Robbins College Research News & Highlights

Aphasia Awareness, Research, and Outreach Grows at Baylor University

Many stroke, traumatic brain injury, or neurological disease survivors experience aphasia, which is an impairment in their ability to communicate. Researcher Jungjun Park, PhD, CCC-SLP, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, says a speech-language pathologist can help individuals relearn language skills or develop alternative ways to communicate through electronic devices, gestures, notebooks, and pictures.

Baylor Interior Design Researcher Provides Key Wildfire Safety Insights

As environmental challenges amplify wildfires to grow more frequent and more destructive, the lines between rural and urban danger have begun to blur. Professor of Interior Design Debra Harris, PhD, facilitated a national taskforce to create a “guidance toolkit” that shares expert safety tips for before, during, and after wildfires.

Leading the World in Oncologic Speech-Language Pathology

Katherine A. Hutcheson, in a white lab coat, stands next to an X-ray machine that images a human head and neck.

Communication Sciences and Disorders alumna Katherine A. Hutcheson, PhD, BCS-S, SLP-CCC, is a nationally known expert in head and neck cancer dysphagia. Through her current research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, she focuses on two core survivorship areas: communication abilities and eating abilities.

Transformative Research Across the Cancer Continuum

In Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, faculty are pursuing innovative research aimed at making a positive impact across the cancer journey—from prevention to treatment to survivorship. Driven by a calling to make a difference through their skills and expertise, these researchers are transforming lives, one study at a time.

Intersection of Data and Human Experience

A woman, wearing a red cardigan and black pants, looks toward sky while standing in a park.

In the heart of Dallas, Texas, Master of Public Health in Epidemiology alumna Natalie Noreen, MPH, works directly with individuals who are currently living at the edges of America’s healthcare system. She says Baylor professors helped to shape how she sees people—not as diagnoses or datasets, but as whole human beings.

Unlocking the Possibilities of Undergraduate Research

Woman wearing grey sweatshirt and a research cap to test the brain sits, while two men adjust the placement of cap.

In Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, undergraduate students step into the research environment—labs, field sites, creative studios, and data projects—and find themselves reshaping how they think and learn. For many, their undergraduate research experience is a turning point in their academic journeys and personal lives.

A New Kind of Neighborhood

Serena Enriquez, wearing a Baylor University Public Health sweatshirt, stands within a newly built agrihood community's row of homes.

When it was time to choose her practicum experience for the Master of Public Health (MPH) program, Serena Enriquez was connected to The Neighborhood & Health Study that examines public health outcomes in agriculturally focused neighborhoods, or “agrihoods.” Through this opportunity, Enriquez gained experience in the intersection of agriculture and health.

Faculty Scholarship in 2025 Sought to Enhance Health, Quality of Life, and Human Flourishing

Two people, wearing white lab coats, speak to each other while working with lab equipment.

In 2025, Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences researchers published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and publications. View examples from across the College, as well as a selection of grant-funded projects.