Jan G. Svec, Ph.D. is an internationally renowned Czech physicist performing basic research on production of human voice. He holds a MSc degree in fine mechanics and optics and PhD degrees in biophysics as well as in medical sciences. He worked as a research scientist at the Center for Communication Disorders (Medical Healthcom) in Prague, the Czech Republic, at the National Center for Voice and Speech in Denver, CO, USA and at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Currently he is at the Palacky University Olomouc, the Czech Republic and serves as an associate research scientist at the Voice and Hearing Centre Prague. In his free time, he is a jazz singer, guitar player and song composer.

Brad Story, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs in the College of Science at the University of Arizona. Dr. Story received his BS in Applied Physics from the University of Northern Iowa in 1987 and his PhD in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Iowa in 1995. From 1987-1991, he was employed in industry as an engineer where he developed computational models and instrumentation systems for designing and measuring the performance of mufflers. Dr. Story’s research publications concern the mechanics, aerodynamics, and acoustics of speech production, as well as the perception of speech sounds. Dr. Story has served multiple terms as Associate Editor for the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, is a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), and recipient of the ASA’s Rossing Prize in Acoustics Education in 2016. Dr. Story was recognized by the American Speech Language and Hearing Association in 2013 with the Willard R. Zemlin Lecture Award, and by the University of Iowa in 2018 with a Distinguished Alum Award. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Nicole Li-Jessen, Ph.D., is a speech pathologist and a computational biologist by training. She obtained her clinical degree at the University of Hong Kong with extensive clinical experience in voice and swallowing disorders. She pursued her Ph.D. in computational biology at the University of Pittsburgh with Prof. Katherine Verdolini-Abbott and postdoctoral training in tissue engineering with Prof. Susan Thibeault at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States. She joined McGill University as Assistant Professor in 2014 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. She is Canada Research Chair in Personalized Medicine of Upper Airway Health and Diseases. She received the Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2018. Dr. Li-Jessen leads the Voice and Upper Airway Research Laboratory, the only research group combining high-fidelity biocomputing with vocal fold bioengineering. Her interdisciplinary program has trained over 50 researchers across engineering, computing, and clinical sciences. Her central research vision is creating Digital Health Twins, as dynamic virtual replicas of patient-specific vocal fold systems that predict disease progression and guide the design of regenerative therapies. The team integrates four research themes: computational medicine, tissue engineering, digital wearables, and health stigmatization, supported by Canadian Tri-Agencies and U.S. NIH. She also serves as Section Editor for PLOS Digital Health and Editorial Board member for Scientific Reports. She has published 57 peer-reviewed articles and 7 book chapters to date. Her work appears in Q1 journals including Biomaterials and Communications Medicine.