Meet New Assistant Professor Christopher Apfelbach
Christopher Apfelbach joined the Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences faculty in fall 2024. Originally from the neighboring area of Madison, Wisconsin, Apfelbach is eager to embrace the Twin Cities community and grow as a researcher, educator, and mentor.
What are your areas of specialty? How did you become interested in what you study and teach?
My area of passion and specialty is in how the physiology of our speech system, especially in the larynx or voice box, influences our ability to communicate effectively. I started my undergraduate career as a vocally injured singer who turned to exercise physiology as a way to understand my own rehabilitative progress.
After years of work, I've finally managed to fuse those two worlds in a formal research program! I've had the benefit of wonderful mentors in Drs. Katherine Verdolini Abbott and Mary Sandage in the world of clinical voice research, as well as Dr. Roger Enoka in the world of neuromuscular physiology and biomechanics.
What problems does your work seek to address?
Have you ever sat back down at your desk after a work presentation, laid in bed after a long day of interacting with children, or struggled to make yourself heard over the background noise of a restaurant or bar and thought to yourself, "Gosh, why does this feel like such hard work? Isn't talking supposed to be easy?" If so, you've engaged with the central question of my research: why are some kinds of communication so physically exhausting, while others are easy?
Each communicative scenario is like a mountain to be climbed. My work tries to uncover why some paths up the mountain are more efficient than others, and how we might make speakers more resilient even in the face of extremely tough ascents.
What courses are you currently teaching or looking forward to teaching soon?
I currently teach three courses: SLHS 3305W-Speech Science, an overview of how we produce and perceive speech acoustic signals; SLHS 3302-Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Hearing Mechanisms, which covers how the body uses nerves, muscles, airflow, and soft tissues to create those acoustic signals; and SLHS 5502-Voice Disorders, a deep dive into the larynx–the part of the body that generates voice.
I love using simulation tools to make these processes intuitive and accessible to beginners. Anatomy and physiology as traditionally taught, often lose their sense of play, and yet the human body is one of the most glorious sandboxes to play around in!
What are some takeaways students will get from your courses?
All my courses, especially those in the realm of physiology, have a heavy emphasis on understanding "first principles" i.e., if you could break a concept or process down to its most basic elements, which components would survive that process? Would they rhyme with the components of other processes? How could you manipulate them?
When students understand how to think critically through the lens of first principles, they can often arrive at well-reasoned answers to even the most complex of problems. Since we're a clinically oriented field, we also deal extensively with biomedical ethics and the often harmful legacy of the medical model, which tends to marginalize people of color and people with disabilities, minimizing the importance of the human experience in clinical care in the process.
What are you most excited about right now?
As much as I enjoy research, it's teaching and mentoring that fire me with enthusiasm! I strongly disagree with the complaints about new generations of students that seem to be a rite of passage among teachers. To me, Gen Z seems to be independent, hard-working, and strongly attracted to authenticity. Their spirit has invited me to be my whole, complex self in the classroom. It's incredible to watch a fellowship of learning spring up from the simple ingredients of honesty, humility, and trust.
Are you involved with any community-engaged projects or courses?
I'm currently putting together a collaborative curriculum that's tentatively called "Communication Training for Neuromuscular Disabilities," or CTND. The CTND curriculum will bring people with neuromuscular conditions such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease), MS (multiple sclerosis), Parkinson's disease, spinal muscular atrophy, and muscular dystrophy from across the Twin Cities together with junior clinicians in speech and hearing sciences, physical therapy, occupational therapy, music therapy, dentistry, and neurology.
Our goal is to train young clinicians to listen to, partner with, and never stop believing in the populations they will serve, as well as to help people with neuromuscular conditions increase their representation, resources, and respect in what can often be a dehumanizing healthcare system.
This story was edited by Anushka Raychaudhuri, an undergraduate student in CLA.
