Research Team

Lab Director

Elizabeth Schoen Simmons, Ph.D.

Elizabeth Schoen Simmons, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Communication Disorders Department at Sacred Heart University and an affiliated research scientist at Haskins Laboratories. She completed her M.S. in speech-language pathology at Southern CT State University and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on language and learning development in typical infants and toddlers and toddlers with language delays.

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Current Lab Members

Nicole Khrimian

Nicole Khrimian is the lab manager for the ToLD Lab. She completed her B.S. in biology at Binghamton University and intends to attend graduate school in the future. She is responsible for a wide range of the lab’s activities, including experiment design, participant recruitment, participant testing and data management.

Olivia Cayward

Olivia Cayward of Tolland, CT, is a first-year graduate student in the SLP program. In the lab, she is responsible for behavioral coding of experiments of statistical learning in infants and toddlers. She has presented our findings at Sacred Heart University’s Academic Festival.

Allison Roberge

Allison Roberge is a senior with a communication disorders major at Sacred Heart University. She has been part of the research team since the fall of her sophomore year. As a member of the research team, she works on behavioral coding of experiments of statistical learning and collecting data at the Connecticut Science Center. She has presented our findings on visual statistical learning at the University’s Academic Festival. In the fall, she plans on going to graduate school for audiology.

Olivia Plaia

Olivia Plaia is a sophomore communications disorders major with a minor in psychology and honors. She is in the 3+2 track for speech-language-pathology and joined the lab this semester to gain more hands-on experience in the field. She is a part of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association, the RISE program and Chi Omega sorority at Sacred Heart. She is excited to expand her campus involvement as a research assistant.

Paige Donovan

Paige Donovan is a senior communication disorders major with a minor in honors and psychology. In the lab, she is working on data collection for projects of spoken word recognition and helping with the coding of experiments of visual statistical learning. She has presented our findings on Visual Statistical Learning at Sacred Heart University’s Academic Festival.  She looks forward to attending graduate school for SLP in the fall.

Abby Pitts

Abby Pitts is a first-year student at Sacred Heart University. She is a communication sciences and disorders major in the 3+2 track of the speech-language pathology dual degree program. In her first semester in the lab, she is looking forward to learning more about the field and gaining experience. She hopes to eventually work with people who have traumatic brain injuries and developmental delays.

Former Laboratory Members

Ashley Gillies, BS, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2022. Graduate Research Assistant, 2023. Currently completing her MS in Speech-Language Pathology at SHU.
Julia Linhares, BS, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2020-2023. Started her MS in Speech-Language Pathology at SHU in the fall of 2023.
Alexandra Nelson, MS, CCC-SLP. Graduate Research Assistant, 2020-2021. Currently an SLP at Hospital for Special Care in New Britain.
Taylor Patnode, BS, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2021. Started her MS in Speech-Language Pathology at UConn in the fall of 2023.
Julia Perreault, BS, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2021-2022. Currently completing her MS in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Rhode Island.
Mollie Rogan, BS, Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2021. Currently completing her MS in Speech-Language Pathology at SHU.
Jackie Schwartz, BS, MS, Graduate Research Assistant, 2021-2022
Ashley Wilson, BS, MS, Graduate Research Assistant 2021-2023