L.F. de Nil, Ph.D.

> SLP Home > About Us > Academic Faculty > L.F. de Nil, Ph.D.

Luc F. De Nil, Ph.D.
(Southern Illinois University at Carbondale)
Professor, Chair, CGS
Full Member, SGS

Mailing Address:
Department of Speech-Language Pathology
Rehabilitation Sciences Building
Centre for Function and Well Being
Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
500 University Ave, RM-160
Toronto, ON M5G 1V7

E-mail: luc.denil@utoronto.ca

Background:
After completing a Licentiate degree in Orthopedagogical Sciences in Belgium, I worked for a number of years as a clinical psychologist at a speech rehabilitation centre in Belgium. In 1988, I obtained a Ph.D. degree in communication disorders from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale in the United States of America, which was followed by 2 years post-doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin in Madison at the Speech and Motor Control Laboratory. In 1990, I joined the faculty in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto, where I currently am an Associate Professor and the Coordinator of Graduate Studies. In addition, I am a Associate Scientist at the Toronto Western Research Institute, and a Visiting Professor, Department of Otolaryngology, Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), and an Affiliated Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute

Professional Interests:
My current research interest is focused on the use of behavioural, kinematic and functional neuroimaging techniques to study the neural bases of speech fluency disorders, including developmental stuttering, neurogenic and psychogenic stuttering, and speech disorders in Tourette Syndrome patients.

Current Research:
The following research projects are currently underway in my lab: Speech Fluency Laboratory

A functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study of linguistic and motor processes in stuttering (joint project with Dr. Gracco at McGill University – funded by CIHR)

A Magnetoencephalography study of linguistic and motor processes in stuttering (joint project with Dr. Cheyne at The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute – funded by CIHR)

An exploratory study of medical, cognitive and speech characteristics of patients with acquired stuttering (collaborative project with Regina Jokel, speech-language pathologist at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care).

Past Research:

A positron emission tomography study of the immediate and long-term effects of treatment on speech-related neural activation in people who stutter (joined project with Dr. Kroll at the Speech Foundation of Ontario and Dr. Houle at the Centre for Addication and Mental Health - funded by the Medical Research Council of Canada)

A functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study of linguistic and motor processes in stuttering (joint project with Dr. Gracco at McGill University and Dr. Pugh at Yale University – funded by NIH)

A functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study of single- versus dual-task language processes in people who stutter (Collaborative project with Dr. Hans-Georg Bosshardt of Ruehr Universitaet in Bochum (Germany) - partially funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada)

A kinematic study of sensorimotor processes involved in oral movement coordination (funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada)

Speech disorders in patients with Tourette Syndrome (collaborative project with Dr. Sandor, Toronto Western Hospital, and Dr. van Lieshout, Assistant Professor at the Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto)