Board of Directors

Michael J. Bamdad has focused his clinical and research activities on patients with traumatic brain injuries and their families for over 30 years.  He has been published and speaks nationally and internationally on the topics of executive functioning deficits and pragmatic disorders.  He is currently working as the Director of Clinical Education in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

JoAnne Cascia is an Associate Professor in the SLP program at Kean University in Union, NJ. She is the co-coordinator of the SLP graduate program and the co-coordinator of the autism specialization in Neurodiversity. Her research interests include pediatric language, autism, social skills and empathy.

Maya Reynolds Clark, Ph.D, CCC-SLP, CDE® has focused her career on multicultural issues that impact communicative interactions as well as encounters in education and healthcare.  Her primary teaching, clinical, and scholarship interests include: Cultural, linguistic and socio-economic factors in communication and cognition, Implicit Bias, Compassion Fatigue in health professions, Health disparities, and Social cognitive theory. She also serves as a national consultant and trainer in the areas of leadership, diversity, communication, and social engagement.

Mark is Professor and Director of the Clinical Science Doctorate in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh. He has had a long history of service to CAPCSD including roles of VP for Professional Development, Treasurer and President. Mark holds dual certification in audiology and speech-language pathology from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 

Ashley Whicker Harkrider, Ph.D, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology and Director of the Human Auditory Physiology Laboratory at University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Knoxville. Her teaching and research focus on physiological correlates of speech perception and production in typical and disordered populations. In July of 2022, Ashley assumed the role of Treasurer after volunteering for CAPCSD for over 12 years.  Ashley finds the resources provided by CAPCSD invaluable and is grateful for the opportunity to serve an organization that supports current and future generation of leaders in academic health care settings.

Dr. Shubha Kashinath is Professor in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She also is a Research Development Faculty Fellow at the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and Co-Director for the Center for Disability Justice Research: Health Equity, Education, and Creativity. She received an M.S. in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in Communicative Sciences and Disorders from Florida State University. Dr. Kashinath's research is focused on individuals with autism across the lifespan, family centered early interventions, personnel preparation in speech language pathology and issues related to disability justice.  She has over 24 years of clinical experience serving families of young children with disabilities.

Kevin M. McNamara, M.A., CCC-SLP, is clinical director emeritus in the Department of Communication Disorders at Southern Connecticut State University. Across his career, he has supported children and adults with a wide variety of communication needs, served as a clinical educator and director, and engaged in research and presented on the topic of clinical education. He served on the 2016 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Ad Hoc Committee on Supervision Training, and more recently as Chair of the CAPCSD Clinical Educator Resources Committee. He was named an ASHA Fellow in 2019 due, in part, to his work in advancing best practices in clinical education and supervision.  

Tricia Montgomery is a faculty member at Florida State University. She serves as the Director of Clinical Education and the Director of the FSU Speech & Hearing Clinic. She also serves as the VP for Professional Development for the Council for Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Jennifer Simpson is a Clinical Professor and Associate Head int he Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Purdue University.  Currently, she serves as CAPCSD President-Elect.  

Jennifer P. Taylor, AuD, currently serves as the Director of Clinical Education in Audiology at the University of Memphis; Clinical Associate Professor; the HIPAA Privacy Officer for the Memphis Speech and Hearing Center; and Audiologist for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center for Developmental Disabilities LEND Grant. Dr. Taylor has been at the University of Memphis since 2003 when she joined the faculty. She is an active volunteer in the Memphis community and in the profession. Dr. Taylor works with pediatrics and their families. Her primary area is in pediatric diagnostics, difficult to test populations, and auditory processing disorders. She currently teaches in clinical experiences, professional development and billing and practice management.

Dr. Rachel M. Theodore is Associate Professor of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Connecticut, where she directs the UConn Laboratory for Spoken Language Processing. She is also Faculty Affiliate of the Language and Cognition program in the Department of Psychological Sciences, the Cognitive Science Program, and the Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences. She is Director of the Neurobiology of Language graduate training program and highly involved with two current training grants in the UConn language sciences community (NSF NRT, NIH/NIDCD T32). She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Northeastern University and completed post-doctoral training in Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences at Brown University.  Both her B.S. and M.A. are in the field of Speech and Hearing Sciences. She currently serves as Associate Editor for Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America – Express Letters, and is Vice President of Admissions on the Board of Directors for the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders.