Katya Hill

Katya Hill has over thirty years of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) clinical, teaching and research experience. Her interest in AAC/AT started when she was working with children with significant disabilities in the public schools and AAC and AT were emerging as a field. As the use of AAC/AT interventions expanded and the number of technology interventions increased she became aware of the growing complexity of the decision-making process and need for evidence to support clinical decisions. Hill's clinical experiences led to a keen desire to conduct research to develop methods to measure performance and outcomes. She found that the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh to offer the most student-centered, multidiscipline, and collegial doctorate program in the country to launch this area of research. Hill has several patents and has been awarded grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).  Her current funded research projects are related to brain computer interface (BCI) testing, AAC-BCI clinical trials and AT wireless technology.  She has mentored student research projects that resulted in over 30 student papers being accepted for publication or presentation.