The Speech Production Lab
The Speech Production Lab (SPL) is housed in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and is directed by Prof. Yana Yunusova.
Our lab is dedicated to the study of normal and disordered aspects of speech motor control and to innovation in the assessment and rehabilitation of individuals with neurologic and neurodegenerative disorders affecting speech and orofacial motor control.
We are also present at:
Research Focus
Development of novel ASSESSMENTS
Development of novel INTERVENTIONS
A novel tool for the assessment of bulbar dysfunction in ALS
Strengthening oropharyngeal muscles to treat obstructive sleep apnea
This project addresses the need for improved clinical assessments of bulbar dysfunction in ALS by creating and validating a clinician-administered tool – the ALS-Bulbar Dysfunction Index (ALS-BDI). The ALS-BDI translates prior research knowledge and multidisciplinary expert consensus into a clinically-meaningful tool for Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) to use in their clinical practice.
Oropharyngeal exercises have emerged as a therapeutic option for treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in neurotypical adults and those who suffered a stroke. These exercises deal directly with the underlying mechanism of OSA by improving the sensorimotor function of the upper airway muscles. We developed the OPEX app to deliver oropharyngeal exercises to individuals with OSA at home. The exercises and app have been recently validated in a feasibility clinical trial.
Machine learning to detect upper and lower motor neuron features in speech and orofacial movements
The development of a shared decision-making aid for the management of bulbar ALS
The purpose of this project is to develop a tool that allows identification of upper motor neuron and lower motor neuron features in speech in patients with bulbar dysfunction due to these neurodegenerative diseases. We use novel ML/AI methods to detect speech features characteristic of these phenotypes and track progression of changes over time.
This project aims to develop a tool to facilitate decision-making conversations about bulbar symptom management between patients with ALS, their families, and healthcare professionals throughout disease progression. It aims to promote a person-centered and standardized approach to ALS care by supporting decisions that better reflect the needs of patients and their families in their daily lives.
Funding
Tools
OPEX
OPEX is a tablet-based app used to deliver exercises as a potential novel intervention for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) after stroke in patients who cannot tolerate continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).
Read more about the feasibility randomized controlled trial here!
Toronto NeuroFace Dataset
A New Dataset for Facial Motion Analysis in Individuals with Neurological Disorders
NeuroFace is the first public dataset featuring videos of individuals with oro-facial impairment due to neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and stroke. It includes perceptual clinical scores and manual annotation of facial landmarks for over 3300 frames. Our experiments reveal bias in landmark localization accuracy of pretrained face alignment models, particularly for clinical groups. Fine-tuning these models with target population data reduces bias. The release of this dataset aims to propel the development of face alignment algorithms robust to oro-facial impairment, aid automatic analysis and recognition of oro-facial gestures, improve automatic disease identification, and enhance severity estimation from videos and images.
Read more here!
Submit a data access request here – your request will be processed in 3 to 5 business days.
People
Prof. Yana Yunusova
Lab Director
Dr. Yana Yunusova is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto, an Associate Scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and a Senior Scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. Dr. Yunusova is also the Director of the Speech Production Lab at UofT and of the Bulbar Function Lab at Sunnybrook Research Institute. Her research is focused on understanding the effects of neurologic disease on speech production.
Madhura Kulkarni
Lab Manager
Dr. Madhura Kulkarni is the lab manager for the Speech Production Lab at the University of Toronto as well as a research coordinator for ongoing projects at the Bulbar Function Lab at SRI. She completed her Masters degree in Public health from the University of Saskatchewan. She is interested in research related to biostatistics, clinical epidemiology and neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr. Leif Simmatis
Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Leif Simmatis is a postdoctoral researcher with 7 years of experience in digital health and clinical data science. In his PhD work at Queen’s University, he clinically validated robotic upper-limb assessment technology for use in various neurological diseases. His postdoctoral research focuses on implementing machine learning methods for detecting neurological disease from speech, as well as developing and evaluating novel digital biomarkers and developing real-world data collection systems.
Dr. Timothy Pommée
Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Timothy Pommée is a speech and language pathologist specialized in voice therapy. His PhD at the Toulouse Institute for Research in Computer Science focused on investigating acoustic measures of speech with the long-term aim of developing an easily accessible tool providing speech and language pathologists with a more objective assessment of speech intelligibility. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Speech Production Lab at the University of Toronto and the Bulbar Function lab at SRI, with a research focus on speech acoustics in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Anna Huynh
PhD Candidate
Anna Huynh is pursuing a PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences with a major in Speech-Language Pathology at the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute. She completed her Master of Health Sciences degree in clinical Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto. Her doctoral work involves developing an online shared decision-making aid to support discussions about bulbar symptom management in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis between patients, their families, and healthcare professionals.
Chelsea Tanchip
PhD Candidate
Chelsea Tanchip is pursuing a PhD in the Speech Production Lab as part of the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and the UHN Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. Her research focuses on automatic analysis of speech in neurodegenerative diseases. She is currently working towards developing a knowledge-driven automatic screening tool for bulbar ALS.
Alumni
Former Graduate Students:
Deniz Jafari (MSc), Sanjana Shellikeri (PhD), Nicholas Wasylyk (MSc), Elaine Kearney (PhD), Andrea Gauster (MSc), Krista Rudy (MSc)
Former Postdocs:
Liziane Bouvier, Diego Guarin, Ashley Waito, Andrea Bandini
Join the Lab
We provide opportunities for graduate research education, internships, and volunteer experience. If you are interested in volunteering for our lab please email the lab manager Madhura Kulkarni (<mkulkarniATsri.utoronto.ca>). For research training opportunities please check:
- Rehabilitation Sciences Institute graduate research program
- U of T Work Study Program
- Sunnybrook Summer Student Research Program
Get involved
There are always several studies ongoing at the Speech Production Lab and our other labs that need research participants. If you wish to participate, please contact Madhura Kulkarni (<mkulkarniATsri.utoronto.ca>).
Contact
📍 160-500 University Avenue
Toronto, ON M5G 1V7
📞 (416)-946-8637
Speech Production Lab 