SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island announced Leslie Mahler, associate professor of communicative disorders at the University of Rhode Island’s College of Health Sciences, is the new director of the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, where she serves as a faculty member.
Maher succeeds Nasser Zawia, professor in the College of Pharmacy and dean of the Graduate School. In 2011, he was named founding director of the program and has led the program for the maximum two terms. Zawia will continue to lead URI’s graduate school and continue his research, which includes discoveries regarding Alzheimer’s disease that have earned international attention.
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Of Mahler’s appointment, Zawia said in the URI statement, “Leadership of the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program could not be in more capable hands. In addition to her knowledge and expertise, Professor Mahler brings a commitment to her students’ growth and robust research that can improve people’s lives in meaningful ways.”
Mahler joined URI in January 2007 after completing a dual doctorate in speech and hearing sciences and neuroscience at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. By maintaining a vibrant clinical practice for research and treatment, Mahler seeks to bridge research, classroom teaching and clinical instruction, incorporates research findings into her teaching and applies classroom theory to evaluating, diagnosing and treating clients in URI’s speech and hearing clinics. Earlier this year, Mahler initiated Rhode Island’s first voice therapy clinic for transgender women.
The Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program’s mission is to develop researchers and entrepreneurs who investigate the physiological basis of behavior and find solutions for such brain disorders as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, epilepsy and schizophrenia. A post-baccalaureate certificate, and master’s and doctoral degrees in neuroscience may be earned through the program, whose interdisciplinary approach provides broad and deep neuroscience training, including hands-on laboratory skills and significant research.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead this important program as it continues to expand its impact on the field of neuroscience, on the education of a new generation of researchers and on the lives of people living with neurological diagnoses,” Mahler said in the statement.
Mahler’s current research interests and publications focus on assessing and treating motor-speech disorders and cognitive-linguistic abilities to improve the quality of life for adults with neurological diagnoses. She investigates how motor-learning principles can be translated into therapies that drive changes in neural plasticity in individuals with neurological impairments.
In addition to her doctorate, Mahler holds a master’s in business administration in strategic marketing from Drake University in Iowa, a master’s in communication disorders from University of the Pacific in California and a bachelor’s in speech, language and hearing sciences from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Nancy Kirsch is a PBN contributing writer.
