Nicole Etter
Professor in Charge of Graduate Program
NBASLH Adviser
Nicole Etter investigates sensorimotor control for skilled orofacial activities (speech and swallowing) in healthy aging adults and clinical populations. Additional collaborative research lines study voice in occupational voice users and people with Parkinson’s disease.
498 Allen Road
University Park, PA 16802
Ph.D., CCC-SLP
My program of research focuses on understanding the biomechanics of oral-pharyngeal sensorimotor control. The same anatomy is used to achieve multiple skilled behaviors such as speech, voice, and swallowing. Individuals experiencing deficits in one behavior may present with difficulties in another due to the shared upper airway and aerodigestive anatomy.
The overarching goal of my work is to design novel assessments and targeted interventions to assist adults in maintaining clear oral communication and safe, efficient swallowing across the adult lifespan. My work is grounded in clinical training and experience as a speech-language pathologist treating speech, swallowing, and voice disorders to improve quality of life in adults.
Oral Motor Control, Speech, Voice and Swallowing
SPEAK OUT!® Therapy & Research Center Grant (Parkinson Voice Project®)
Primary Clinical Lead: Kitty Kubat
Primary Research Lead: Nicole Etter
Penn State is collaborating with Parkinson Voice Project® to help people with Parkinson’s and related neurological disorders regain and retain their speech and swallowing.
A Bio-Physiologically Integrated Approach to Studying Mechanisms of Swallow and Speech in Down Syndrome. Wilkinson, K. M. (PI), Madhavan, A., Etter, N., Lee, J., Olmstead, A., Miller, C. A., Sandberg, C., & Williams, D. (2023-2028). National Institutes of Health Project INCLUDE.
This grant examines the mechanisms underlying speech and swallow function in individuals with Down syndrome. We examine the relation of structural and functional characteristics associated with the genetic underpinnings of Down syndrome (trisomy 21) to the functional production of speech and of swallow. The team includes experts from across the CSD department in areas of clinical swallow measurement, oral somatosensation, speech production, speech perception, language, and brain imaging.
I currently collaborate with researchers in the Department of Food Science and researchers in the Department of Kinesiology.