Advancing Clinical Science: Three SLP Faculty Recognized with NIH Funding

Dr.s. Washington, Yunusova and Martino (left to right)

By: Jessica Boafo

The new academic year is off to an outstanding start as the Department of Speech-Language Pathology proudly announces that three of its core faculty members, Karla N. Washington, Yana Yunusova, and Rosemary Martino, have each received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Washington and Yunusova have both been awarded highly competitive R01 grants, each funded at over $2 million USD, marking an extraordinary milestone for the researchers and the department. Washington has been continuously funded by NIH since 2019 and Yunusova since 2009.

Martino has received an NIH subaward of $150,000 USD, serving as site-PI on an ancillary study leveraging her PCORI-funded RCT, PRO-ACTIVE. While a different funding mechanism, this achievement underscores the breadth of the department’s impact and collaborations across major clinical research initiatives.

The NIH is the primary government agency for biomedical and public health research in the United States, investing $31 billion annually in advancing knowledge across a wide range of conditions. Among its many funding mechanisms, R01 grants are the oldest and most competitive, typically awarded for 3–5 years to support discrete, well-defined research projects.

“RO1 grants have a low success rate, especially in the current research environment, and even more so for Canadian PIs,” notes Rosemary Martino, Chair of the Department of Speech-Language Pathology.

These accomplishments are not only impressive individually but also speak to the department’s commitment to advancing interdisciplinary and innovative research. Importantly, each project is also deeply rooted in clinical impact, addressing urgent needs in diagnosis, treatment, and patient care that will shape how speech-language pathologists and clinicians deliver services in the years to come. According to U of T statistics, both Washington and Yunusova are among only a handful of researchers across the entire university to hold a direct NIH award as principal investigators.

Below you’ll find detailed summaries of each of their projects:

Karla N. Washington

Project Title: Characterizing accuracy and variability in speech sound productions across bidialectal and bilingual preschoolers
Funding Period: 2025–2030

Dr. Washington’s research addresses the challenges of diagnosing speech sound disorders in bidialectal and bilingual children, populations often misdiagnosed due to limited research in this area. Her study will focus on children speaking African American English/Standard American English and Jamaican Creole/Jamaican English, using both transcription-based accuracy measures and acoustic analyses to distinguish typical from disordered development. This work will expand the theoretical and empirical foundations that guide clinical practice, helping reduce misdiagnosis, social stigma, and unnecessary educational costs, while ensuring children receive timely and appropriate support.

Yana Yunusova

Project Title: AI-assisted multimodal digital remote screening for bulbar ALS to support timely referral to SLP care
Funding Period: 2025–2030

Dr. Yunusova’s project is focused on advancing care for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Her team will develop a remote automatic screening tool to detect bulbar dysfunction and predict loss of speech and swallowing function over time. By creating and validating clinical algorithms that can be used in remote settings, this research will provide clinicians and patients with tools that enhance the management of bulbar symptoms, improve care, and support patient autonomy.

Rosemary Martino

Project Title: InHANCE: Imaging Innovation for Head And Neck Cancer Evaluation & Treatment Delivery
Funding Period: 2025–2029

Dr. Martino’s research aims to understand how swallowing problems (dysphagia) in patients with head and neck cancer treated with radiotherapy are affected by both clinical patient factors and the radiation dose to the swallowing muscles in the head and neck. Her team has led the data collection necessary for this study as part of her PCORI-funded phase IV clinical trial, PRO-ACTIVE (NCT03455608), which enrolled 952 patients in 13 sites across Canada and the US. This ancillary study will be a partnership between Dr. Martino’s team, supported by an NIH subaward, and colleagues at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas. The data curated by Dr. Martino’s team is a comprehensive dataset containing both clinical and imaging data essential to the current research. The ultimate goal of this important work is to improve swallowing outcomes in head and neck cancer survivors through advances in targeted therapy that aim to spare dysphagia.

On behalf of the department, please join us in congratulating Washington, Yunusova, and Martino on these incredible achievements. Their success highlights the strength of our faculty, the clinical relevance of their research, and the global impact of their work.