Our Team

Dr. Giang T. Pham is a Professor of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and Associate Dean for Research in the College of Health and Human Services. She completed her clinical training in bilingual speech-language pathology at San Diego State University and her doctoral training at the University of Minnesota. Read more about her on the director's page:

Dr. Ramos is a full-time postdoctoral fellow with the BDC Lab and a certified bilingual speech-language pathologist. She is an alumna of the SDSU SLP Master’s program and has been practicing for 15 years across various clinical settings. Her research interests include attitudes towards bilingualism and (dis)ability, assessment methods for identifying developmental language disorders in bilingual children, and implementation in clinical settings. Her dissertation focused on using language sample analysis to identify developmental language disorders in Spanish- English bilingual children.

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.

Linh is a second-year Ph.D. student in the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders with concurrent clinical training. She grew up as a bilingual Vietnamese-English speaker and learned the importance of using her languages in different environments. This motivates her interests in research on bilingualism in the context of communication disorders. Her specific research interests include grammatical and phonological development of bilingual Vietnamese-English speakers.

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.

Jide is a third-year student in the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders. Before entering the program and joining the BDC, he worked for ten years as a bilingual speech therapist in healthcare and school settings across the Bay Area and southern Arizona. His clinical and research interests center on promoting equity in early intervention access, bilingual language development, and the ethic-racial identity development of minoritized children.

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

Leslie is currently a second-year M.A. candidate in the Speech-Language Pathology program at SDSU’s School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She grew up in South Central LA, surrounded by communities of diverse cultures and languages. Growing up as a bilingual Spanish-English speaker she saw the importance of maintaining her heritage language to connect with her family and her culture. In her journey to becoming a bilingual clinician, she wants to help families feel represented and encourage the use of the languages they speak. She hopes to support underrepresented communities and provide services that are culturally/linguistically appropriate for each client.

Joshua is a second-year M.A. student in the Speech Language and Hearing Sciences program at SDSU. Growing up in a multicultural and multilingual community and household fostered his passion for language and culture, and he plans to use this interest to support multilingual and multicultural children as a speech language pathologist, especially those of communities that are underserved in the field. This fall, he is beginning his SLP externship placement at a local SDUSD elementary school, working with children of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Susan is a second-year M.A. student in the Linguistics program at San Diego State University. She spent her early childhood in Vietnam before moving to the U.S. and is a bilingual speaker of Vietnamese and English. She has worked as a teaching assistant in public schools and universities in Taiwan. Her goal is to support language education through creating appropriate learning resources for students of different levels and backgrounds.

Catarina is a first-year M.A. student clinician in the Speech-Language Pathology program at SDSU’s School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She previously studied and worked in child development, where she enjoyed working with various communities to foster safe and educational environments for children in the San Diego area. Growing up as a bilingual child, she continues to be eager to learn about 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 the BDC lab!

Elise Ramirez is a second-year M.A. student in the Speech Language and Hearing Sciences program at SDSU. She learned Spanish through a Spanish Immersion program from kindergarten to high school. After graduating with her B.A., she taught English in Spain and Costa Rica. She is excited to be back at SDSU and the BDC! Her goal is to work with children as a Spanish-English bilingual SLP.

Melanie is a second-year M.A. graduate student clinician in the Speech-Language Pathology program at SDSU’s School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She is working towards becoming a certified Spanish-English bilingual SLP. She grew up as a dual language learner in City Heights, San Diego. Her background ties into her interests of working with multilingual pediatric populations, providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, and supporting multilingual families in raising multilingual children.

Isaiah is a second-year M.A. student in the Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences program at San Diego State University. He developed a strong interest in Spanish during his undergraduate degree as an Applied Linguistics major, and further refined his language skills while living in Spain for two years, fully immersing himself in the culture. Prior to beginning his master’s program, Isaiah worked as a literacy tutor at Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, where he deepened his commitment to creating inclusive and supportive learning environments. His clinical interests include patient-centered care, bilingual assessment, cross-linguistic analysis, and building meaningful connections with clients and families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

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.

Luella is an undergraduate student studying kinesiology with a minor in food studies. She began learning Spanish in preschool, and has been enrolled in dual-language schools since then. Working at a daycare throughout high school sparked her passion for working with children, and she hopes to integrate this with her bilingual education to learn valuable skills in the BDC lab.

Samantha is an undergraduate student at San Diego State University studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She has always been passionate about working with children, a passion that really flourished while she was a gymnastics instructor to students of all ages. Growing up in a Spanish-English bilingual household has strongly shaped her interests and inspired her to be a part of the BDC Lab. She is eager to combine her passion for research with her lived experience as a bilingual individual to contribute to this lab.

Gisselle is an undergraduate at San Diego State University studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Before coming to San Diego State Gisselle worked in a preschool, with ages ranging from 2-5. That is where her passion sparked for working with children. She finds the SLHS field to be very interesting and is looking forward to learning more about it. As a bilingual person she is very excited and eager to be a part of the BDC Lab and work with children within our community.

Casey is a second-year undergraduate student studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She developed a strong interest in the field through working with young learners with special needs, including those in the foster care system and from diverse cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. She is very excited to deepen her education and research experience through the BDC lab while also connecting more to her Vietnamese culture.

Chau is a first year B.S. candidate in the Biology with an emphasis on Marine Biology program at SDSU. She grew up in Vietnam, in an area where most of her peers are Vietnamese-English bilinguals. This fosters her interest in studying Vietnamese culture and language, especially after coming to the United States as the matters provide her a connection to home. Although her career goal is to join the marine research force and teach Marine Biology to university students, she’s enthusiastic about joining the BDC Research team to support Vietnamese bilinguals.

Chuong is a second-year undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Statistics with an emphasis in Actuarial Science with a minor in Computer Science. He grew up in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where he had the opportunity to interact with peers and teachers in English alongside Vietnamese. Ever since moving to the United States as a first-generation immigrant, Chuong has wanted a chance to reconnect with his cultural roots, and is enthusiastic to join the BDC research team as a research assistant to support other bilinguals.

Sabrina is an undergraduate student studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She is a junior transfer student who wanted to learn more about the aspects of clinical practice research in her field of study. Being a part of the BDC Lab allows her to combine areas of interest in relation to gaining more knowledge about the field, working with children, and having more exposure to her Vietnamese language, culture, and community.

Tran Pham is a junior undergraduate student in Marketing with a minor in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and Management Information Systems. She was born in Vietnam, making her an international student. One of her hobbies is hanging out with friends and learning about other cultures through cuisine and festivals. As a member of the BDC Lab, Tran works as a Research Assistant, where she talks with children and investigates their language development through interviews and transcribing data. She is very excited about the project she will be working on this semester and looks forward to receiving guidance from other RAs and her project leader. Her ultimate goal is to work as a marketing analyst at a marketing agency.