Dr. Binna Lee is currently collaborating with other professors at the University of Mississippi and at Auburn University to study a communication treatment designed specifically for Korean-speaking people with aphasia. This program, called Multimodality Communication Training (MCT), helps participants use different ways to express themselves—such as speaking, gesturing, writing, drawing, or pointing to pictures—especially when finding the right word is difficult.

The treatment is delivered through telepractice, allowing individuals to participate from home and access specialized Korean-language services that may not be available nearby. Sessions include both structured practice and real-life conversation activities to support communication success in daily interactions.

Our goal is to improve functional communication, confidence, and quality of life for Korean-speaking adults living with aphasia.

Dr. Binna Lee is actively involved in a monthly virtual support group dedicated to Korean-speaking adults with aphasia and their families. This group provides a warm and supportive environment for participants to practice communication in Korean, engage in group-based therapy activities, and strengthen social confidence through real conversations. Because culturally and linguistically appropriate aphasia services can be difficult to access, especially for Korean immigrants in the U.S., this support group ensures that individuals feel understood and respected in both language and culture. 

The mission of this group is to empower communication, foster belonging, and improve quality of life for Korean adults living with aphasia.

Read the recently published research article on the aphasia group. 

Min, S., Lee, B., Shin, N., Kim, D., & Lee, J. (2025). Expanding Aphasia Support Globally: Lessons Learned From the Korean Aphasia Community. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 1-13.

https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2025_PERSP-25-00056

Dr. Binna Lee's research examines how Parkinson's disease (PD) affects bilingual individuals, particularly focusing on the role of subcortical brain structures in language processing. Her doctoral dissertation explored the impact of PD on formulaic language—the fixed expressions used in everyday conversation—in bilingual Korean-English speakers. Building upon this, her 2020 study, Subcortical Involvement in Formulaic Language: Studies on Bilingual Individuals With Parkinson’s Disease, published in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, found that bilingual individuals with PD exhibited significantly impaired comprehension and reduced use of formulaic expressions in their first language (L1), while their second language (L2) remained relatively unaffected. These findings suggest that subcortical dysfunction, particularly within the basal ganglia, differentially impacts the native language system in bilinguals with PD. Dr. Lee's work contributes to a deeper understanding of how neurodegenerative diseases uniquely affect bilingual language processing and highlights the importance of considering language-specific factors in research and clinical practice.

Read research articles on Dr. Lee's work:

https://pubs.asha.org/doi/abs/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-19-00390