CSD Faculty

Faculty

Suzanne Moineau, Ph.D., CCC/SLP-L
Program Director
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

After earning her master of arts in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Iowa, Dr. Moineau worked for several years in the acute care setting.  She decided to return for her doctorate to further her understanding of the neurological bases for language processing and breakdown. Upon graduation from the Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders at the University of California, San Diego/San Diego State University, she accepted the position to design and develop a new master's program at CSUSM.  She currently serves as the program director and lead faculty in adult neurogenic communication and swallowing disorders.  She is interested in relationship-based approaches and quality of life measures in rehabilitation of aphasia.

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Lori Heisler, Ph.D., CCC/SLP-L
Faculty
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

Dr. Lori Heisler is an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist and Assistant Professor of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at California State University, San Marcos. Dr. Heisler earned her Ph.D from Purdue University with a specialization in the areas of child language disorders and child phonology.  She has over 10 years of international experience working with children in a rehabilitation center, private practice, and public schools.  She currently serves as lead faculty in the area of child speech and language disorders at CSUSM.  She is also the coordinator of clinical service for children with communication disorders at CSUSM. Her research interests include, the interaction of speech and language in production processes and improving public education outcomes for multicultural/multilingual populations.

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Deanna Hughes, Ph.D., CCC/SLP
Faculty
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

Deanna M. Hughes, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is faculty, instructor, researcher and practicing speech language pathologist at California State University San Marcos and a private clinic, Crimson Center for Speech & Language. She teaches professional seminar as well as courses in autism spectrum disorders and fluency disorders. In addition to teaching, she also supervises off-campus practicum clinics that serve a variety of clinical populations such as adults with developmental disabilities, communication enhancement for second language learners, and adolescents and adults with language-based learning disabilities. Her research interests include social communication in adolescents with developmental disorders, AAC, and supervision/research.

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Devina Acharya, MS, CCC/SLP
Clinical Director
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

Devina Acharya gained her M.A. in Communication Disorders from San Diego State University. She has accumulated over 12 years experience working with adults in medical settings, including inpatient and outpatient hospital sites, trauma and rehabilitation units, and long-term care facilities. Her particular area of interest is treatment of communication and swallowing disorders in patients with tracheostomies and ventilators.

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Adjunct Faculty

Katherine Verdolini, Ph.D., CCC/SLP
Adjunct Faculty
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

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Audrey Weed, M.A., CCC/SLP
Adjunct Faculty
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

Audrey Weed earned her Master of Arts degree from San Diego State University. During the past 10 years, she has specialized in augmentative and alternative communication for school-age populations.

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Helen Zuganelis, M.A., CCC/SLP
Adjunct Faculty
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

Helen Zuganelis, M.S., CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist who specializes in working with children with hearing loss.  Her experience spans a variety of settings and roles. Helen works in the public school setting serving children with a variety of communication disorders as well as works with children with hearing loss in her private practice.  She works year round as a volunteer with the Global Foundation for Children with Hearing Loss and spends a month in Vietnam each summer training teachers and therapists as well as providing consultation services to children and their families.

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Clinical Faculty

Sarah Gonzales, M.S., CCC/SLP
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

Sarah Gonzales supervises student interns in the school setting as well as during summer clinics at T.E.R.I.. She graduated from San Diego State University in 2003 with a Bachelors of Arts in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. She began working in the field as an speech language pathology assistant in 2005 where she worked with adolescents with moderate to severe disabilities in an ABA based program. In 2008 she graduated with distinction from California State University Northridge and received a Masters of Science in Communicative Disorders. Sarah currently works as a speech language pathologist for the San Diegito Union High School District where she serves as department chair.

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Tiffany Grover, M.S., CCC/SLP
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

Tiffany Grover has 10 years of experience working with children in the public schools who have communication disorders. She has worked with a variety of children with different disorders including: specific language impairment (SLI), articulation and phonology disorders, fluency and voice disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and learning disorders, as well as children with various developmental delays and intellectual disabilities.

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Kristen Nahrstedt, M.A., CCC/SLP
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

Kristen has been practicing speech-language pathology for the past 10 years working with a wide range of communicative disorders. She received her undergraduate degree in Communicative Disorders from California State University, Northridge in Northridge, California in 1999 and earned her Master of Arts in Communicative Disorders from San Diego State University, San Diego, California  in 2001. She has experience in early intervention settings, school settings, skilled nursing facilities, hospital settings, instruction, and supervision. Her areas of interest include early childhood intervention, phonological disorders, autism, and aphasia/stroke rehabilitation.

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Janelle Savage, M.S., CCC/SLP
Communicative Sciences & Disorders

Janelle Savage received her Masters degree in Communication Disorders from Eastern Washington University in 2006.  She spent her time in the public schools in Washington State before relocating with her family back to southern California in 2010.  Her primary role was as a specialist to IEP teams in a large district for kids with High Functioning Autism.  She also facilitated a large social language club as a way to functionally and effectively meet the IEP needs of the districts Autism population.  She currently is the Speech Language Pathologist at Rancho Santa Fe School District and runs an after school social language club for kids with high functioning Autism and other social cognitive deficits.

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