I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Communication Disorders, College of Education University of Nebraska at Kearney, since August 2017. In 2016, I did a Fellowship in neuropsychology of neurodegenerative diseases and neuroimaging at Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Las Vegas, NV., focusing on structural brain changes at pathological aging. This fellowship is a succession of my post-doctoral training (Jan 2013- June 2016) at the Centre de Recherche Institut Universtaire de Gériatrie de Montréal (CRIUGM), Canada. I conducted behavioral and neuroimaging research on bilingual aphasia, adult language acquisition as well as cognitive and neuroscience aspects of language and aging particularly in the bilingual population with a focus on cognitive advantages of bilingualism as a contributing factor to cognitive reserve and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases by investigating cognitive control using behavioral and functional connectivity measures. Focusing on Language and Control processing of learning a second language, I completed a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences; option Neuropsychology, at Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Canada (Jan 2006-Dec 2012). My research interests include Healthy Aging, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Bilingualism and healthy aging, Adult Communication Disorders with a Focus on Aphasia and Dementia, Bilingualism in communication Disorders, and Adult Language Acquisition.
About my personal life: I am originally Persian, a Canadian citizen and a permanent resident of the US. I have two children, a 16-year-old daughter and a ten-year-old son, who live with me full time. Their father lives in Canada. My partner lives in Seattle. I love learning about different cultures and I speak three languages fluently. I love travelling and I have travelled to over 120 cities and over 60 countries. I have lived in Tehran, London, Paris, Montreal, Las Vages and I currently live in Kearney, NE. I am a passionate, energetic, extrovert person, who has learnt to be patient and cautious. I am very logical, thoughtful, positive and caring. My family’s well-being comes first, but I am passionate and serious about my research and teaching, and determined to have a successful career.