assistant professor in the department of speech and hearing science in the College of Applied Health Sciences
Education: Ph.D. and M.A. (developmental psychology), B.S. (psychology), University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.
Courses teaching: This fall, she taught SHS 120, Children, Communication and Language Ability. In the spring, she will teach SHS 380, Communicative Competence and Disorders.
Research interests: Channell’s research interests focus on how the trajectories of cognitive, linguistic and socioemotional development work together to influence how children with intellectual and developmental disabilities – such as Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, autism spectrum disorder – learn to communicate with others in everyday social interactions.
“Since earning her Ph.D. in 2012, Dr. Channell has received interdisciplinary postdoctoral training in neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, at the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis,” said Karen Kirk, the head of the department of speech and hearing science. “Her research focuses on the development of social communication and its interrelations with the trajectories of socioemotional, cognitive and linguistic development in atypical populations. Dr. Channell understands the challenges facing families of children with disabilities. She seeks to enhance children’s emotional knowledge and communication about emotions to promote the development of social competence and childhood friendships. Dr. Channel was recently awarded an R03 grant from the National Institutes of Health to support her research at the University of Illinois.”
Why Illinois?: “Quite honestly, I chose to join the faculty at the University of Illinois because it was the right fit for me,” Channell said. “My first impressions of the university were those of excellence in both research and teaching, with a strong emphasis on student and community engagement. I knew I wanted to work somewhere that kept the focus on the students and the broader community; this can be difficult to find at research-intensive institutions but could not be more evident here.
“More specifically, the U. of I. was a good fit for me because the College of Applied Health Sciences has a rich history of improving the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families, which fits perfectly with my personal and professional goals. And, to accomplish these goals, I knew I needed a collaborative, supportive, multidisciplinary environment, which I found here in the speech and hearing science department.”
