Our Team

Victoria Tilton-Bolowsky, Ph.D. CCC-SLP/T (she/her) joined the faculty at Teachers College and established the Creative & Inclusive Rehabilitation for Communicating with Aphasia Lab in September 2024. Victoria worked as a full-time speech therapist serving adults with neurogenic communication disorders for several years before pursuing a career as a research scientist. Victoria's research interests are largely inspired by her clinical experiences, as well as by her interactions, conversations, and relationships with people living with aphasia. Her research aims to improve people with aphasias' quality of life from multiple angles—by improving the effectiveness and generalizability of aphasia treatments and by shifting clinical practices and perspectives to be more disability- and identity-affirming. Outside of the lab, Victoria is an avid reader and novice crocheter who loves to travel, cook, listen to music, laugh, and gab. 

Izzy Chen (they/them) is a second-year MS student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders – Bilingual Extension Dual Certification program. They hold a B.A. in Art History from Mount Holyoke College and an M.A. in Curriculum and Teaching here in Teachers College, Columbia University. Before pursuing speech language pathology, they worked as an art museum educator and later as an early childhood educator. They are broadly interested in multimodal, embodied, and other kinds of communication beyond speech, as well as incorporating them in therapy as part of anti-ableist practice. Their goal is to provide disability-affirming care as informed by inclusive, strength-based, and creative teaching practices drawn from their previous experiences.

Maddie Christy Solano is a second-year master’s student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders – Bilingual Extension Dual Certification program at Teachers College, Columbia University. In May 2025, she graduated from the Schreyer Honors College at the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a minor in Human Development and Family Studies. Her honors thesis focused on improving language assessment for bilingual adolescents with Developmental Language Disorder.

Maddie has worked with adults in nursing homes since she was 17, which sparked her interest in dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and aphasia. She is passionate about bilingual language development and adult neurogenic communication disorders and hopes to support adults in rehabilitation through culturally responsive care. Outside of the lab, she enjoys exploring new coffee spots, curating personalized playlists, and hiking with her two dogs.