Dr. Marie Moore Channell is an associate professor of Speech and Hearing Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has been working closely with individuals with Down syndrome and their families for almost 20 years. Her research focuses on social communication in people with Down syndrome and ways to support them through the transition to adulthood. She is currently working with young adults with Down syndrome as research partners. Together, they developed a project idea, planned the research design, and obtained NIH funding. They recently launched the study which will collect the experiences and perspectives of young adults with Down syndrome and develop community health resources to support their social, mental, and physical well-being. Dr. Channell also co-leads the Down syndrome branch of the Speech Accessibility Project that is helping to improve voice recognition technology for people with speech differences.