Marissa Russell-Meill
PhD Candidate
About
Marissa is a PhD candidate and ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist. Her combined experiences in research, healthcare, and technology have led her to seek innovative ways to improve aphasia rehabilitation for diverse and underserved patient groups. Her research aims to (1) leverage multimodal approaches to elucidate how individual factors—such as multilingualism, mental health, and social determinants of health—contribute to levels of impairment and response to treatment, (2) develop novel, personalized therapy approaches that address the needs of diverse patient populations, and (3) identify pathways to support the clinical implementation of research findings, ensuring that advancements translate into meaningful real-world impact.
Current Projects
Bilingual Computational Modeling for Stroke and Dementia
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Published:
Marte, M. J.*, Russell-Meill, M.*, Carvalho, N.*, & Kiran, S. (2025). Charting the Course of Aphasia Recovery: Factors, Trajectories, and Outcomes. Annual Review of Linguistics, 11.
Tzeng, C. Y., Russell, M. L., & Nygaard, L. C. (2024). Attention modulates perceptual learning of non-native-accented speech. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 86(1), 339-353.
Marte, M. J., Carpenter, E., Scimeca, M., Russell-Meill, M., Peñaloza, C., Grasemann, U., Miikkulainen, R., & Kiran, S. (2025). Machine Learning Predictions of Recovery in Bilingual Poststroke Aphasia: Aligning Insights With Clinical Evidence. Stroke, 56(2), 494-504.
* = co-first authorship
Working papers:
Russell-Meill, M., Carpenter, E., Marte, M. J., Scimeca, M., Peñaloza, C., & Kiran, S. (in revision). Measurement of cross-language and cross-domain generalization following semantic feature-based anomia treatment in bilingual aphasia. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation.
Russell-Meill, M., Piper-Wagner, A., Brady, M., Breitenstein, C., Hilari, K., & Kiran, S. (in preparation). Control comparator design in aphasia treatment randomized-controlled trials: A meta-analysis.
Scimeca, M., Peñaloza, C., Carpenter, E., Marte, M. J., Russell-Meill, M., & Kiran, S. (in revision). The evolution of word retrieval errors during semantic feature-based therapy in bilingual aphasia. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition.
Russell, M. L., & Vallila-Rohter, S. (in preparation). The relationship between social risk-taking and functional language use in people with aphasia
Kiran, S., Carpenter, E., Scimeca, M., Marte, M. J., Russell-Meill, M., Peñaloza, C., Miikkulainen, R., & Tripodis, Y. (in preparation). Using Digital Twins to Predict Treatment Outcomes in Spanish-English Bilingual Aphasia: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.
Carpenter, E., Scimeca, M., Marte, M. J., Russell-Meill, M., Peñaloza, C., & Kiran, S. (in preparation). Moving away from parallel and differential language impairments in bilingual aphasia: A machine leaning approach to the identification of bilingual aphasia clinical profile
Scimeca, M., Carpenter, E., Marte, M. J., Russell-Meill, M., Peñaloza, C., & Kiran, S. (in preparation). Assessing assessment in bilingual aphasia: Towards cultural-linguistic equity in clinical testing.
Conference Presentations
Russell-Meill, M., Carpenter, E., Marte, M.J., Scimeca, M., Peñaloza, C., & Kiran, S. (2024, October). Beyond Naming: Promoting Generalization in Bilingual Aphasia with Semantic Feature-Based Treatment. Platform presentation at the Academy of Aphasia 62nd Annual Meeting, Nara, Japan.
Russell-Meill, M., Carpenter, E., Marte, M.J., Scimeca, M., Peñaloza, C., & Kiran, S. (2024, December). Outcomes of Semantic Feature-Based Therapy in Bilingual Aphasia: Patterns of Generalization Across Languages. Seminar presented at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 2024, Seattle, WA.
