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Faculty

Brett Welch, Ph.D. CCC-SLP

www.brett-welch.me

Assistant Professor
Email: bwelch@central.uh.edu
Office Location: Melcher Life Sciences M242J
Curriculum Vitae |  www.brett-welch.me

Dr. Welch is an Assistant Professor and Biostatistician in Communication, Education, and Healthcare with a dual appointment in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the Department of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences. Dr. Welch’s line of research leverages quantitative methods to interrogate the dynamic interplay between psychological processes and voice and communication behaviors. Outside of his work, Dr. Welch enjoys reading, listening to music, spending time with friends and family, doing yoga, and watching and performing long-form improv.

Education

  • Ph.D., Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
  • M.S., Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX
  • B.S., Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
  • B.A., Communication Sciences and Disorders – Speech-Language Pathology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

Teaching

  • Special Problems: Introduction to Quantitative Modeling (COMD 8398)

Research Interests

Dr. Welch’s research sits at the intersection between psychology and communication. He seeks to understand both how psychological processes like personality and psychopathology influence how people communicate, but also how one’s communication behaviors impact a person’s psycho-social well-being. By studying the dynamic interplay between psychological processes and communication behaviors, Dr. Welch seeks to improve outcomes for people with and without voice or communication disorders.

For more information, view Dr. Welch’s research page and his lab website.

Selected Publications

(for a full list of publications, see CV and Google Scholar Profile)

  • Welch, B., Lewandowski, A., Gartner-Schmidt, J., & Smith, L. (in press) Examining the factor structure of the Voice Disability Coping Questionnaire in individuals with laryngeal dystonia and essential vocal tremor. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.
  • Welch, B., Wright, A. G., & Helou, L. B. (2025). Integrating advances in voice and personality science to re-examine the Trait Theory of Voice Disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(6), 2759-2781. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/v3hjs
  • Welch, B., Gold, K., Gartner-Schmidt, J., Petrov, A., Law, A., & Helou, L. B. (2024). Variability of maximum glottal ngle on clinical sniff task differs in patients with functional and organic laryngeal pathologies compared to healthy controls. Journal of Voice, online print https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.12.007
  • Helou, L. B., Welch, B., Hoch, S., & Gartner-Schmidt, J. (2023). Self-reported stress, trauma, and prevalence of laryngoresponders in the general population. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66(7), 2230–2245. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00669
  • Welch, B., & Helou, L. B. (2022). Measuring communicative congruence and communicative dysphoria in a sample of individuals without voice disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 65(9), 3420-3437. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.20739967

Honors

  • Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders PhD Scholarship (2024)
  • New Century Scholars Doctoral Scholarship, American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (2023)
  • New Investigator Forum, The Voice Foundation (2021)

Professional Activities

  • Ad hoc peer reviewer, for various scientific journals in speech-language pathology and psychology
  • Mentor, Students to Empowered Professional Mentoring Program
  • Member, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association