Houri K. Vorperian, Ph.D.
Houri K. Vorperian, Ph.D., established the Vocal Tract Development Laboratory in 1995 at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison where she earned her doctorate degree in 2000 with Dr. Ray Kent’s mentorship. She is a full time scientist directing the study of the biological basis of speech development with the lab’s mission to quantify the macroanatomic developmental changes of the oral and pharyngeal structures and cavities in typically and atypically developing individuals (e.g. Down syndrome and cerebral palsy), as well as speech acoustics, within the context of establishing anatomic-acoustic correlates to better understand the anatomic basis of speech development, production and its disorders. Her research focus is on assessing structure/function interactions in shaping vocal tract structures with the ultimate goal of promoting multi-disciplinary treatment approaches to enhance speech intelligibility and communication.