Making a Difference: Cal State East Bay Professor Honored for Her Work in Aphasia Research

Cal State East Bay Assistant Professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Michelle Gravier was recently named a Tavistock Trust for Aphasia Distinguished Scholar.

The aim of these awards is to foster and encourage pioneering research that aims to make a difference in the everyday lives of people living with aphasia, their families and caregivers.

More than two million people in the U.S. have aphasia — which is more than the number that has Parkinson's Disease and multiple sclerosis combined. The communication disorder can affect one’s ability to speak and understand others and can cause difficulty reading and writing. 

About one-third of stroke survivors have aphasia, and in the majority of cases, it does not fully resolve which often negatively impacts the person’s ability to work, maintain family and social roles, as well as their independence. 

“As Director of the Neurocognitive Research on Rehabilitation of Language Lab, Dr. Gravier is a productive, collaborative and innovative researcher who managed to launch multiple impactful interprofessional research projects, including collaborations with the Kinesiology and Social Work departments,  since joining our department in 2019, despite the restrictions of Covid,” said Ellen Bernstein Ellis, director emeritus of Cal State East Bay’s Aphasia Treatment Program. “Parallelling her research expertise, she is a dedicated and talented educator. These factors combined to make her an exceptional candidate for this award."

Gravier who is also the Research Director of Cal State East Bay’s Aphasia Treatment Program is dedicated to making life more accessible for people with aphasia. Years ago, when she was working as a speech-language pathologist in a medical setting, she realized that therapy needs to be holistic and address the individual patient. 

“Therapy focused only on addressing the language impairment wasn’t always helping them to maintain relationships with their family and friends or to overcome communication barriers in order to engage in activities that were meaningful to them,” said Gravier, who also wanted more guidance on which therapies were right for which patient, considering personal, neurological and environmental factors that impact therapy response. 

“I decided to pursue a Ph.D. so that I could join the researchers working on these questions and so that I could pass along what I had learned to the next generation of speech-language pathologists by teaching in a clinical training program, which is what I now do at East Bay,” said Gravier. “I also have a love of learning, and what better way to be a lifelong learner than to teach?”

Gravier knows that not every graduate of her program will end up working with people with aphasia in their careers, but she says the principle of person-centered care is universal. 

“I hope that they take the time to listen to what the people who they are working with really want and think creatively about how to help them meet their goals,” said Gravier. It can be difficult starting out as a speech-language clinician because there isn't a one-size-fits-all prescription for anything in our field, but if we think of ourselves as collaborators rather than the "experts," that's always the best place to start.”

As part of the Tavistock Trust Distinguished Scholar for Aphasia award, Gravier will be a featured guest on a podcast sponsored by Aphasia Access called Aphasia Conversations. The episode will highlight her research. 

Bernstein Ellis, one of two people who nominated Gravier for the award, said her research and commitment to high-quality aphasia treatment and services through a life participation lens benefits students, clients and colleagues. 

“The SLHS department is lucky to have Dr. Gravier,” said Elena Dukhovny, associate professor and interim department chair. “Her clinical and research expertise is so valuable for our students, as she teaches them to apply evidence-based interventions to support genuine client goals.”

“The field has come so far even in the last decade, and the pace of discovery will only continue to accelerate given the growth in interest in aphasia and the new technological tools that are becoming available,” said Gravier. 

It is Gravier’s hope that those working in the field of speech-language pathology will be lifelong learners and good consumers of knowledge that they can translate into their clinical practice.