Our Team

Sabrina Horvath, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Primary Investigator

horvaths@musc.edu

Dr. Sabrina Horvath is the Primary Investigator of the MACAW Lab. Her long-term research interests are earlier identification of and more efficacious interventions for preschoolers with language disorders. She focuses on word learning, and verb-learning particularly, because of the foundational role vocabulary plays in later language development.

Dr. Horvath is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Speech Language Pathology at the Medical University of South Carolina.

She also enjoys aerial silks and is an avid harpist!

Read more about Dr. Horvath’s work

Samantha Ghali, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Postdoctoral Fellow

Samantha Ghali (she/hers) is a T32 postdoctoral fellow at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is mentored by Dr. Sabrina Horvath. Dr. Ghali’s research focuses on multilingual language acquisition in children with language disorders and children who are typically developing at the intersection of literacy and dialectal variation. Dr. Ghali’s other scholarly interests include open science as well as interprofessional education and interprofessional practice (IPE/IPP).

Dr. Ghali is a Master Gardener Trainee with a passion for integrated pest management. She loves sharing tools and resources for bug identification, designing sensory gardens, and to mitigate plant disease!

Mara Kotz

Research Assistant

Mara Kotz is a Research Assistant of the MACAW Lab. She recently graduated from Dartmouth College where she studied Psychology and Sociology. Her previous research has focused on the intersection of gender and food on children’s clothes as well as gender and race representation in children’s books.

She loves the beach, playing with dogs, and gluten free baking!

Cady Walker

Research Assistant

Cady Walker is a Research Assistant at the MACAW Lab. She graduated from the College of Charleston with degrees in Psychology and French & Francophone Studies. She is a volunteer advocate with Tri-County S.P.E.A.K.S and hopes to pursue a career providing culturally competent mental health care.

In her free time, she loves to write poetry and make little crafts.

Valeri Doleski

Research Assistant

Valeri Doleski is a Research Assistant at the MACAW Lab. She is currently a student at the College of Charleston majoring in Psychology and minoring in Linguistics. She hopes to get her masters in Speech-Language Pathology.

She enjoys going for walks, reading, hanging out with friends, and being with her dog.

Ever Curry

Research Assistant

Ever Curry is a first-year graduate student at the Medical University of South Carolina. She graduated from the University of South Carolina Honors College in May 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences. Her current research efforts focus on enhancing and improving normative data regarding bilingual and bidialectal children. She hopes to pursue her SLP career working in schools and with pediatric populations. Alongside her speech pathology career, she hopes to make strides in the education system, advocating for the needs of culturally diverse students and their families.

In her free time, Ever enjoys writing poetry, spending time with her family, and walking her dog, Roman.

Cameron Posadas

Research Assistant

Cameron Posadas is a first-year graduate student at the Medical University of South Carolina. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in May 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Public Health. Her current SLP career interests include outpatient rehab with adults or feeding and swallowing with children.

She enjoys going to the beach, watching sunsets, spending time with friends and family, and trying new restaurants and food trucks around Charleston.