People

Dr. Jonathan Preston, Speech Production Laboratory Director
Professor,  Syracuse University Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders

Dr. Preston is a certified speech-language pathologist.  He completed his PhD at Syracuse University in 2008. He also completed postdoctoral training at  Haskins Laboratories, where he retains a research affiliation. Go to Jonathan Preston’s Faculty Page.

 

Megan Leece, Research Speech Language Pathologist
Megan Leece is a certified speech-language pathologist specializing in the treatment of speech sound disorders in school-age children. With advanced proficiency in principles of motor learning and biofeedback, she applies evidence-based techniques to improve outcomes, particularly for children struggling with /ɹ/ sound production. 

 

Dr. Nina R. Benway, Research Staff
Nina is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist who completed a PhD in 2023.  Her interests are in assessment and treatment of school-age children with speech sound disorders, including twice exceptional children. 

 

 

Nicole Caballero, PhD student
Nicole is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist. She conducts assessments and treatment with children with speech sound disorders as part of our research, and she is pursuing a PhD part-time. 

 

 

Samantha Fiorante, Research SLP
Samantha is a certified Speech-Language Pathologist who works as a research clinician at Syracuse University.  She provides assessments and therapy for children as part of ongoing studies for both the Speech Production Lab and the Stuttering Research Lab (V. Tumanova, director).

 

Benedette (Benny) Herbst, PhD student
Benedette is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and PhD student. Her interests are in childhood speech sound disorders, including childhood apraxia of speech.

 

Dr. Molly Beiting, postdoctoral scholar
Dr. Beiting is a certified speech-language pathologist and researcher with interests in speech sound disorders, particularly the assessment and treatment of children with complex communication profiles. Molly completed her PhD at Temple University in 2022.

 

Kerry McNamara, PhD student
Kerry is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and PhD student. Her interests are in helping young children with characteristics of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) develop intelligible speech and meaningful communication, while collaborating closely with families and other service providers.

 

Veera Vasandani, SLP 
Veera is a certified Speech-Language Pathologist. She is currently working at Minneapolis (MN) Public Schools, where her interests are in speech sound disorders, with a particular emphasis on their impact on literacy development.

 

 

Current Lab Personnel

Former Lab Members