Alexandra Durfee, Ph.D.

she/her/hers

Assistant Professor, Speech-Language Pathology

Name

Contact Info

Phone:
410-704-3860
Office:
Van Bokkelen Hall 109 F
Email:
adurfee@towson.edu

Education

Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2019
M.A., The Ohio State University, 2017
B.Phil., University of Pittsburgh, 2014

Areas of Expertise

Adult neurogenic communication disorders

Selected Publications

  • Fan, H., Bunker, L., Wang, Z., Durfee, A.Z., Lin, D. Yedavalli, V., Ge, Y., Zhou, Z.J., Hillis, A.E., & Lu, H. (2023). Simultaneous perfusion, diffusion, T2*, and T1 mapping with MR fingerprinting. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. DOI: 10.1002/mrm.29880
  • Diedrichs VA, Lundine JP, Blackett DS, Durfee A.Z., Pan XJ, Harnish SM. A randomized crossover single-case series comparing blocked versus random treatment for anomia. Neuropsychol Rehabil. 2023 Jun;33(5):821-848. doi: 10.1080/09602011.2022.2050411. Epub 2022 Mar 14. PubMed PMID: 35287561; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9470780.
  • Durfee A.Z., Hillis AE. Unilateral Spatial Neglect Recovery Poststroke. Stroke. 2023 Jan;54(1):10-19. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.122.041710. Epub 2022 Dec 21. Review. PubMed PMID: 36542072.
  • Durfee A.Z., Harnish SM. Using word-picture verification to inform language impairment locus in chronic post-stroke aphasia. Front Rehabil Sci. 2022;3:1012588. doi: 10.3389/fresc.2022.1012588. eCollection 2022. PubMed PMID: 36386772; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9659640.
  • Berube SK, Goldberg E, Sheppard SM, Durfee A.Z., Ubellacker D, Walker A, Stein CM, Hillis AE. An Analysis of Right Hemisphere Stroke Discourse in the Modern Cookie Theft Picture. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2022 Oct 25;31(5S):2301-2312. doi: 10.1044/2022_AJSLP-21-00294. Epub 2022 Sep 8. PubMed PMID: 36075208; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9907448.
  • Minga J, Stockbridge MD, Durfee A, Johnson M. Clinical Guidelines for Eliciting Discourse Using the RHDBank Protocol. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2022 Sep 7;31(5):1949-1962. doi: 10.1044/2022_AJSLP-22-00097. Epub 2022 Aug 31. PubMed PMID: 36044890; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9907450.
  • Durfee A.Z, Sheppard SM, Blake ML, Hillis AE. Lesion loci of impaired affective prosody: A systematic review of evidence from stroke. Brain Cogn. 2021 Aug;152:105759. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2021.105759. Epub 2021 Jun 9. PubMed PMID: 34118500; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8324538.
  • Sheppard SM, Meier EL, Zezinka Durfee A, Walker A, Shea J, Hillis AE. Characterizing subtypes and neural correlates of receptive aprosodia in acute right hemisphere stroke. Cortex. 2021 Aug;141:36-54. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.04.003. Epub 2021 Apr 24. PubMed PMID: 34029857; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8489691.
  • Durfee A.Z., Sheppard SM, Meier EL, Bunker L, Cui E, Crainiceanu C, Hillis AE. Explicit Training to Improve Affective Prosody Recognition in Adults with Acute Right Hemisphere Stroke. Brain Sci. 2021 May 20;11(5). doi: 10.3390/brainsci11050667. PubMed PMID: 34065453; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8161405.
  • Frigerio-Domingues CE, Gkalitsiou Z, Zezinka A, Sainz E, Gutierrez J, Byrd C, Webster R, Drayna D. Genetic factors and therapy outcomes in persistent developmental stuttering. J Commun Disord. 2019 Jul-Aug;80:11-17. doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2019.03.007. Epub 2019 Apr 5. PubMed PMID: 31003007.
  • Harnish SM, Schwen Blackett D, Zezinka A, Lundine JP, Pan X. Influence of working memory on stimulus generalization in anomia treatment: A pilot study. Journal of neurolinguistics. 2018 November; 48:142-156. doi: 10.1016/j.jneuroling.2018.02.003.
  • Lundine JP, Harnish SM, McCauley RJ, Blackett DS, Zezinka A, Chen W, Fox RA. Adolescent Summaries of Narrative and Expository Discourse: Differences and Predictors. Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2018 Jul 5;49(3):551-568. doi: 10.1044/2018_LSHSS-17-0105. PubMed PMID: 29801092.
  • Lundine JP, Harnish SM, McCauley RJ, Zezinka AB, Blackett DS, Fox RA. Exploring Summarization Differences for Two Types of Expository Discourse in Adolescents With Traumatic Brain Injury. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2018 Feb 6;27(1):247-257. doi: 10.1044/2017_AJSLP-16-0131. PubMed PMID: 29121200.
  • Blackett DS, Harnish SM, Lundine JP, Zezinka A, Healy EW. The Effect of Stimulus Valence on Lexical Retrieval in Younger and Older Adults. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2017 Jul 12;60(7):2081-2089. doi: 10.1044/2017_JSLHR-L-16-0268. PubMed PMID: 28632840; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5831093.
  • Zezinka A, Tompkins CA. Negative Word Production in Adults With Right Hemisphere Brain Damage: Effects of Implicit Assessment and Contextual Bias. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2015 Nov;24(4):S815-27. doi: 10.1044/2015_AJSLP-14-0136. PubMed PMID: 26134059.

