Swathi Kiran

Swathi Kiran
EducationAll India Institute of Speech and Hearing (BSc)
Northwestern University (MA, PhD)
Known forResearch on aphasia and bilingual language recovery
AwardsHonors of the Association, American Speech–Language–Hearing Association (2024)
Scientific career
FieldsSpeech–language pathology, neuroscience, neurorehabilitation
WorkplacesBoston University
University of Texas at Austin

Swathi Kiran is an American speech–language pathologist and neuroscientist. She is the James and Cecilia Tse Ying Professor of Neurorehabilitation at Boston University, where she directs the Center for Brain Recovery.[1] In 2024, she received the Honors of the Association from the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association (ASHA), the organization's highest honor,[2] and in 2025 she was named incoming editor-in-chief of the language section of the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.[3]

Early life and education

Kiran earned a Bachelor of Science in speech pathology and audiology from the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing in 1995. She then moved to the United States, where she completed a Master of Arts (1998) and a PhD (2001) in speech–language pathology at Northwestern University.[4][3]

Career

Kiran joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin in 2002, where she served as assistant and later associate professor. In 2009, she moved to Boston University's Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences. She was promoted to professor in 2014 and appointed the James and Cecilia Tse Ying Professor of Neurorehabilitation in 2019.[5][4]

In 2022, Boston University established the Center for Brain Recovery, with Kiran as its founding director. The center conducts research on aphasia and other acquired language disorders and supports rehabilitation and community-based programs for people recovering from stroke and brain injury.[4][1][6]

Kiran co-founded Constant Therapy, a digital platform for speech, language, and cognitive rehabilitation after stroke and traumatic brain injury, and has served as its scientific director.[5]

Research

Kiran's research focuses on aphasia, bilingual language recovery, and neurorehabilitation following stroke.[3] Her early work with Cynthia K. Thompson examined the role of semantic complexity in the treatment of naming deficits in fluent aphasia, reporting that training atypical (more complex) items generalized to improvement on typical (less complex) items, leading to development of Complexity account of Treatment Efficacy.[7]

Her research also examines the treatment of language deficits in bilingual aphasia and the mechanisms of cross-language generalization, including evidence that semantic naming treatment in one language can produce generalization to the untreated language.[8] In 2026, she and colleagues reported a double-blind randomized controlled trial using computational "digital twin" models to predict treatment outcomes in bilingual aphasia.[9] Her work on bilingual stroke recovery was featured by American Heart Association News in 2025.[10]

Through studies conducted with data from the Constant Therapy platform, Kiran and colleagues have examined how treatment dosage, frequency, and intensity affect rehabilitation outcomes in self-managed digital therapy.[11]

Her research also combines neuroimaging, computational modeling, and machine learning to investigate how language networks reorganize after stroke and to predict treatment outcomes for individuals with aphasia.[12][6] A 2024 review co-authored with Anne Billot examined the neuroplasticity mechanisms underlying post-stroke language recovery.[13]

Editorial and professional service

Kiran served as associate editor of the language section of the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research from 2010 to 2017, and in 2025 was selected as incoming editor-in-chief of the journal's language section, with her term beginning in January 2026.[3] She also serves as an associate editor of Brain and Language and Scientific Reports, and has served as a section editor of Cortex and Neuropsychologia.[4]

She chaired the board of governors of the Academy of Aphasia from 2020 to 2023 and served on the board of trustees of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation from 2022 to 2024.[4]She has served on the research of the National Aphasia Association since 2020, where she is listed among the organization's leadership.[4][14]

Since 2024, Kiran has been a member of the National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Advisory Council of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of the National Institutes of Health, with a term running through 2028.[4][15]

Honors

  • Fellow, American Speech–Language–Hearing Association (2013)[4]
  • Honors of the Association, American Speech–Language–Hearing Association (2024)[2]

Selected publication

  • Kiran, S.; Thompson, C. K. (2003). "The role of semantic complexity in treatment of naming deficits: Training semantic categories in fluent aphasia by controlling exemplar typicality". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 46 (3): 608–622.

References

  1. 1 2 "Swathi Kiran". Center for Brain Recovery, Boston University. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Honors of the Association Recipients". American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Swathi Kiran Selected as Incoming Editor-in-Chief of JSLHR". ASHA Journals Academy. August 2025. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Swathi Kiran – Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Boston University. June 2025. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Swathi Kiran, PhD, CCC-SLP". Sargent College, Boston University. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Combating Neurological Language Loss". Boston University Annual Report 2025. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  7. ↑ Kiran, S.; Thompson, C. K. (2003). "The role of semantic complexity in treatment of naming deficits: Training semantic categories in fluent aphasia by controlling exemplar typicality". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 46 (3): 608–622. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2003/048). PMC 1995232. PMID 12959459.
  8. ↑ Edmonds, Lisa A.; Kiran, Swathi (2006). "Effect of Semantic Naming Treatment on Crosslinguistic Generalization in Bilingual Aphasia". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 49 (4): 729–748. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2006/053). PMID 16908872.
  9. ↑ Kiran, S.; Carpenter, E.; Grasemann, U.; Scimeca, M.; Marte, M. J.; Russell-Meill, M.; Peñaloza, C.; Tripodis, Y.; Miikkulainen, R. (2026). "Predicting bilingual aphasia treatment outcomes using digital twins: a double-blind randomized controlled trial". npj Digital Medicine. 9 (1) 454. doi:10.1038/s41746-026-02583-9. PMC 13265940. PMID 41963587.
  10. ↑ Merschel, Michael (May 14, 2025). "Speaking more than one language can add layers to stroke recovery". American Heart Association News. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  11. ↑ Cordella, C.; Munsell, M.; Godlove, J.; Anantha, V.; Advani, M.; Kiran, S. (2022). "Dosage Frequency Effects on Treatment Outcomes Following Self-managed Digital Therapy: Retrospective Cohort Study". Journal of Medical Internet Research. 24 (7) e36135. doi:10.2196/36135. PMC 9350823. PMID 35857353.
  12. ↑ "Brain plasticity after injury: an interview with Dr Swathi Kiran". News-Medical. November 3, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  13. ↑ Billot, A.; Kiran, S. (2024). "Disentangling neuroplasticity mechanisms in post-stroke language recovery". Brain and Language. 251 105381. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2024.105381. PMC 10981555. PMID 38401381.
  14. ↑ "Swathi Kiran". National Aphasia Association. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
  15. ↑ "National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Advisory Council (NDCD) Current Roster". National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health. 6 August 2025. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
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