Aphasia research of Communication Science & Disorders Department Chair honored

The research of Dr. Lynn Maher celebrated at Houston Aphasia Recovery Center luncheon on March 5

The expertise and research achievements of Dr. Lynn Maher were recognized in early March by the Houston Aphasia Recovery Center.

At its fifth annual fundraising luncheon, the Center honored Dr. Maher, Professor and Chair of the UH Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Executive Director of the University Speech-Language Hearing Clinic at the University of Houston.

Dr. Maher “is a visionary leader and educator whose dedication and expertise has advanced the world of aphasia,” the Center said in its announcement about the recognition.

Aphasia is a condition that robs people of the ability to communicate that typically occurs after a stroke or a head injury. Dr Maher is a co-founder of the HARC, the only medical facility in Houston that provides long-term recovery treatment and wellness plans for people with aphasia, their families and caregivers.

One of the nation’s most-respected scholars in the discipline of communication sciences and disorders, Dr. Maher was named in 2013 a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-hearing Association, the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for audiologists, speech-language pathologists, speech, language, and hearing scientists, audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel, and students.

Under Dr. Maher’s direction, the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders now offers the only four-year bachelor degree program in American Sign Language Interpreting (ASLI) in the State of Texas. The department also has averaged over the past three years a 98 percent job placement for students who graduate from its master’s degree program in speech pathology.

In addition to leading a growing department, Dr. Maher has faculty appointments at Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and the University of Oslo, Norway.

She is a Research Health Science Specialist at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Administration Medical Center, Houston and an investigator in the Veterans Administration Brain Rehabilitation Research Center of Excellence in Gainesville, FL.