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Current Lab Members

Research Specialist

Ngoc Do

Ngoc Do, M.S

Ngoc is a full-time research specialist in the BDC lab. As one of Ngoc’s hobbies, she loves to host social and cultural events with the job of being the master of ceremonies (MC) where she could speak in her Hanoi accent. This was also the reason she first joined the lab in Summer 2016 as a volunteer to record research material in Vietnamese for a research project based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Little did she know, this volunteer project led her to the opportunity of being a research assistant at the BDC lab later in 2017 and now a full-time researcher in 2021. Ngoc always finds the fulfilling feeling of giving back and contributing to society unparalleled. Thus, she is grateful for the opportunity to rejoin the lab and be involved in many great research projects benefiting the society. She is excited to unveil what the future holds for her and how she can better contribute and serve the society as a researcher.

Linh Ngyuen

Linh Nguyen

Lynn graduated from the University of California of Los Angeles and received her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. She had worked for a few biotech companies and her most recent position was a validation specialist at Bavarian Nordic. Lynn is thrilled to join the BDC team and she is looking forward to contributing her research experience to the team.

Doctoral Scholars

Listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Alicia Escobedo

Alicia Escobedo

Alicia is a 6th year PhD student in the Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communication Disorders at San Diego State University and UC San Diego. Her research focuses on typical and atypical language development in bilingual children. She is committed to improving assessment and treatment outcomes for young bilingual children of all cultural and linguistic backgrounds

Jide Famoyegun

Jide Famoyegun

Jide began his career as a speech therapist in 2012, working in healthcare and school settings in the Bay Area and southern Arizona. He transitioned to the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders in 2022. His interests focus on increasing equity in early intervention access and bilingual language development.

Sophie Levi

Sophie Levi

Sophie is a 3rd year Ph.D student in the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders. Her fascination with bilingualism stems from over a decade of studying Spanish in an academic context, as well as from her experience as a native speaker of Hebrew. She is interested in researching the language development and cognitive processes of bilingual speakers from diverse language learning backgrounds.

Tatiana Ramos Gallardo

Tatiana Ramos-Gallardo

Tatiana is a multilingual and bicultural life-long learner. She is presently enrolled in her first year as a PhD student in the SDSU-UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders. She has worked as a Speech and Language Pathologist in Oregon, providing school-based services. Her research interests include typical and atypical language acquisition in multilingual populations and equitable assessment and intervention practices for culturally and linguistically diverse populations.

Graduate Scholars

Listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Linh Dang

Linh Dang

Linh is a Master’s student in the Speech-Language Pathology program at SDSU. She grew up in Atlanta surrounded by many bilingual peers which motivates her interest in research on bilingualism in the context of communication disorders. Her goal is to become a bilingual Vietnamese - English SLP and researcher to support and improve practices with a strong evidence base.

Mindy Kim

Mindy Kim

Mindy is a M.A candidate in the Speech-Language Pathology program as part of SDSU’s School of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. She was raised surrounded by multilingual and multicultural peers in Cerritos, a suburb in Los Angeles County. Her upbringing in a bilingual household has supported her interest in bilingualism and the effects on development. Her goal is to serve others as a bilingual SLP and to support her future clients in their meaningful connections with others.

Chris Nguyen

Chris Nguyen

Chris is a M.A candidate in the Speech-Language Pathology program at SDSU. Being raised in a diverse context and community in San Diego, he is passionate about studying bilingualism in child language development. He hopes to foster and incorporate his Vietnamese knowledge in his current research and future career as an SLP. In his work, he aspires to tie together community, culture, and critical issues of today in order to provide the most well-rounded approach possible. He additionally works as the lab’s publicity coordinator.

Grace Nguyen

Grace Nguyen

Grace is a second year in the Speech-Language Pathology Master’s program here at SDSU. She grew up in a predominantly Vietnamese community and participated in many community activities where she maintained her Vietnamese language. Her goal is to become a bilingual Vietnamese clinician across health and educational settings. She is an aspiring DJ and enjoys attending concerts with her friends. She also enjoys cooking and baking.

