied on behalf of the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission. While at Public Children Services of Ohio, she advocated for reforms to the foster care system. She coordinated and mobilized advocates from across the country to pass a bi-cameral, bi-partisan federal bill, “Fostering Connections to Success Act” to support children in foster care. At Voices for Ohio’s Children, Slaughter led policy reform and system change to maximize the well-being of Ohio’s children, most notably work to expand Medicaid in Ohio and defense of the Affordable Care Act at the congressional level. Through teaching, Brandi has inspired students to use their power and influence to advocate for reform. Her passion for bringing voice to marginalized communities is apparent in all of her work.

She received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Morgan State University, and a Juris Doctor from Capital University with a concentration in Child and Family Law.

José Ortiz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the University of Maryland. He serves as the Director of the Language-Learning Early Advantage Program (LEAP), and the Certificate in Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology. He received a B.A. in Linguistics & Psychology from the University of Connecticut in 2004, an M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2007, and a Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Maryland in 2022. His research focuses on issues regarding the identification of language-related disorders in bilingual children, including disproportionality in special education, non-biased assessment, and technology-enhanced service assessment.

Before joining the faculty at the University of Maryland, Melinda Martin-Beltran earned her PhD in Educational Linguistics from Stanford University and worked as a bilingual and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher in K-12 settings in the United States and Latin America.  As a teacher educator and applied linguist using anthropological and sociocultural approaches, Dr. Martin-Beltran has studied classroom practices and contexts that build upon the cultural and linguistic diversity of students in order to increase educational equity for language-minority students. Her research seeks to understand ways that learners (both students and teachers) engage in the co-construction of knowledge and the social processes of learning. She has led a research project examining the Language Ambassadors program for English learners and Spanish learners in high school, funded by the Spencer foundation and the National Academy of Education Postdoctoral fellowship. She was co-PI on a federally funded project developing a cross-age, peer tutoring reading program to support vocabulary development and reading comprehension of younger and older English learners in elementary schools. Dr. Martin-Beltran also works with CASA de Maryland as part of a Promise Neighborhood Grant funded by the Department of Education.

Courtney Overton, EdD, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park. Courtney serves as the Director of the Language-Learning Early Advantage Program (LEAP).  Courtney is also the Founder & CEO of Speech of Cake, Inc., a private practice in Alexandria, Virginia that specializes in treating speech sound disorders and dyslexia. Courtney continues to advocate for neurodivergent students and students of color by providing seminars, workshops, and keynotes on a national level through her organizations, DiverCity SLP and The SLP Guide to Dyslexia.

Courtney earned a doctorate in literacy, culture, and language education at Indiana University with a minor in educational leadership and public policy. She obtained a certificate in entrepreneurship from Cornell University. Courtney attended Emerson College to earn a master's degree in speech-language pathology, and she obtained a bachelor's degree in speech-language pathology, minor in linguistics, and certificate in American Sign Language at the University of Pittsburgh.