Welcome from our director

This is an image of Dr. Melanie Fried-Oken, a smiling woman in her 60's with short dark hair and a red jacket.

The REKNEW research group addresses the complex communication needs of children and adult groups with developmental, acquired and/or neurodegenerative disabilities. We work on many different REKNEW projects, targeting different childhood and adult groups and communication supports. Our approach is based on a philosophy of Participatory Action Research: we believe that individuals with complex communication needs should be part of our research endeavors, from the initial questions posed in a study to the dissemination of research results.

We invite you to explore our website and examine our different clinical research projects. We would be happy to discuss our work with you, whether you are interested in participating in a study, supporting us, learning about our recent publications or knowledge translation activities, or just finding out more about communication supports for adults and children.

~Dr. Melanie Fried-Oken

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Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Logo

Latest news

Congratulations to Betts Peters PhD CCC-SLP for her recent election to the BCI Society Board.

Betts Peters, Ph.D., CCC-SLP and Dan Klee, B.S. presenting their posters related to brain-computer interface (BCI) on behalf of the Consortium for Accessible Multimodal Brain-Body Interfaces (CAMBI) team at the International BCI Society meeting, held in Brussels, Belgium in June 2023.

A woman and man stand smiling in front of research poster at the International BCI Meeting in Brussels.
A group of people enjoying a dinner at an outdoor table at a restaurant in Brussels.

CAMBI team members, Betts Peters, Ph.D., CCC-SLP and Dan Klee, B.S. present posters at the OHSU Research Week in May, 2023.

A man and woman having a conversation while standing in front of a research poster.
A woman wearing a PPE face mask discusses her research poster with a colleague.

Melanie Fried-Oken, PhD presenting at the July 2023 International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) conference in Cancun, Mexico. Her co-presenters were Dr. Keith Vertanen (Michigan Tech University) and Will Wade (ACE Center, UK).

Dr. Melanie Fried-Oken presenting at the ISAAC Conference in Cancun, Mexico.
Dr. Melanie Fried-Oken holding an award she was given at the ISAAC Conference in Cancun, Mexico.

Congratulations to Melanie Fried-Oken, PhD who was named a fellow of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) at the 2023 conference in Cancun, Mexico this past July!

Richard Rosenbaum, MD, tries out a brain-computer interface system with Betts Peters, PhD, CCC-SLP after joining the Consortium for Accessible Multimodal Brain-Body Interfaces (CAMBI) in July 2023.

Doctor Richard Rosenbaum, who experiences ALS, testing the Brain-Computer Interface system with Dr. Betts Peters.

Contact REKNEW

Please feel free to contact us regarding getting involved in our projects or supporting our work.

reknew@ohsu.edu

Director
Melanie Fried-Oken, Ph.D.
503-494-7587

Watch our latest video below, where Betts Peters, Ph.D., C.C.C.-S.L.P.,  describes brain-computer technologies for communication.

Get involved

Seeking people for our research studies

  • For current study participant opportunities, contact us at reknew@ohsu.edu. We always have something going on.