Diane Morean

Dr. Morean is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Elmhurst University. She undertook a career in speech language pathology because she believes that communication is fundamental to our human identity and to our core need for relationships. Dr. Morean earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Neuropsychology plus a Minor in Spanish at Florida Atlantic University, where she graduated summa cum laude, received the top university scholar award, and top honor’s student awards in Psychology, Language Arts, and Public Speaking. Dr. Morean earned her Ph.D. in Communication Disorders with certification in Cognitive Neuroscience at Northwestern University and has worked extensively with individuals who have aphasia, primarily addressing word retrieval deficits.

She was subsequently awarded a postdoctoral fellowship to study Advanced Research in the Rehabilitation of Neurological Speech Disorders at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (now Shirley Ryan Ability Lab). During that time, she earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Investigation, secured grant funding for her research on word retrieval and cognitive deficits following chemotherapy for breast cancer, and produced an approved Continuing Education class for health care professionals.

Dr. Morean is lead author of peer-reviewed journal articles on language and cognitive disorders and regularly provides professional presentations. On the side, she works in her own private practice Center for Confident Communication with individuals who stutter, who have executive functioning challenges, and who have speech and language challenges.

Dr. Morean has taught Neurology, Stuttering, and Research Methods to graduate students, and, Neurology, Stuttering, Speech Science, Speech Pathology in Medical Settings, Speech Pathology in Educational Settings, Phonological Disorders in Children and Clinical Practicum to undergraduate students. She has also served as a clinical supervisor of students in the Elmhurst University Speech-Language clinic.

Dr. Morean has served as an advisor on Master’s theses related to stuttering, and to the cognitive and language effects of chemotherapy for cancer. She has also served as a mentor to a Creative and Scholarly Endeavors (CASE) research fellow investigating the neurocognitive effects of chemotherapy-induced hearing loss on pediatric brain tumor survivors. Dr. Morean considers it a privilege to be a part of helping students reach their goals, takes great joy in mentoring, and works hard to impart core values of therapy including the centrality of the client-clinician relationship, the overarching goal of confidence in communication, and the importance of lifelong learning.