Our Research Team

Faculty & Staff Biographies

Karla McGregor  is a Senior Scientist and the Director of the Word Learning Laboratory in the Center for Childhood Deafness, Language, and Learning at Boys Town National Research Hospital. She is Professor Emerita at the University of Iowa, an Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney, and a Fellow of the American Speech, Language, Hearing Association.  Dr. McGregor's full curriculum vitae can be viewed here.

Favorite words: shenanigans, waft

Tim Arbisi-Kelm​ is a Senior Research Associate in the Word Learning Laboratory. He earned his Ph.D. in Linguistics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and completed a postdoctoral training in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests are in phonological and lexical development, and the role of prosody in language disorders.

Favorite word: so'sol ch'iich'

Nichole Eden is a certified speech-language pathologist with a background in early language intervention. She has been employed as Laboratory Coordinator in the Word Learning Laboratory since 2006. Nichole thoroughly enjoys her work, and loves that it continually provides her with opportunities to interact with, and learn from, students, faculty, and research participants.

Favorite word: mischievous​

Jacob Oleson is an Associate Professor in Biostatistics, Director of Graduate Studies, and Director of the Center for Public Health Statistics for the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa.  He conducts both biostatistical methodologic research and collaborative clinical research for a variety of research ventures.  He has served as the lead biostatistician on numerous hearing, speech, and language related projects working closely with team members on study design, statistical methods, analysis, and results.  This experience includes longitudinal, spatial, spatio-temporal, mixed models, growth curves, Bayesian models, missing data, and functional data analysis.  Visit Dr. Oleson’s website.

Favorite word: merry

Erin Smolak is a postdoctoral fellow with experience in research in early language acquisition. She obtained her B.A. in psychology from Ohio University and her Ph.D. in Language and Communicative Disorders from San Diego State University and the University of California San Diego. Her research interests are in the early developmental trajectories of linguistic skills including word learning and language processing in both typical development and children with language disorders. Erin Smolak's full curriculum vitae can be viewed here.

Favorite word: ephemeral

Ron Pomper is a postdoctoral fellow in the Word Learning Laboratory. He earned his Ph.D in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his B.A. in Human Biology at Stanford University. His research interests include how children with typical and atypical development learn new words and comprehend familiar words in speech. Ron Pomper's full curriculum vitae can be viewed here.

Favorite word: pineapple