{"id":38394,"date":"2026-02-17T12:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T17:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/?p=38394"},"modified":"2026-02-17T13:08:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T18:08:43","slug":"dr-catherine-diaz-asper-receives-nih-funding-to-advance-bilingual-cognitive-screening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/dr-catherine-diaz-asper-receives-nih-funding-to-advance-bilingual-cognitive-screening\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Catherine Diaz-Asper Receives NIH Funding to Advance Bilingual Cognitive Screening"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> Catherine Diaz-Asper has received new funding from the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aim-ahead.net\/programs\/aim-ahead-hub-specific-projects\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">NIH AIM-AHEAD Hub Specific Projects \u2013 Year 4<\/span><\/a> <span data-contrast=\"auto\">Grant\u00a0to lead an innovative research project focused on improving early detection of cognitive decline in bilingual older adults.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The project, titled \u201c<em>Cognitive screening using automated speech analysis: the effect of preferred language in bilingual\u00a0Spanish-English\u00a0speakers<\/em>,\u201d will run from\u00a0December\u00a02025 through July 2026. Dr. Diaz-Asper will collaborate with co-investigators <a href=\"https:\/\/online.marymount.edu\/faculty\/nathan-green\">Nathan Green<\/a> (<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">School of Technology and Innovation)<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, <a href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/staff-members\/sara-pappa\/\">Sara Pappa<\/a> (School of Health Sciences), and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/center-for-optimal-aging\/faculty-staff-associates\/research-assistants-and-trainees\/\">Mahederemariam\u00a0Bayleyegn\u00a0Dagne<\/a> (Marymount Center for Optimal Aging).<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Machine learning\u2013based speech analysis has shown promise in detecting Alzheimer\u2019s-related cognitive impairments by examining features such as word choice, sentence structure, pauses, and speech rhythm. However, most existing models are trained on monolingual English speakers, limiting their accuracy and applicability for bilingual populations.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This project aims to address that gap by developing and evaluating an AI-driven cognitive screening tool tailored for older bilingual\u00a0Spanish-English\u00a0speakers. Using accessible technology, the research team will assess how well automated speech analysis\u00a0identifies\u00a0mild cognitive impairment in both languages and whether model performance and linguistic features differ based on an individual\u2019s preferred language.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">By centering bilingualism in cognitive assessment, this work has the potential to reduce disparities in early detection of cognitive decline and support more\u00a0equitable, inclusive approaches to brain health.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Catherine Diaz-Asper has received new funding from the NIH AIM-AHEAD Hub Specific Projects \u2013 Year 4 Grant\u00a0to lead an innovative research project focused on improving early detection of cognitive decline in bilingual older adults.\u00a0 The project, titled \u201cCognitive screening using automated speech analysis: the effect of preferred language in bilingual\u00a0Spanish-English\u00a0speakers,\u201d will run from\u00a0December\u00a02025 through July [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/academics\/dr-catherine-diaz-asper-receives-nih-funding-to-advance-bilingual-cognitive-screening\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"featured_media":38399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mcoa","category-mcoa-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - 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