Nicole Li-Jessen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Personalized Medicine of Upper Airway Health and Diseases
Associate Member, Departments of Otolaryngology and Biomedical Engineering
Research Member, Quantitative Life Sciences, McGill Regenerative Medicine Network
Associate Investigator, The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Regular Member, CAMBAM, CRBLM
BSc Honors Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Hong Kong
MPhil Voice Physiology, University of Hong Kong
PhD Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh
Post-doctoral Fellow Vocal Fold Tissue Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Chair, Widening Participation Committee, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (2018 - 2024)
Mentor, Provost's Faculty Mentorship Network, McGill University (2021 - present)
Associate Editor (2021 - 2024), Section Editor (2024 - present) PLOS Digital Health
As the Graduate Program Director (GPD; 2024 - present), Prof. Li-Jessen is responsible for managing the graduate thesis programs in the School and for advising research students on academic matters. The GPD ensures the smooth day-to-day functioning and overall academic quality of the School's research programs and is the primary contact for all academic matters concerning PhD and Master’s thesis students. The GPD ensures that research students are informed about services and critical deadlines. She also facilitates conversation between the graduate degree program, the academic department, and the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office (GPS).
Prof. Li-Jessen’s laboratory integrates in vitro, in vivo and in silico (computational) approaches to study vocal fold biology and wound healing. The research goal is to generate a computational platform that can guide surgeons and speech pathologists in the best methods to repair voices that have been lost. Current research projects focus on what cells and proteins drive the vocal fold injury and repair after surgical and vocal trauma, along with the roles of biomechanical stress in cellular and tissue adaptation. Li-Jessen's lab uses agent-based modeling to simulate patient-specific vocal trauma and repair response in computers. In addition, her work in collaboration with engineers and surgeons to develop non-invasive assessment of vocal fold pathology, wearable e-health devices for upper airway monitoring and create biomaterial for vocal fold reconstruction.
Canada Research Chair (tier 2) in Personalized Medicine of Upper Airway Health and Diseases (2021)
Delegate, Science Meets Parliament, Canadian Science Policy Center (2021)
Visiting Professorship, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany (2019)
Principal's Prize for Excellence in Teaching (Assistant Professor Category), McGill University (2018)
Rosemary Wedderburn Brown Prize, McGill University (2018)
Canada Research Chair (tier 2) in Personalized Medicine of Voice Disorders (2017)
Media coverage:
http://voice.lab.mcgill.ca/media.html
