Laurie Cutting in her lab.
Photo: Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt University
EBRL is proud to report that Dr. Laurie Cutting has been named the 2025 SEC Faculty Achievement Award winner. The annual award honors faculty members from across all the 16 SEC universities for dedication to advancing academic excellence through teaching, innovation, and service.
Presley Smith || Research Assistant || Presley earned a B.S. in Biological Science with a concentration in Microbiology and a secondary major in Psychology from the University of Tennessee. Before joining EBRL, she worked as a Family Support Specialist, providing evidence-based home visiting services to new mothers and families. Her work focused on early childhood development, parent-child connection, and the factors that shape cognitive and emotional growth. This increased Presley’s interest in neuroscience, genetics, and the biological foundations of behavior. Outside of work, she enjoys teaching group fitness, discovering new music, and spending time with friends and family. || Contact: presley.smith@vanderbilt.edu
Robin Friesz B.A., D.C. || Research Assistant || Robin received her B.A. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College Iowa. After a short time in practice, she moved into the neuromedical device industry, developing training programs, marketing communications, and patient education resources for a variety of neuroscience businesses. Her favorite hobby is children’s storytelling. She recently relocated to Nashville and plans to consume as much music and coffee as possible! || Contact: robin.friesz@vanderbilt.edu
This week EBRL welcomes two new full-time staff members to our roster. We welcome both Robin Friesz and Presley Smith to the team! We’re looking forward to working with them as things move forward.
EBRL’s Natalie Huerta is a recipient of the 2025 Robert Gaylord-Ross Award, a Peabody Special Education Department award for excellence in scholarly writing by a doctoral student. We’re happy to see her being recognized for her hard work, particularly for her scholarly writing! The award was established in 1995 in memory of Dr. Robert Gaylord-Ross an outstanding researcher in the Department of Special Education. It’s presented annually to a doctoral student in the Graduate School or Peabody College who is the sole or fist author of the most distinguished scholarly paper.
We had a lot of fun meeting with future scientists and students at the Vanderbilt Brain Institute’s annual Brain Blast event. Every year at the Nashville Public Library, the VBI puts on a free event for students of all ages to come and learn about real brain science from scientists in the field. This year our lab participated once again and taught people about reading in the brain. We got to meet so many people and get to teach them about how different parts of the brain all work together during reading. If you stopped by our booth, you might have got a free bookmark, got to play some games with us, or have even got a little book buddy for you to read to! If you’re interested in learning more about Brain Blast and when it’ll be next year, check out the Vanderbilt Brain Institute’s website here! https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/brain-institute/brain-blast/
We might even see you there next year.
Effective August 1st, Dr. Laurie Cutting received an appointment of Associate Provost in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation. No stranger to appointments and accolades, Dr. Cutting is happy to be given the chance to drive innovative research forward and strengthen ties with Vanderbilt’s many research partners.
“Laurie is a recognized leader in her field with a strong track record of collaborating with VUMC researchers through her work with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center,” said Padma Raghavan, vice provost for research and innovation. “As associate provost, she will leverage her areas of expertise and broad network of colleagues to spearhead the development of interdisciplinary translational research and innovation proposals to ARPA-H.”
Although we at EBRL aren’t losing Dr. Cutting in any sense, we are ecstatic to see what may lie in store for the future of research at Vanderbilt.
Read more about her new appointment at Vanderbilt’s press release on the appointment.
A scientific conference on reading hosted in Australia? Sign us up! Each year the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading hosts a scientific conference to gather minds from across the globe that each have one thing in common: the study of reading. This year, members of EBRL were lucky enough to go and even present! EBRL’s own Emily Harriott and Caden Carter were able to present posters and Andrea Burgess gave a talk. We always enjoy chances to meet other scientists in research and expand our knowledge. (And being able to do it in such a beautiful location isn’t bad either!)
If you would like to find out more about the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, please visit their website here.
The AIM Institute for Learning & Research annual Research to Practice Symposium is a free, day-long event that brings together literacy researchers and educators to learn and collaborate on important literacy themes. This year’s event, which will take place in-person as well as be accessible to a global audience via live stream, will focus on the complexity of reading comprehension and provide educators with insights for the classroom. The presentations will be moderated by Nancy Hennessy, author of The Reading Comprehension Blueprint. The event will also include presentations by Dr. Hugh Catts, Director of FSU School of Communication Science and Disorders at the Florida Center for Reading & Research, Dr. Amy Elleman, Director of the Literacy Studies Ph.D program at Middle Tennessee State University, and Dr. Tiffany Hogan, Director of the Speech and Language Literacy Lab at the MGH Institute of Health Professions.
Dr. Cutting will receive the Hollis Scarborough Award and make remarks during the event. Past Hollis Scarborough Award recipients include Dr. Hollis Scarborough (who received the inaugural award in 2019), Dr. Linnea Ehri, Dr. Mark Seidenberg, and Dr. Don Compton.
Register to attend the 2023 symposium at: www.aimpa.org/symposium.
Last week Ph.D. students Tin Nguyen, Andrea Burgess, Natalie Huerta, Emily Harriott and Dr. Amanda Martinez-Lincoln attended the 29th Annual Society for the Scientific Study of Reading conference. They were happy to represent both the science of reading that we study here at the lab and Vanderbilt University at large. They return refreshed and brimming with knowledge from their peers.
Pictured (Left to Right): Emily Harriott, Dr. Amanda Martinez-Lincoln, Andrea Burgess, Natalie Huerta, and Tin Nguyen
In recognition for her continued contributions and labor for Vanderbilt’s research and staff, Dr. Laurie Cutting was honored this year to be awarded the Peabody College Distinguished Faculty Colleague Award for 2021-2022. Receiving this award is an exceptional honor, yet there is always more to do. Research isn’t something you can hold or touch with your hands, but a horizon to strive for. And so, the work continues.
We are currently recruiting participants for our executive function study with kindergarteners. If you have a child that is a kindergartener and might be interested in participating in a longitudinal study tracking their reading/academic progress, please fill out this survey.
We are also currently seeking individuals ages 8 to 20 with reading difficulties or Neurofibromatosis Type 1 to participate in our research study. If interested or if you want more information, please contact us at (615) 875-5534 or email us at educationbrain@vanderbilt.edu.
Click to see the flyer for more information!
Flyer for Families of Kindergarteners