Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training: Interventions for Neurologic Communication Disorders

The goal of this Advanced Rehabilitation Training Program (AART) is to increase the number of qualified researchers who have the expertise to address the rehabilitation of acquired communication disorders in persons with disabilities. The objectives of the ARRT are to provide a rigorous research training program to individuals with advanced degrees in communication sciences and disorders and related fields to prepare them for careers as independent rehabilitation researchers. The program is structured to provide two years of intensive training to six post-doctoral fellows. Fellows are supervised by a team of multidisciplinary mentors in a comprehensive program that has three major components: (1) didactic training, (2) a mentored clinical experience in stroke, traumatic brain injury or Parkinson’s disease, and (3) immersion in a research practicum. The training program promotes partnerships and collaborations that are essential for the development of skills necessary to conduct high quality independent interdisciplinary research in the rehabilitation of clinical populations with neurological communication disorders - an area that has a shortage of qualified researchers. Special efforts are made to recruit and train researchers from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds as well as individuals with disabilities. Well-trained researchers with expertise in both communication sciences and disorders and in rehabilitation research are needed to develop novel rehabilitation procedures and to demonstrate their efficacy and effectiveness. The long-term result of such an initiative would be to improve the health and function, and subsequent quality of life, of those with an acquired communication disability.