Dr Saloni Krishnan, a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London has been named as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science (APS).
Dr Saloni Krishnan
This prestigious international designation is presented by the Association for Psychological Science (APS) to outstanding early-career psychologists, whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions.
Dr Krishnan’s research focuses on children with childhood communication disorders, such as developmental language disorder (DLD), dyslexia, and stammering. She uses MRI to investigate the brain basis of these disorders. Identifying the cognitive and biological basis of these disorders could help us understand the causes and consequences of these disorders, eventually helping us develop more targeted and effective interventions. Dr Krishnan brings unique clinical expertise to her research, having qualified and worked as a speech-language therapist. Her influential work to date has included participating in a large cross-disciplinary panel to determine the terminology and criteria for DLD, which has influenced policy in the UK. Her research has also been featured in a number of media outlets, and presenting episodes on stimulating language development for the BBC’s programme 'Tiny Happy People'.
Commenting on the award Dr Krishnan said, “I feel very honoured to be selected by the APS as a Rising Star, especially as I didn’t even believe research could be a career when I first came to the UK. I’ve had the privilege of working with incredible mentors, colleagues, and trainees, who have given me so much of their time and helped me do science I am proud of. I continue to benefit from the support available at Royal Holloway, and feel quite fortunate to be taking the next steps of my career in such a collegiate and stimulating environment. I am also very grateful to the families and children I work with for their time, and I hope my research can eventually make a meaningful difference to the lives of children who struggle to communicate”.
Dr Krishnan joined Royal Holloway as a lecturer in 2019, following a PhD at Birkbeck and postdoctoral positions at UCL and Oxford. She is currently an Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard award holder, using MRI facilities at Royal Holloway to understand the cognitive and neural basis of motivation in reading disorder. Her lab has also received funding from the ESRC and the Experimental Psychology Society. She was awarded the 2021 Neil O’Connor Award from the British Psychological Society, and has also been commended on the rigour of her research from the British Neuroscience Association.
