Dr Christina Sotiropoulou Drosopoulou

Profile

I joined the University of Leeds as a Lecturer in 2019.

• I graduated from the University of Patras, Greece, with a first class BA (Hons) in Philology and Linguistics.
• I then enrolled full time on a two-year MA in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at the University of Patras. During my MA studies I became fascinated with research on the neurobiology of language and my masters research project investigated the linguistic and cognitive factors affecting word reading in post brain injury ‘neglect dyslexia’. My MA was funded by a bursary from the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation and a portion of the research for my masters research project was supported by an Erasmus Scholarship from the European Commission for a three-month visit at the Psycholinguistics/Neurolinguistics lab at the University of Potsdam, Germany.
• I graduated with a distinction, whereupon I registered as a PhD student at the Neuroscience and Aphasia Research Unit (NARU), University of Manchester, UK (supervisors: Dr. Paul Conroy and Prof. Matthew Lambon Ralph). My doctoral work concentrated on the development of a speech intervention, focusing on the under-researched variable of speed of word retrieval across both older neurotypical participants and patients with post-stroke aphasia.
• Following completion of my PhD, I worked as a lecturer (T&S) in Speech and Language Therapy at the University of Manchester, and then as a senior research associate in Communication Disability at Manchester Metropolitan University. My post-doctoral research focused on communication disability in low and middle income countries (in collaboration with Dr Julie Marshall), as well as on developmental language disorders and language development through aided communication, particularly with regard to discourse and conversational data (in collaboration with Prof Janice Murray).

Responsibilities

• Admissions Tutor

Research interests

My research interests lie within the areas of Psycholinguistics/Neurolinguistics, Neuropsychology, Clinical Linguistics and Cognitive Neuroscience. My research aims to address key issues concerning language processing, and inform the development of assessment, training and rehabilitation techniques in a range of settings. A central part of my research focuses on identifying the underlying mechanisms for lexical access and speech production in healthy populations (mainly older adults) and patient groups with post-stroke aphasia and acquired neurological communication deficits more broadly. I am also interested in the development of assessments and interventions pertaining to these disorders.

Qualifications

• PhD Psychology
• MA Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
• BA (Hons) Philology & Linguistics

Professional memberships

• Society for the Neurobiology of Language
• British Aphasiology Society
• British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL)

Student education

I deliver lectures and lead modules on Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuropsychology and Language across the UG and TPG (MSc & MPsyc) degrees. I also supervise projects at Level 3 and Masters levels, and act as a personal tutor to groups of students each year.