Research

  • Investigating the underlying processes for recognizing and expressing emotional prosody; understanding the role of context in communication abilities after right hemisphere stroke; developing evidence-based communication interventions for adults with acquired brain injury, particularly aprosodia

Certification and Licensure

  • Licensed (OH) speech-language pathologist
  • ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist

Memberships/Affiliations

  • ANCDS RHD writing group 
  • ANCDS 
  • International Right Hemisphere Collaborative 
  • ASHA

Selected Presentations

  • Durfee, A.Z., McCauley, J., & Buzzard, C. (2023, November). Speech-language intervention for emotional aprosodia following anoxic brain injury. Technical research presentation at the Annual American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Boston, MA.  
  • Durfee, A. Z. (2023, September). When your wife is now a hat: Post-stroke agnosias. Invited speaker at Neurotorium expert meeting on neurobehavioral consequences of stroke. Gothenburg, Sweden.  
  • Durfee, A.Z., Minga, J., Sheppard, S. M., Johnson, M., Hewetson, R., Cornwell, P., & Blake, M. L. (2023, May). Apragmatism: A diagnostic label for right hemisphere communication deficits. Roundtable discussion conducted at the annual Clinical Aphasiology Conference, Atlantic City, NJ.  
  • Durfee, A.Z. & Hillis A.E. (2023, February). Unilateral spatial neglect recovery post-stroke. Platform presented at the International Stroke Conference, Dallas, TX. Invited talk. 
  • Stockbridge, M. D., Durfee, A. Z., & Sheppard, S. M. (2022, November). Get it right: Identifying communication deficits after right-hemisphere stroke. One-hour virtual oral seminar proposal accepted to the annual American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, New Orleans, LA (hybrid).   
  • Sheppard, S. M. & Durfee, A. Z. (2022, November). Neural correlates and treatment of aprosodia after right hemisphere stroke. Invited platform talk at the annual meeting of the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences, New Orleans, LA. Invited talk. 
  • Durfee, A. Z., Schwen Blackett, D., & Hunting Pompon, R. (2022, May). Emotion-related communication after stroke: State of affairs and paths forward. Roundtable discussion conducted at the annual Clinical Aphasiology Conference, Wrightsville Beach, NC.  
  • Durfee, A. Z., Sheppard, S. M., & Hillis, A. E. (2022, May). Receptive aprosodia training following right hemisphere stroke. Research platform talk given at the annual Clinical Aphasiology Conference, Wrightsville Beach, NC (hybrid). 
  • Durfee, A. Z., *Joseph, B., & Hillis, A. E. (2022, February). Assessment procedures influence, not alter, allocentric and egocentric neglect diagnosis. Research talk given at the annual meeting of the International Stroke Conference, New Orleans, LA (hybrid). *Denotes student mentee 

Selected Posters

  • Bunker, L. D., Meier, E. E., Kim, H., Durfee, A. Z., & Hillis, A. E. (2023, October). Changes in activation and functional connectivity in subacute aphasia following treatment: An fNIRS case series investigation. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Aphasia, Reading, UK. 
  • *Jackson, M. S., Durfee, A. Z., Uchida, Y., Oishi, K., Sheppard, S. M., & Hillis, A. E. (2023, July). White matter damage after right hemisphere stroke and its effects on receptive prosody. Poster presented at the annual Human Brain Mapping Conference, Montreal, CA. *Denotes student mentee 
  • *Diaz-Carr, I., Durfee, A. Z., Ahn, J., Patel, S., Hillis, A. E., & Sheppard, S. M. (2023, May). Neural correlates of expressive prosody following acute right hemisphere stroke. Poster presented at the annual Clinical Aphasiology Conference, Atlantic City, NJ.  *Denotes student mentee 
  • Durfee, A. Z., Joseph, B., & Hillis, A. E. (2022, November). Assessment procedures influence, not alter, allocentric and egocentric neglect diagnosis. Invited research poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, Chicago, IL (hybrid).  
  • Fan, H., Bunker, L., Durfee, A. Z., Zhou, Z. J., Hillis, A. E., & Lu, H. Simultaneous perfusion, diffusion, T2*, and T1 mapping with MR Fingerprinting (MRF-PDT). (2022, May). Oral presentation at the annual meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, London, England, UK (hybrid). 
  • Durfee, A. Z. & Harnish, S. M. (2021, May). Assessing language network integrity in chronic aphasia via word-picture verification. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Clinical Aphasiology Conference. (virtual). 
  • Durfee, A. Z., Sheppard, S. M., Meier, E. L., Bunker, L., Cui, E., Crainiceanu, C., & Hillis, A. E. (2020, October). Lesion correlates of emotional prosody recognition impairments in acute right hemisphere stroke. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Neurobiology of Language, Philadelphia, PA (virtual).  
  • Durfee, A. Z., Sheppard, S. M., Cui, E., Crainiceanu, C., & Hillis, A. E. (2020, October). Emotional prosody recognition in acute right hemisphere stroke: Preliminary investigation of explicit training effectiveness. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Aphasia, Philadelphia, PA (virtual). 
  • Sheppard, S. M., Shea, J., Fabian, R., Zhao, A., Durfee, A. Z., Meier, E. L., Patel, S., Glenn, S., & Hillis, A. E. (2020, October). Prosodic acoustic features in mild cognitive impairment and primary progressive aphasia. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Aphasia, Philadelphia, PA (virtual). 

Professional Service

Ad hoc reviewer: Stroke, Journal of Communication Disorders, Brain, Annals of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine, ASHA Perspectives