Kanh Nguyen

Khanh Nguyen

Khanh Nguyen is a bilingual Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) Fellow at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, and a part-time research assistant at the BDC Lab. Khanh was born and raised in Vietnam. Her career goal is to raise awareness and contribute to the development of the field of SLP in Vietnam, as well as to advocate for people with speech-language impairments here.

Undergraduate Scholars

Listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Melissa Ames

Melissa Ames

Melissa switched her major from Elementary Education to Speech,Language and Hearing Sciences her second year at SDSU. Coming from a hispanic household and community, Melissa has always been immersed in the Spanish language. She wants to pursue a career as a bilingual SLP interacting with Spanish-English speaking children. She wants to provide services to her community, yet also hopes to learn a little more about herself in regards to how bilingual children interact between languages, just as she did growing up.

Thi Thanh My Pham

Thi Thanh My Pham

Thi is an undergraduate student studying Speech Language and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) at SDSU. She grew up in Vietnam and did not start to learn English until she moved to America in her early twenties. She became interested in SLHS after discovering how few people there are to support Vietnamese speakers both in Vietnam and America.

Julianne Dunn

Julianne Dunn

Julianne is studying Spanish and Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at SDSU. Additionally, she is pursuing an Honors Minor in Interdisciplinary Studies. Julianne is dedicated to becoming fluent in Spanish and has developed a great interest in bilingualism after her semester abroad in Spain. In joining the BDC Lab, Julianne hopes to learn more about how being bilingual affects one’s speech and comprehension in both languages. She hopes to use the knowledge gained from her participation in Lab in her future work as a bilingual SLP to Spanish-English speaking children.

Leslie Garcia

Leslie Garcia

Leslie is a transfer student from Los Angeles studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at SDSU. She grew up in a predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood, where she felt a big sense of community. That molded her into being proud of her roots and culture, which she hopes to incorporate into her future work as a Spanish-English SLP. Her goal is to better support bilingual children and their families by providing accessible services and educating community members of the misconceptions of bilingualism.

Mia Mangney

Mia Mangney

Mia Mangney is a junior at San Diego State studying Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences with a minor in Spanish. She began studying Spanish in middle school and has made it her goal to reach bilingualism since then. In Spring of 2023 she studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a semester. Now that she is back she wants to use her Spanish skills to help an underserved population of people in speech therapy. Her goal is to become a bilingual Speech Pathologist with Spanish as her second language.

Jaclyn Margolis

Jaclyn Margolis

Jaclyn is pursuing a degree in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at SDSU. She is fascinated with languages and cultural backgrounds. She grew up bilingual speaking Spanish and English at home and hopes to use this skill in her future career. Jaclyn hopes to become a bilingual pediatric speech pathologist and continue her current trend of working and helping children. She is driven by her passion to help kids build their confidence through their voice and speech. She is excited to be a part of the BDC lab and hopes to take all the knowledge and experience she gains with her into her future occupation.

Caitlyn Quintana

Catarina Quintana

Catarina is acquiring a Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences degree at SDSU. Previously she studied Child Development where she had the pleasure of working with various communities to foster safe and educational environments for children in the San Diego area. As a bilingual child herself, she is eager to learn and research multiple aspects of language development in children, and how that knowledge can be applied to better help and understand young individuals. She looks forward to continuing her journey in the SLHS field and all it has to offer!

Melanie Roman Soriano

Melanie Roman Soriano

Melanie is an undergraduate student studying Speech Language and Hearing Sciences at SDSU along with a minor in Child and Family Development. She grew up in a predominantly Latinx community where she was a dual language learner, learning Spanish and English. She looks forward to helping bilingual children connect with their roots through language and supporting families of bilingual children.