Our Team

Geoff is a MSc student in Speech-Language Pathology at the UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences. With a background in music and biological sciences, he completed his Bachelor’s Degree with Honours in Speech Science at UBC in 2019. During his undergraduate studies, Geoff conducted research in laboratory phonology; his undergraduate thesis investigated changes-in-progress observed in Canadian English. He is completing a master’s thesis in dysphagia examining patient and caregiver perspectives of dysphagia following critical illness and artificial airway use.

Veronica is a PhD student at the UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences. She recently completed her clinical master’s degree in speech-language pathology, which included a thesis with Dr. Skoretz: “Determining the Feasibility of Assessing Salivary Biomarkers and Swallowing Perception in those with Sjogren’s Syndrome and Healthy Controls”. With the support of a BC Graduate Scholarship, Veronica started doctoral studies in September, 2019. Her research is focused on volumetric and compositional changes in saliva and how these changes impact swallow physiology and perception in disease and healthy conditions. Veronica remains involved in additional Si-Lab research projects and serves as a teaching assistant for various coursework at the School of Audiology and Speech Sciences. She has completed training in salivary bioscience at the University of California-Irvine’s Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research, and has a diploma in linguistics from UBC and a BSc in biological sciences from the University of Alberta. 

Hillary is an MSc Speech-Language Pathology student at the UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences. She received her BA in Linguistics from UBC in 2014 (with a Latin minor), then spent several years working at a not-for-profit children’s arts school before returning to UBC for her graduate studies. Her master’s thesis will explore airway protection during breathing and swallowing. Hillary’s other research interests include speech biomechanics, and previously the interface between language and numerical cognition in children.

Tahira is a clinical research professional; her role at the Si-Lab is to facilitate and support ongoing research projects. She graduated with a B.A. in psychology from the University of Victoria in 2014 and a M.Sc in neuroscience from Simon Fraser University in 2017. Her Masters research explored the neural correlates of the auditory steady state response in Down Syndrome-initiating her interest in the field of audiology and speech science.