Nina F. Dronkers, PhD, is a research career scientist and director of the Center for Aphasia and Related Disorders with the Department of Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care System. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of California, Davis in the Department of Neurology. Her research and clinical interests focus on understanding the speech, language, and cognitive disorders that occur after injury to the brain. Dr. Dronkers is known internationally for her extensive work in understanding the relationship between areas of the brain affected by injury and the speech and language disorders that result. Using novel techniques, she and her colleagues have sought to identify new brain structures that play critical roles in the processing of speech and language, as well as how these relate to other cognitive skills. Dr. Dronkers is currently chair of the Governing Board of the Academy of Aphasia and past chair of the Society for the Neurobiology of Language.
