Mission Statement
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) caucus is a culturally and linguistically responsive and connected professional community that nurtures positive professional identity to support all clinicians’ and students’ culturally responsive practice. We strive to develop a safe space and be a resource for persons of Middle Eastern and North African origin—including researchers, current and future professionals, and students interested in learning about and providing services to this population. We seek to inspire all clinicians to develop and increase their awareness and knowledge of Middle Eastern and North African cultures and languages to facilitate advocacy and allyship, which actively promote the provision of evidence-based speech, language, and hearing services to marginalized persons of Middle Eastern and North African origin. MENA is dedicated to working with other constituencies in an effort to promote equity and social justice in the professional communities of speech, language, and hearing sciences as well as in the larger society.
Our Goals
- Promote and increase awareness about the cultures and languages of the Middle East and North Africa
- Promote and increase the number of audiologists and speech-language pathologists using culturally competent and responsive evidenced-based services to Middle Eastern and North African individuals with communication disorders, communication differences, and/or related disorders.
- Address the communication interests and concerns of professionals, students, and related professionals who serve Middle Eastern and North African individuals with identified and/or suspected communication disorders, communication differences, and/or related disorders.
- Promote and increase the number of Middle Eastern and North African speech, language, and hearing professionals.
- Promote research that contributes to the body of knowledge on the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of Middle Eastern and North African individuals with identified and/or suspected communication disorders, communication differences, and/or related disorders.
- Be an advocate for marginalized Middle Eastern and North African individuals with identified and/or suspected communication disorders, communication differences, and/or related disorders.
- Serve as a community resource for Middle Eastern and North African families and communities.
Executive Board
Maryam Salehomoum, Chair
Dr. Maryam Salehomoum (Ph.D., CCC-SLP) is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist and currently teaching at Emerson College. Maryam was born in Iran and learned Farsi as her native language. She was exposed to French and English before immigrating to the US at 12 years of age. Maryam has experienced a shift in her language dominance (from Farsi to English) but has maintained her basic conversational and literacy skills in Farsi. Maryam’s areas of expertise are primarily literacy development and deafness, but she has always had an interest in bi- and multilingualism. In addition to the languages of her childhood, Maryam has also acquired basic proficiency in Spanish and conversational fluency in sign language. Maryam has completed Farsi language assessments from time to time and is highly motivated to develop relationships with Iranian SLP scholars and practitioners.
Mahchid Namazi
Dr. Mahshid Namazi (Ph.D, CCC-SLP) is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist and currently teaching at Kean University. Mahshid was born in Iran and learned Farsi as her native language while acquiring French from the age of 5. She immigrated to Canada with her family at the age of 9, when she started learning English and continued her French/English bilingual education. Mahshid has maintained fluency in Farsi, French, and English. Mahshid’s areas of expertise are in Developmental Language Disorder and Autism particularly in bi/multilingual populations. Mahshid has conversational skills in Spanish and German and has completed several Farsi and French evaluations over the years. In 2021, noticing for years a dearth in resources and a community, she decided to establish MENA and is delighted to be a part of an organization that focuses on this region.
Hanin Rayes
Hanin Rayes is an assistant professor of audiology in the faculty of Medical Rehabilitation Sciences in King AbdulAziz University. She received her Ph.D. in hearing science from UCL in 2021. She is also an ASHA and American-board certified audio-vestibular clinician with an Au.D. degree from Rush university in the USA. She has strong experience in evaluating hearing and balance in children and adults.
Dr. Rayes’s research interest focuses on speech Perception and rehabilitation. She previously investigated the relationship between FM discrimination and speech in noise perception. She also developed an auditory training protocol to be used in patients’ rehabilitation process, aiming to improve speech discrimination and perception in school-age children. Dr. Rayes also published a speech discrimination test that can be used as an outcome measure for school-age children. Her latest project is developing and evaluating the Hearing Evaluation Reference, an application for audiologists to assess speech perception in paediatric population.
Reeman Marzouqah
Reeman Marzouqah, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, SLP(C), is a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). Dr. Marzouqah earned her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto (UofT) in Toronto, ON, Canada, where she was a member of the Speech Production Lab, studying upper airway exercises for stroke patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Throughout her Ph.D. studies, she made significant research contributions, resulting in several peer-reviewed journal publications and competitive awards. She was also engaged in community outreach and media interviews. After completing her Ph.D., Dr. Marzouqah was awarded a grant to complete her postdoctoral fellowship in stroke neurology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Her current research at CSUF focuses on upper airway dysfunctions associated with neurological conditions.
Mariam El Amin
Mariam El Amin, MS is a doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia. Her research focuses on expanding the global science of communication development and disorders research. To do so, she has two intersecting research objectives: 1) expanding language assessment and intervention practices for bilingual speakers in the context of family-centered care, 2) increasing access, transparency, and diversification of science in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) through open science practices. Mariam’s interest in bilingualism stems from her personal experience growing up as a multilingual speaker learning a minoritized language, Russian, in the context of Lebanon, a majority Arabic speaking country. Additionally, Mariam’s experience as a speech-language pathologist in Lebanon made her aware of the immense need for research literature on language development in bilingual speakers, particularly speakers of Arabic. Mariam is excited to be part of a collective representing the diverse languages and interests of the middle east region!
