# Boston Speech Motor Control Symposium

> **NIH NIH R13** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · 2020 · $100

## Abstract

Project Summary:
Although speech production is arguably the most complex, yet routine, motor skill that humans perform, there
are only two major conferences in the area of speech motor control: the International Conference on Speech
Motor Control and the Madonna Conference on Motor Speech. Both occur relatively infrequently. As such, there
is a need for more options to share current research in speech motor control. The goal of this R13 application is
to support a new, intentionally accessible and inclusive regional conference in speech motor control to augment
the current meetings. The Boston Speech Motor Control Symposium (BSMCS) draws on the high
concentration of individuals in the Boston metropolitan area and areas surrounding Boston that are reachable
by car and train. In order to increase the pipeline of promising under-represented minority (URM) researchers in
this area, BSMCS is designed to reduce barriers to attendance for these individuals. BSMCS will be low-cost
($40 registration; $10 for students) and short (one full conference day with an optional tutorial the evening prior
for trainees). BSMCS will provide travel awards to students and post-doctoral researchers, with preference to
URMs. It will incorporate best-practices to allow for inclusion of working parents, such as free on-site childcare
and access to lactation rooms [1]. Finally, BSMCS will offer continuing education units (CEUs) to attendees who
are speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Attracting SLP attendees will 1) encourage the dissemination of
cutting-edge research that can facilitate clinical translation, and 2) further bolster the pipeline of new researchers
in this area by attracting SLPs to doctoral study. The primary purpose of this R13 conference grant proposal is
to request support from NIDCD for trainee travel awards, travel expenses of invited speakers from outside the
Boston area, family care provider expenses, conference supplies, and poster board rentals during BSMCS 2019,
2021, and 2023. Boston University (BU) will provide an equal match to the NIDCD contribution to each of these
items. The conference registration fees and additional funds from BU will cover all additional costs for the
conference. Each year's meeting will include a one-day program that consists of 5 invited talks (one keynote
lecture and four other expert seminars), with the remainder of the program devoted to contributed talks and a
contributed poster session. Additionally, each year there will be a trainee tutorial held the evening prior to the full
day of the symposium, which will be free of charge for all students and post-doctoral researchers. NIDCD funding
will allow BSMCS to meet the goals of accessibility and inclusivity, fostering research and education in speech
motor control across diverse groups of students, researchers, and clinicians.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9828090
- **Project number:** 5R13DC017674-02
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)
- **Principal Investigator:** Cara E. Stepp
- **Activity code:** R13 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $100
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-01 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9828090

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9828090, Boston Speech Motor Control Symposium (5R13DC017674-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9828090. Licensed CC0.

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