Scimeca, M., Carpenter, E., Marte, M.J., Russell-Meill, M., Peñaloza, C., & Kiran, S. (2024, May) Assessing assessment in bilingual aphasia: Towards cultural-linguistic equity in clinical testing. Clinical Aphasiology Conference 2024, Big Island of Hawai’i, HI.
Carpenter, E., Grasemann, U., Scimeca, M., Marte, M.J., Russell-Meill, M., Peñaloza, C., Miikkulainen, R., & Kiran, S. (2024, May) A randomized controlled trial examining the predictive power of computational simulations on treatment-induced naming outcomes in Spanish-English bilinguals with aphasia. Clinical Aphasiology Conference 2024, Big Island of Hawai’i, HI.
Carpenter, E., Grasemann, U., Scimeca, M., Marte, M. J., Russell-Meill, M., Peñaloza, C., Miikkulainen, R., & Kiran, S. (2024, May). Simulating therapy-induced recovery in bilingual aphasia via computational modeling and machine learning approaches. 13th World Congress for Neurorehabilition, Vancouver, Canada.
Russell, M., & Pierce, J. (2023, November). Breaking Down Access Barriers for PWA using Digital Therapeutics. Seminar presented at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 2023, Boston, MA.
Carpenter, E., Marte, M. J., Scimeca, M., Russell, M., Falconer, I. F., Peñaloza, C., & Kiran, S. (2023, October). Factors influencing language impairment in bilingual aphasia. Accepted for poster presentation at the 61st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Aphasia. University of Reading, Reading, UK.
Marte, M. J., Carpenter, E., Scimeca, M., Russell, M., Falconer, I., Peñaloza, C., & Kiran, S. (2023, October). Predicting treatment responsiveness in bilingual aphasia: The role of dual language information. Academy of Aphasia 61st Annual Meeting, Reading, England.
Brady, M., Russell, M.L., & Kiran, S. (2022, November). Trials in Aphasia Panel Methodological Session: Review of control conditions in aphasia RCTs. Presentation. Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists Virtual Event, Online
Cabrera-Thompson, D., Russell, M., Pittmann, R., & Vallila-Rohter, S. (2022, November). Exploring the relationship between risk-taking, anxiety, depression and functional language use in people with aphasia. Accepted poster presentation, American Speech Hearing Association Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA.
Russell, M. & Vallila-Rohter, S. (2021, November). The relationship between social risk-taking and functional language use: implications for people with aphasia. Poster presentation, 2nd International Conference for Young Researchers in Cognitive Linguistics, Online.
Tzeng, C.Y., Russell, M.L., & Nygaard, L.C. (2018, November). The role of attention in the perceptual learning of variation in foreign-accented speech. Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, New Orleans, LA.
Past Roles/Appointments
Past Roles: Research
2021 – 2022 Cognitive Linguistic Research Group (Grupo de investigación lingüística cognitiva), Fulbright Researcher Universidad Complutense de Madrid – PI: Gitte Kristiansen
2018 – 2022 Cognitive Neuroscience Group, Research Assistant MGH Institute of Health Professions – PIs: Sofia Vallila-Rohter, Yael Arbel, Lauryn Zipse
2016 – 2018 Speech and Language Perception Lab, Undergraduate Researcher Emory University – PI: Lynne Nygaard
2017 Language Learning Lab, Full-time Research Assistant Boston College – PI: Joshua Hartshorne
2015 – 2016 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Marcus Autism Institute, Research Assistant Atlanta, GA – PI: Celine Saulnier
Past Roles: Clinical
2020 – 2022 Constant Therapy Health, Clinical and Scientific Consultant Lexington, MA
2020 – 2021 Northeast Rehabilitation Hospital Neurological Clinic, Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist (CF) Lowell, MA
2018 – 2020 Student Clinician MGH Revere Healthcare Center, Revere, MA MGH Institute of Health Professions Aphasia Center, Charlestown, MA Samuel W. Mason Pilot Elementary School, Roxbury, MA MGH Institute of Health Professions Speech, Language, and Literacy Center, Charlestown, MA
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Recent CV Marissa Russell-Meill CV 2025