Who We Are
Principal Investigator, Director
Elaine Hitchcock is the Chairperson and a professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Montclair State University. Dr. Hitchcock is a certified speech-language pathologist with over 20 years of clinical experience working with multiple clinical populations including individuals with speech sound disorders, motor speech disorders, and voice disorders. She co-founded the Voice Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in 1995 before leaving to pursue her doctoral degree. Dr. Hitchcock received her Ph.D. in speech-language pathology from New York University in 2005, with a specialization in phonology and acoustics. She has an active research agenda focusing on developmental aspects of phonology as well as visual biofeedback techniques for diagnosis and treatment of speech and voice disorders.
Robbie Lazarus, MA, CCC-SLP
BTC Clinical Director/Research Clinician
Robbie is the clinical director of the Biofeedback Treatment Clinic (BTC), providing direct supervision to graduate students during visual biofeedback interventions. Robbie is also a research clinician in the lab and an instructor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Montclair State University. She received a M.A. from American University and a M.A. from Montclair State University.
Laura Ochs, MA, CCC-SLP
Research Project Manager/Research Clinician
Laura is the project manager and research clinician in the Clinical Biofeedback Laboratory at Montclair State University. Her current research includes treatment of residual speech sound disorders using biofeedback technology via teletherapy. Laura also currently serves as an adjunct professor for the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at MSU. Laura received her M.A. from Montclair State University.
Sarah Granquist, MA, CCC-SLP
Research Clinician
Sarah is a research clinician in the Clinical Biofeedback Laboratory at Montclair State University. Sarah has over 16 years of experience as a speech-language pathologist and has spent 10 years as a treating clinician in our lab! She also works as a speech language specialist at a public school district in Bergen County, working with children in grades K-5.
Amy Schwartz, MA, CCC-SLP
Lab Administrator/Research Clinician
Amy is the lab administrator who is responsible for keeping our lab running smoothly. She is also a research clinician in the Clinical Biofeedback Laboratory at Montclair State University. Amy joined the CBL in July 2022 after working for several years in a school system in Somerset County. Amy received her M.A. from Montclair State University.
Michelle Swartz, PhD, CCC-SLP
MSU-CBL Consultant; Thomas Jefferson University Assistant Professor
Michelle is a certified speech-language pathologist and an assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson University. She received her Ph.D. from MSU in 2022, an M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from MSU in 2014 and an M.S. in Biomedical Science from Barry University in 2009. Her research interests include visual biofeedback for the treatment of motor speech disorders.
Cory Pinto
Doctoral Research Assistant
Cory is a Ph.D. student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders department at Montclair State University. He holds an M.A. in Voice Pedagogy and an M.S. in Educational Technology with an undergraduate degree in music education. Cory is also a singer and a music teacher. His research interests include using visual biofeedback to investigate vocal fatigue in singers.
pintoc4@montclair.edu
Maddie Russell
Graduate Research Assistant
Maddie is a first-year graduate student in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Montclair State University, where she works as a research assistant in the CBL. She recently graduated from Rutgers-New Brunswick with a B.A. in Linguistics. She is looking forward to learning more about biofeedback as a method of therapy to treat residual speech sound disorders and exploring more of her potential clinical and research interests.
russellm9@montclair.edu
MSU-CBL Alumni
Amy Rosen
Dana Catalano
Madeline Cheyne
Nadine Helwani
Lauren Dioguardi
