Natalie F. Douglas, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Natalie F. Douglas, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an associate professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where she holds the Doris Hawthorne/Louisiana Education Quality Regents Support Fund Professorship IV. She earned her Ph.D. in neurocommunicative sciences with a focus on implementation research from the University of South Florida. Dr. Douglas’s research centers on achieving meaningful, person-centered outcomes for individuals with aphasia, dementia, and other communication challenges. Her work focuses on partnering with clinicians to integrate evidence-based interventions into everyday clinical practice, particularly within long-term care settings. Supported by grants from the National Institutes on Aging, the Learning Health Systems Rehabilitation Research Network, and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, Dr. Douglas leads projects that coach health care staff in foundational communication strategies, enhancing care for people with acquired communication disorders and communication differences. These initiatives are designed to ensure individuals can sustain essential aspects of wellbeing, including safety, health care access, and social connectedness. Through her use of implementation research, Dr. Douglas ensures that communication interventions are sustainably incorporated into clinical workflows, resulting in lasting improvements in care practices. Her commitment to integrating research and practice continues to drive innovation and positively impact the field of speech-language pathology.