Dr. Jamila Minga
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences
Member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience
Contact Information

Office: Duke South Yellow Zone 4000, Durham, NC 27710

Campus Mail: DUMC Box 3805, Durham, NC 27710

Phone: 919-681-2279

Email: jamila.minga@duke.edu

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Overview

Scientific Focus

The Minga Right Hemisphere Communication Lab is dedicated to understanding the communication impairments, particularly those concerning language production, that can occur following acquired damage to the right hemisphere after stroke. Dr. Minga co-developed the RHDBank database and protocol as a foundation for increasing scientific inquiry and understanding of language production after a right hemisphere stroke. We are dedicated to improving knowledge about specific hemispheric contributions to language as a basis for engineering population specific diagnostic and treatment approaches that will improve the quality of life of survivors, their loved ones, and caregivers. We are committed to accomplishing these goals with the support of survivors, community and educational partners.

Our goal is to engage in research that will:

  1. Identify reliable patterns of communication during structured and unstructured language production tasks for improved diagnostic outcomes.
  1. Contribute to the discovery and understanding of brain-behavior relationships for language production using neuroimaging.
  1. Facilitate client-centered and driven discussions with survivors of right hemisphere stroke community (survivors, family, friends, and support entities). 

Funded Grants

Selected Contributions

  • RHDBank development (rhd.talkbank.org); the largest repository of language samples for the study of discourse after right hemisphere stroke
  • Identified question-asking as an area of deficit after right hemisphere stroke
  • Piloted treatment focused on enhancing awareness of communication challenges after a right hemisphere stroke

Lab Members

2019-2021 Clinical Research Coordinator 

  • Marcia Rodriguez M.SP., CCC-SLP

Former Speech-Language Pathology Student Research Assistants

  • Alexandra "Lexie" Ortiz, Undergraduate 
  • Jada Elleby, MS 
  • Mallory Parke, MS
  • Megan Hollembaek, MS
  • Emily McGinn MS
  • Joyah Morris MS
  • Kayla Valentine, MS
  • Taravia McLawhorn, MS
  • Jennifer Nelthropp, CCC-SLP
  • Julia Black, CCC-SLP
  • Kaitlynne Julie Bryan, CCC-SLP
  • Whitney Hewitt, CCC-SLP
  • Juliet Bourgeois-Berwyn, CCC-SLP
  • Olivia DeStefano, MS
  • Stephanie Furimsky, CCC-SLP
  • Samantha Tyson, CCC-SLP
  • Leilani Burgess, CCC-SLP
  • Sarah Stidham, CCC-SLP
  • Ashton Wainright, CCC-SLP
  • Frank Brown, CCC-SLP
  • Traci Bright, CCC-SLP
  • Sarah Baker, MS
  • Sarah Allen, MS
  • Zhaojing Liu, MS
ANCDC 2022 Dinner
2022 ANCDS Annual Meeting. Pictured: Left to right; Margaret Lehman Blake, Alexandria Durfee, Jamila Minga,  and Argye Hillis at pre-conference dinner in New Orleans, LA.
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2022 ANCDS Annual Meeting Program. 
ancds_2022_minga_presenting
2022 ANCDS Annual Meeting: Dr. Jamila Minga presenting. 
group of Minga lab members
Left to right pictured: Zhaojong Liu, Mallory Parke, Dr. Jamila Minga, Jada Elleby, and Megan Hollembaek at GRUB in Durham NC, 2021
group of Minga lab members
Left to right pictured: Ashton Wainright, Leilani Burgess, Dr. Jamila Minga, Sarah Stidham at NBALSH Convention 2017
Members of the Minga Laboratory
Dr. Brielle Stark, La'Toria Jallah, and IU doctoral students (Julianne Alexander, Comfort Fabode, Malachi Henry, Brandon Merritt, Karli Morris, Armando Ramirez, and Katelyn Urena) with Dr. Minga after her presentation for the 13th Annual Diane Kewley-Port (DKP) Mentored Lecture.

News

SCIENMAG: A person’s race influences question asking as much as their stroke history

DURHAM, NC — Strokes that occur on the right side of the brain can sometimes subtly impair social communication, which can be difficult for clinicians to assess.

But these impairments are a lot less subtle for the patients and their families, who often have their lives and livelihood upended, leading to significant life changes such as job loss and divorce.

Clinical researchers have developed a few diagnostic tools for right side, (right hemisphere) stroke survivors, but the tools have been largely based on data from White patients.

Contact

The Minga Right Hemisphere Communication (MRHC) Lab can be contacted via email at mingarhclab@duke.edu.