Meet Our Faculty
Cynthia O’Donoghue
Head of the Department of Communication Disorders
Cynthia O’Donoghue, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a professor and serves as the Academic Unit Head in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Dr. O’Donoghue received her undergraduate degree from Clemson University and her graduate degrees from the University of Virginia. She holds clinical credentials and licensure in the Commonwealth of Virginia and has practiced professionally with both adult and pediatric neurogenic populations for more than 30 years. She teaches graduate courses and conducts research in communication disorders of neurogenic etiology with a particular focus to cognitive-linguistic deficits and dysphagia. She presents nationally and internationally in her areas of expertise. Key service roles have included Vice-Chair of the Brain Injury Council for the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS), President of the Board of Trustees for Crossroads to Brain Injury Recovery, Inc., Board of Directors for the Brain Injury Association of Virginia (BIAV) and member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) for the ETS PRAXIS Examination in Speech-Language Pathology. She provides editorial consultation for professional scientific journals such as American Journal of Speech, Language Pathology (AJSLP), Speech, Language and Hearing Services in the Schools, Evidenced-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention, Evidenced Based Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, and Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica. She holds a voting membership status in the Dysphagia Research Society, the Academy of Neurological Communication Disorders and Sciences, American Congress of Rehabilitative Medicine, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, and the Council for Academic Programs in CSD (CAPCSD).
Cara Meixner
Professor of Graduate Psychology
Cara Meixner, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University, where she teaches masters- and doctoral-level courses in research methodology (e.g., mixed methods research, qualitative inquiry, statistics in psychology, etc.) and serves as methodologist on various theses and dissertations. In addition, Dr. Meixner is the Executive Director of the Center for Faculty Innovation, providing comprehensive professional development support to faculty in their roles as teachers, scholars, citizens, and leaders within and outside of the academy. In addition to co-authoring the newly-released text, Reconceptualizing Faculty Development in Service-Learning/Community Engagement (Stylus, 2018), Dr. Meixner is a scholar of research methods with keen interest in epistemology, ontology, and the philosophy of science. Related to neurotrauma, she pursues an advocacy-based research agenda that has contributed to the development of noteworthy changes and advocacy initiatives for survivors of brain injury. She has served as co-principal investigator, with Dr. Cynthia O’Donoghue, on studies that investigate barriers to accessing crisis intervention services, with focus on the experience of survivors with neurobehavioral presentations. More recent research focuses on the phenomenology of the caregiver-survivor experience and the intersection between neuroethics and access to care. Publication venues include Brain Injury, Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, and NeuroRehabilitation. Dr. Meixner currently serves as a state-level appointee to the Virginia Brain Injury Council, where she was recently elected vice-chair (2019). She also chairs the Science Advisory Committee for Brain Injury Connections of the Shenandoah Valley.
Meet Our Current Students
Shayleen Brennan
CSD Undergraduate Student
Shayleen Brennan is a senior communication sciences & disorders major with minor in exceptional education. A honors student from Buffalo, New York, Shayleen spends her free time playing on the club tennis team and traveling. Shayleen presented her research titled “Perspectives of Caregiver-Survivor Dyads Following TBI: A Case Series” at the ASHA convention as a PROGENY presentation in the fall of 2018 and at SHAV in the spring of 2018. Her future career goals are to attend graduate school for speech-language pathology and to continue to advocate for individuals who have sustained a TBI.
Madeline Summer Seymour
CSD Graduate Student
Madeline Summer Seymour is a first-year graduate student at James Madison University. Currently, she is pursuing a Masters degree in speech-language pathology. Summer works as a graduate clinician in the James Madison University Speech Language and Hearing Clinic (JMUSLH). In May of 2018, Summer graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelors of Science in Education. While at U.Va., she collaborated with the Department of Special Education on research designed to gauge the effect of different teaching techniques on the learning capacity for children with disabilities. Summer was a life columnist for U.Va.’s independent newspaper, the Cavalier Daily, and has publications in other magazines.