Dr Cecilia Devers, Senior Lecturer

Dr Cecilia Devers

Senior Lecturer

Dr Cecilia Devers is a senior lecturer (associate professor) of Speech and Language Sciences at Leeds Beckett University. She graduated from the School of Medicine at the University of Nevada, USA with a Master of Science (Honours) in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, with a published thesis in the Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal. After practicing clinically for some time, she went on to pursue a doctoral degree from Newcastle University, United Kingdom, further specialising in aphasiology, cognitive neuroscience, and neuro- and psycholinguistics. She also undertook a teaching assistantship for Social Psychology at Newcastle University. Her lecturing role includes medical sciences (anatomy and physiology), aphasiology, language and cognition, evidence-based research for clinical practice, clinical and professional skills, and research project/dissertation supervision. Further, she maintains an active profile in the research community. Her research interests include aphasiology, cognitive neuroscience and cognitive neuropsychology, neuro- and psycholinguistics in healthy and disordered systems, the representation of language and cognition in the brain, and its clinical implications.

Dr Devers' clinical experience includes working with both developmental and acquired pathology populations. She is an international fully licensed practitioner through the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA), Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), and is a current member of the international Academy of Aphasia, a committee member of the British Aphasiology Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Qualifications
  • Higher Education Academy Fellowship, Leeds Beckett University, UK

  • BA (Honors) in Linguistics, University of Nevada, Reno, University of Nevada, USA

  • BSc (Graduate Special) Speech-Language Pathology, University of Nevada, USA
  • MSc (Honors) in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, School of Medicine, University of Nevada, USA
  • PhD in Aphasiology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro- and Psycholinguistics, Newcastle University, UK
  • Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), United Kingdom

Memberships
  • Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)
  • Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
  • American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA)
  • Academy of Aphasia
  • British Aphasiology Society (Committee Member)
  • Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Research Interests

Areas of research interest are aphasiology, cognitive neuroscience, neuro- and psycholinguistics in healthy and disordered language systems, and the representation of language and cognition in the brain.and its clinical implications.

Dr Cecilia Devers, Senior Lecturer

Selected Outputs

  • Devers C; Martínez Ferreiro S; Arslan S (2018) Using Support Vector Machines to Identify Determinants of Pronoun Difficulty in Aphasia: A preliminary critical review.

  • Devers C; Howard D; Webster J (2016) Pronoun Processing in People with Aphasia.

  • Arslan S; Devers C; Ferreiro SM (2021) Pronoun processing in post-stroke aphasia: A meta-analytic review of individual data. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 59

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2021.101005

  • Watterson, T.; Mancini, M.C.; Lewis, K.; Brancamp, T; Devers M (2013) Relationship Between The Perception of Hypernasality and Social Judgments in School-aged Children. Cleft-Palate Craniofacial Journal, 50 (4), pp. 498-502.

  • Devers C; Howard D; Webster J (2016) Pronoun Processing in People with Aphasia. In: 2016 International Aphasia Rehabilitation Conference, 14 December 2016 - 16 December 2016, London, UK.

    https://www.city.ac.uk/iarc-2016

  • Devers C; Howard D; Webster J (2016) Implications of Explicit and Implicit Discourse-Linked Pronoun Processing in People with Aphasia. In: Academy of Aphasia 54th Annual Meeting, 16 October 2016 - 18 October 2016, Llandudno, Wales, UK.

  • Devers C; Howard D; Webster J (2015) Analysis of Pronominal Word Comprehension. In: Science of Aphasia 2015, Aveiro, Portugal.

    https://sstp.nl/article/view/19314