Current PhD Students

Elizabeth Choi MS, CCC-SLP

Faculty Mentor: Grace Baranek PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA

Research Lab: Innovations in Neurodevelopmental Sensory Processing Research (insp!re)

Year of Entry: 2018

Research Interests

My main research interests relate to infant, toddler, and child development, particularly in premature populations and populations at elevated likelihood for a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and/or other neurodevelopmental disorders. I aim to contribute to an understanding of occupational development with a focus on the role and trajectory of communication in supporting occupational engagement. I am also interested in investigating the impact of occupational engagement on the development of language and social communication skills. I seek to explore how caregiver-infant bonding dynamics across co-occupations such as feeding, especially in terms of caregiver response to infant cues and infant solicitations, can impact infants’ social and communicative development. In the insp!re lab, I am coordinating the Southern California Child Development Survey to obtain norms on early sensory regulation and social communication development in 6- to 16-month-old infants through parent report. I am also supporting research in the Sensory and Social Development in Infants and Toddlers project, a longitudinal study examining individual differences in sensory regulation and social communication development in 6- to 16-month-old infants using biobehavioral and neurophysiological measures.

My career interests include bridging the knowledge gaps between occupational science and speech, language, and hearing sciences with therapies and practice and in moving both disciplines and related professions toward societal and global action. I hope to contribute to the development and support of multidisciplinary knowledge mobilization teams and research-clinical-stakeholder partnerships.

Education

Master of Science (MS) in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
2017 | University of Arizona

Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Applied Linguistics
2011 | University of California, Los Angeles

Publications

Book Chapters

Isaac, N., & Choi, E. (2018). Infant anatomy and physiology for feeding. In S. H. Campbell, J. Lauwers, R., Mannel, & B. Spencer (Eds.), Core curriculum for interdisciplinary lactation care (pp. 37-55). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Full text

ACOTE accreditation | NBCOT certification

The USC entry-level master's degree program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE). ACOTE c/o Accreditation Department, American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.®, 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929, (301) 652-6611 x2914, acoteonline.org

Professional program graduates are eligible to apply for certification by National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT), nbcot.org. Program results from the NBCOT can be found online at https://secure.nbcot.org/data/schoolstats.aspx.