Dr. Yael Zaltz Appointed Head of the Department of Communication Disorders

Dr. Yael Zaltz has been appointed Head of the Department of Communication Disorders at the Steyer School of Health Professions, Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at Tel Aviv University.

Dr. Zaltz is a speech-language pathologist and audiologist. She completed her PhD in the Department of Communication Disorders at Tel Aviv University and her postdoctoral training at the University of Southern California (USC), where she investigated how individuals with hearing loss who use cochlear implants discriminate between different speakers’ voices based on a range of acoustic cues.

Her research examines whether auditory training can improve the psychoacoustic, linguistic, and cognitive abilities underlying speech understanding under adverse listening conditions. Her work spans different age groups and includes both healthy populations and individuals with various clinical conditions.

Dr. Zaltz also heads a brain imaging laboratory that uses functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate the neural mechanisms affected by auditory training and the brain systems involved in speech perception.

We wish Dr. Zaltz success in her new role and extend our thanks to Dr. Osnat Segal for her leadership of the Department of Communication Disorders over the past years.