Melissa Duff

May 29, 2025

Melissa Duff named chair of Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences

She is nationally recognized for her research to understand and improve long-term outcomes of individuals with acquired brain injury.

By John Howser
Melissa Duff, PhD
February 17, 2025

Melissa Duff elected president of the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences

Duff is a cognitive neuroscientist and speech-language pathologist who studies the role of hippocampal-dependent memory in language processing and communication.

By VUMC News and Communications
May 13, 2021

Research explores how people with traumatic brain injury have adapted to the pandemic

The Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences has conducted research to better understand how individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers think the findings may apply to many disability populations in future crises.

By Emily Stembridge
Researchers are developing software to make social media platforms more accessible for adults with traumatic brain injury.
May 7, 2020

Project seeks to help adults with TBI access social media

With more than $2 million in funding, researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center are developing software to make social media platforms more accessible for adults with cognitive disabilities.

By Kelsey Herbers
Melissa Duff, PhD
May 7, 2020

Study to explore memory system’s role in TBI behavior deficits

VUMC researchers are beginning a new five-year study to characterize the role of a memory system in behavioral deficits commonly seen in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

By Kelsey Herbers
April 1, 2020

Study to explore TBI’s impact on language processing

Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University have been awarded more than $3.8 million to study the impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on one’s ability to process language in everyday settings.

By Kelsey Herbers
January 10, 2019

Duff’s traumatic brain injury research honored by NIDILRR

In support of her research to understand and improve long-term outcomes of individuals with traumatic brain injury, Melissa Duff, PhD, associate professor of Hearing and Speech Sciences, was recently named a 2018 Distinguished Switzer Research Fellow by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).
By Kelsey Herbers
October 12, 2017

New technique measures intricacies of movement, gestures

A Vanderbilt researcher has developed a new technique to measure body movement that can be employed in fields that study gestures.
By Matt Batcheldor