Bhavana Bhat is a PhD student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department at the University of Iowa. She works with her mentor Hayo Terband in the Speech Sensorimotor Development Lab. Her research focuses on understanding the underlying mechanisms of developmental speech sound disorders, particularly the role of somatosensory perception in children with speech sound disorders. She also uses ultrasound imaging to investigate tongue shape stability and articulatory movement patterns, with the goal of better understanding differences in speech motor development between children with and without speech sound disorders.

Before joining the University of Iowa, Bhavana earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in Speech-Language Pathology in India and worked as a speech therapist for three years. Her clinical experience as a speech-language pathologist provides a foundation for her research and continues to inform her work with children with speech sound disorders.