Melissa Duff, PhD, professor and vice chair for Research for Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, has been named chair of the department. She will assume this new role July 1.
Duff succeeds Anne Marie Tharpe, PhD, who led Hearing and Speech Sciences for 15 years and is stepping down from her role as chair on June 30.
A cognitive neuroscientist and speech-language pathologist, Duff, who holds the Vickie and Thomas Flood Chair in Hearing and Speech Sciences, joined VUMC in 2016. She is nationally recognized for her research to understand and improve long-term outcomes of individuals with acquired brain injury. Her primary line of research focuses on the role of hippocampal-dependent memory in language processing and communication.
She also studies the impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on language processing and the memory system’s role in behavioral deficits commonly seen in individuals with TBI.
In addition to helping generations of adults and children overcome communication disorders, the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences is internationally known for its top-rated graduate training programs.
“The Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences continues to set the standard among peers worldwide, having benefited from visionary leaders who put into place model programs in training, research and patient care,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “From this solid foundation the department has a very bright future. I look forward to working with Dr. Duff as we continue to strengthen these services. She is well prepared for the important work ahead.
“Again, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Tharpe for her leadership and steadfast commitment to Vanderbilt. Her contributions will have a lasting impact.”
Clinical programs within the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences include the Divisions of Pediatric and Adult Audiology, Pediatric Speech-Language Pathology, Implantable Devices, Medical Speech-Language Pathology, Vestibular Sciences, and Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute.
With five outpatient clinics and acute care services provided on VUMC’s Main Campus, the department opened an additional eight clinics in the last 15 years in six counties across Middle Tennessee.
The department is also home to four graduate studies programs. Two of these programs, Doctor of Audiology (AuD) and Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (MS-SLP) are ranked No. 1 by U.S. News and World Report among peer institutions; the AuD since 2004 and the MS-SLP since 2012. The graduate programs have approximately 135 students annually.
“The future remains bright for the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences. Dr. Duff is the right person at the right time to lead the department forward, and I am delighted and grateful that she has stepped into this role. I anticipate new growth and continued achievements of the department under her able leadership,” said Tharpe.
Duff founded and is the director of the Vanderbilt Brain Injury Patient Registry, which serves as a unique resource for conducting large-scale basic and translational research on acquired brain injury. She is also the program director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders T32 Translational Interdisciplinary Research Training in Communication Sciences and Disorders.
Earlier this year, she was elected president of the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences (ANCDS). The ANCDS is the primary association for clinicians and researchers who serve individuals with neurologic communication disorders with the goal of improving the communicative lives of people affected by neurological disorders.
“I am deeply honored and excited to serve as the next chair of the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. I look forward to building on the department’s legacy of excellence in clinical care, research and education, and to working alongside our talented faculty, staff and students in pursuit of our mission to serve individuals with communication and related disorders,” said Duff.
Duff has an established record of research funding from the NIH, has published over 160 peer-reviewed manuscripts and chapters, and has given more than 200 national and international presentations, including invited lectures in France, England, Croatia and the Netherlands.
She has received numerous research awards including the Award for Early Career Contributions in Research from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Switzer Distinguished Research Fellowship from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research; and she is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Duff earned a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and a Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders and Sciences from Southern Illinois University; a Master of Science in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of North Carolina; and a Doctor of Philosophy in Speech and Hearing Science from the University of Illinois. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Neurology, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Iowa.
