Dr. Allison Schaser is an assistant professor in the department of speech, language and hearing sciences at Purdue University. She holds a PhD in communication sciences and disorders from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a former NIH predoctoral and postdoctoral fellow and a certified speech-language pathologist. In her research, she uses advanced imaging tools and an alpha-synuclein fibril seeding approach to study protein aggregation in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Her ultimate goal is to merge her knowledge of clinical issues, animal behavior and the cranial sensorimotor system to characterize and treat voice and swallowing deficits in PD. During her postdoctoral fellowship at Oregon Health & Science University, Dr. Schaser was the president of a local nonprofit, Women in Science Portland, and she continues to be passionate about building supportive networks to promote retention and career development opportunities for women in the sciences.