# The Eleanor M. Saffran Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience of Rehabilitation of Communication Disorders

> **NIH NIH R13** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 2022 · $46,538

## Abstract

Effective evidence-based clinical practice in the communication sciences and other health professions requires
several stages of development from basic science to clinical practice. First, clinical research that generates
diagnostic and treatment approaches depends on a sound theoretical foundation. The rehabilitation methods
that are generated in clinical research then need to be further translated to a form that facilitates effective
implementation in clinical or school settings. The process of knowledge translation to clinical practice faces
several challenges, the most obvious of which is the practical differences between laboratory settings where
interventions are developed and clinical settings where they are implemented. This conference addresses two
other challenges to achieving true evidence based practice: (1) education of clinical practitioners about advances
in theoretically and empirically supported rehabilitation methods and (2) communication between researchers
and clinical practitioners to better effect implementation of clinical research into practice. For eleven years, the
Eleanor M. Saffran Conference on the Cognitive Neuroscience and Rehabilitation of Communication Disorders
has provided a forum in which researchers in basic and applied patient-oriented research, clinical practitioners,
academic faculty and students with a common interest in language and other cognitive disorders can share
knowledge and skills on each side of the translational ‘gap’. This annual two-day conference focuses on a single
topic relating to a specific language disorder (e.g., sentence processing disorders) or to a more general topic in
rehabilitation research (e.g., outcome measures). The first day includes platform papers on current theories and
practices emerging from rehabilitation research. The day includes ample time for discussion between the
presenters and the audience which includes speech/language pathologists, neuropsychologists, psychologists,
neurologists, linguists and students from these various disciplines, who share a common interest in cognitive
neuroscience of communication disorders and their rehabilitation. The second day is a workshop that provides
a forum for clinicians and researchers to address the practical considerations involved in translating laboratory
developed diagnostic and treatment protocols to clinical practice. This component of the conference is unique
and provides a real opportunity for researchers and clinicians to participate together in the
translation/implementation process. A third important challenge of this conference is to fulfill its mission to extend
the educational opportunities that this conference provides to students. We address this challenge in two ways.
First, students at all academic levels (undergraduate to post-doctoral) can attend the conference for free.
Second, there are ten competitive student scholar travel awards given to students at the doctoral or post-doctoral
level. The award includ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10319486
- **Project number:** 5R13DC016550-05
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Nadine Martin
- **Activity code:** R13 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $46,538
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-05 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10319486

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10319486, The Eleanor M. Saffran Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience of Rehabilitation of Communication Disorders (5R13DC016550-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10319486. Licensed CC0.

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